House to Office connection. Need advice and direction....and HELP!

[xcoyote]

For several years, I've connected my Home to my Office (about 100 yards) and things were fine. The internet speed at the house from the ISP has been about 20mps. The connection I had was:
ISP modem > Cisco E1000 wireless router > TPLink WA5210g set in Universal Repeater Mode (located in office window pointed at the house) I was consistently getting speeds between 5mps-10mps at the office, which worked great for my needs.

Recently, the ISP updated their modem and gave me a new modem with a build in wired or wireless router. Because of a remodel, this new device was placed in the basement of the house and my office could not receive the signal. Also, at the house we upped the speed from 20mps to 50mps.

The ISP rep said I could connect the Cisco E1000 via ethernet to the new modem/router and create a 2nd "connection" so to speak. Instead of running cable all over the house, I got TP Link Powerline Adapters, set the E1000 in the garage and got connection at the office again. BUT, now I get between 3mps-5mps max at the office. Which makes no sense to me. If we more than doubled the speed at the house, shouldn't the office have a higher speed instead of a lower speed?

The only thing I can figure is because of the new modem/router from the ISP, the other units I'm using are "outdated" and thus, not be able to carry the speed?

Oh, when I checked the speed standing next to the E1000, I get consistent 10mps, which is also odd to me considering it's connected directly to the source at 50mps.

So, is my issue the E1000 or the WA5210g repeater? Should I upgrade one or both?

I'm been looking into these ubiquitii nano stations (LocoM2) and thought maybe if I bought 2 of them and pointed them at each other, all might be well. BUT, I have no clue how to set all the internal techie stuff, which I would assume needs to be done.

Can someone straighten me out without getting into too much techie stuff?
Maybe give me a better solution?

Much appreciated!

 

[smorizio]

to make your life simple move the modem to upstairs first. with wifi it a line of sight signal so if it in the basement the cement and wood and steel are going to block the signal. the repeater is a slower g unit. what you want to make your life simple if there modem is new and is a 2.4 and 5g wifi keep it. if not buy a new modem and for inside the house a high powered router.
http://www.ampedwireless.com/products/rta15.html
look for ones min 500mw and if you can fine one that 3-5w that would be better for range.
http://www.ampedwireless.com/products/apr175p.html
http://www.ampedwireless.com/products/reb175p.html
use two pro devices to go from the modem to the office or home. then use an ap or a buch of power lines to connect to the range extender.

 

[azaran]

Sounds like a few potential issues. Likely the powerline adapters are a big part of the reason. Iknowhowtofixit's suggestion is going to be the easiest way to fix the connection. Assuming you cant just move the router upstairs or bury a cable out to your office or any of the other hardware is outside your price range, try testing out your hardware. Here's a bit of a drawn out to test it bit by bit to find your weak link.

1. Have you connected directly to the modem with a computer (laptop or otherwise)? Before trying to trouble shoot a whole slew of potential issues with your own network make sure the source is running how it should. Once you're plugged directly in to the modem, run a speed test. Most ISP's will have some sort of portal but if not www.speedtest.net is a good site to use to test. Once you know if your direct feed is giving you the speeds you should be getting you can start checking your network piece by piece to see where the fault is.

2. Assuming you've confirmed your speed from the modem is what you're paying for, lets figure out your powerline situation. TP makes good powerline adapters in general but realize all powerline adapters lie horribly about their real life speeds. Plug one in to your modem and then go to the garage and put the other powerline adapter where you'd want it. Plug in directly to that powerline in the garage and run a speed test. This is likely you're biggest weak link. If you've had to jump any circuits in your circuit breaker between your basement and your garage you will lose substantial speed. Also depending on which plug you use in the garage, your speeds will vary. It's just the nature of Homeplug AV powerline tech. Also make sure that you're not sharing the plug that the powerline adapter is using with anything else. Anything that causes noise on the line (fans are oddly horrible at this) is going to cause a decrease in performance. If you're finding that you're speeds coming out of the powerline adapter are the weak link consider returning them and picking up a better pair of AV2 powerline adapters. I recommend the ZyXEL PLA5405KIT or better yet, if you can find them, Comtrend PG-9172-Kit. The Comtrend use G.hn technology instead of HomePlug AV2 and aren't as sensitive to line noise or circuit breaker nonsense. But they are harder to find and the G.hn tech isn't really widely used, tho that may change soon.

3. Assuming your powerline works at an acceptable level, plug the Cisco E1000 in to the powerline adapter. Plug in to the router and do the speed test. Routers eventually die and yours could just be on its last legs so its good to test hardwired before dealing with the nebulous hassle that is wifi. Assuming it works well, switch out to a wireless device and start testing your wifi speed off just the router. If walking around with a laptop is unrealistic there are as bunch of wifi strength meters available for android and ios. If you aren't getting speeds that you want, I would highly recommend getting a router where you can hook in a directional antenna. If its only servicing your office, theres no sense trying to beam the signal everywhere. But you'll need a new router with external antenna for that. Not hard to find and a simple search on newegg will find you a directional antenna.

4. Assuming your wifi is coming out how you want it, set up your TPLink WA5210g and test your speeds from there.

Somewhere along these tests your weak link should show itself. Once you know whats happening and why you can look for a real solution that fits your needs and price range.

 

[smorizio]

azaran he needs to replace the repeater it an old g unit. the e1000 is a n unit. so he losing max speed from the router to the repeter. he want to put a n or faster in the place of the g repeater.

 

[azaran]

azaran he needs to replace the repeater it an old g unit. the e1000 is a n unit. so he losing max speed from the router to the repeter. he want to put a n or faster in the place of the g repeater.

I totally missed that whole G unit thing. He should still be getting better than 3-5Mbps but yeah that is a definite upgrade for better speeds.

 

[xcoyote]

WoW! Thank you all for the replies! Running any kind of underground cable is not an option (although I wish it could be!). There is a pond between the house and office.

I never thought of troubleshooting piece by piece....duh! That seems like the best to do!

As far as the powerline things go, I've had several people, including electricians and people who install home networks for a living tell me that those powerline things are great to use and should lose much at all. Oh well, I gotta figure it out.

I've had the WA5210g since 2012 and it's been working great, but I'll bet it's time to upgrade.

So, if I understand correctly, I should get a modem and/or a repeater which supports "n"? Or both "n" and "g"?

 

[smorizio]

xcoyote with wifi now there to bands now 5g and the older 2.4g. the 5g radios are made for shorter range but more data. a lot of the newer routers are combo units that let you bond both radios.
http://www.linksys.com/us/p/P-EA6900/
you pay a lot for the faster wifi routers that are out now.
on the n routers there three speeds of them.
n600/n300/n150.
if your looking to save some money look for the n600 units. any new routers will let older g/b units connect. they just connect and move data at a slower rate.
http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-N600-Wi-Fi-Router-WNDR3400/dp/B0041LYY6K
https://www.trendnet.com/products/wifi/N-access-points/N600/TEW-753DAP
set the ac point up to connect to the newer router for max n speed.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156495
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156474

 

[xcoyote]

OK, just checked everything and here are the results:

When I connected directly to the modem, I got 49mps down and 5.5mps up.

When I connected directly to the powerline adapters in the garage, I got 18mps down and 5.5mps up (HUGE drop off!)

When I connected directly to the Cisco E1000 (which was connect to the powerline) I got 18mps down and 5.5 up.

When I went wireless while standing right next to the E1000 I got 17mps down and 5.5 up.

Walked outside the garage about 20 feet, still got 17mps down and 5.5up.

As I kept walking, I started noticing a drop off (which I'm assuming is normal)

Now, back at my office, connected wireless to the WA5210g (which picks up the signal from the E1000....I think) I'm only getting 2mps down and 2mps up.

So that tells me 1) I probably need different powerline adapters and 2)I need to replace the WA5210g.

The 18mps I get from the powerline adapters I can live with for now. But, from what I'm reading, the 5210g is the thing I should replace first. Is this correct?

If so, I'm looking at the ubiquitii nano stations (LocoM2) or something from Engenius.
Is this a good idea for now? Then, maybe upgrade the powerline adapters?

 

[xcoyote]

Oh, also, I have a yagi antenna just sitting around doing nothing. Could I, somehow, utilize this antenna in a future setup? If not, no worries.

Just to be clear, I'm not married to this solution for my "wifi to office" situation. If someone has something easier and/or better, I'm all ears.

Maybe a high powered range extender would be better than the repeater? I don't know, just throwing out stuff.

 

[azaran]

Sound like you're wifi is the big weak link. There are a ton of wireless router and access point options out there, so really its going to be budget dependent more than anything else to make a suggestion. Given your rapid drop off in speeds, in addition to upgrading the WA5210G, I'd look at upgrading your router to one with external antenna. Going with that option will give you the ability to use either high gain omni or directional antenna. That combined with one of the high gain access points your looking at should give you as good a speed as you can get with your current setup.

As for the powerline gear, try playing with which electrical socket its plugged in to if you can. When I did my setup in my house I had huge differences in the same room depending on which plug I was running from.

 

[xcoyote]

Looks like I'll be placing the powerline adapters to another part of the house, using the same setup, and see if I can get more. What I'm thinking of doing is getting two Engineus ENS202EXT repeater/range-extenders and see if I can connect those two together.

Has anyone done it this way? Will it work? Will I get a better signal? Thoughts?

 

[smorizio]

looks good those two units. should work fine for you for years. if you can look at newer uints with two 2.4g radios or 2.4 and 5g radio. if the 5g are in range of each other you get better speed. whe nthe cost comes down then look at 5g or it replacment.

 

[xcoyote]

Ugggggg, I can't catch a break! I tried the powerline adapters to other outlets around the house. No matter where I plugged it in, I got a consistent 20mps. Just to be sure, I then plugged the computer straight to the router and go 49-50mps every time. I plugged the powerline back to the computer and nothing. It wasn't detected at all! I repaired the powerline with each other and still nothing. The other powerlines in the house still work fine. So, I tried a different powerline, plugged into the computer and again, nothing. I have 3 solid lights on the powerlines so that tells me they are working. I'm stumped again.

 

[smorizio]

check the back of the pc make sure there two led on the network port one amber that shows it linked and a green one that blinking. if not check to see if there something in the port blocking the cable.

 

[xcoyote]

The green light is constant and the amber one is blinking, but it's not a constant blinking.
Should it be the other way around?

After a few minutes, the amber light goes off, the green light stays on and all the lights on the power adapter stay constantly on as well.

Don't know if this will help or not, but I can connect to the wireless internet, no issues. When I plug in to the router, I connect no issues, but when I plug into the powerline adapter (which worked a few hours ago) I get "unidentified network".

 

[xcoyote]

To add to the "suckiness", I put everything back just the way it was when this day started and nothing. WTF happened? I've even tried different adapters? Everything else in the house that was connected to the adapters work, but not the stuff that really needs it!

 

[xcoyote]

After a bit, I left everything then went back and unplugged every device from everything! Then, one by one, I connected everything again and bingo, everything back to the way it was. Guess I'll just have to live with the 90%+ speed reduction from the house to the office.