want to have wifi upstairs

so i live upstairs in like an attic sorta of thing. i want wireless up there. right now i have a wifi router downstairs with a 200foot Ethernet cable to have internet upstairs we had to put it thru the drywall and stuff. i have tried range booster and repeaters but it cannot bring the signal upstairs since it is so far away. how can i bring wifi upstairs. can i buy another router or something like a wifi bridge and connect the 200 foot Ethernet cable to it and it will broadcast wifi upstairs? thanks

 

Yes, you can have another router plugged in and make another wireless network upstairs.

$26 TRENDnet TEW-432BRP IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless Firewall Router

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156038

If money is a concern this is a cheap, very basic router, that will work well. I have it and get pretty good distance with it. It came with a very clear instruction booklet. Read the booklet instead of using the CD.

If you need something more programable, other people can give you recommindations for the more expensive ones.

 

Yeah, what you need is a Wireless Access Point, not necessarily a router. Many (if not most) routers can be configured as a simple WAP but depending on the router there may or may not be instructions on how to configure it that way. Some have an actually AP setting, some just need to be "fooled" using dummy WAN settings and such.

For an actual WAP, I've installed a number of Linksys WAP54G's in small offices with no problems at all. Or you can get an actual router and just configure it as a WAP, keeping in mind that the out of the box instructions may not apply.

 

Try google-ing for cat5 range extender. Ignore all the hits on USB over cat5 extenders and go for the ethernet extenders. Even is a car5 ethernet extender costs you $100, the greater speed and bandwidth you get over wireless will be well worth the $$$.

Side note: Are you sure you used a good quality cat5 cable, no intermediate splices, and proper termination (connectors). The little twists in the pairs have to stay tightly twisted all the way into the connector. This is damned important.

In production environments I've run 100FDX cat5 for 300+ feet without problems and have, just for fun, 'tested' a 1000' foot run by crimping connectors on the ends of a whole spool-box of cable.

Try using a powerline ethernet extender too. A pair of these things should cost around $100-.

If you still have access to the wall spaces, an optical link is an option as well. 200 feet of decently rugged optical and a set of trancievers for either end should run you about $150-. With optical in place you can run gigabit for kilometers. The $150- trendnet 32 port switch I have in the basement has a pair of slots for standard optical transcievers which I will be using if I ever want to run ethernet to the workshop out behind the house.

 

Maybe I misunderstood the OP's problem. I was under the impression that his 200 ft ethernet cable worked fine, but that he just wanted a wireless option rather than having to use the wired ethernet. As such, I indicated that he could just add a WAP upstairs connected to his ethernet run. But if there's actually an issue with that 200 ft cable then my answer wouldn't apply. If the OP is still reading then perhaps a clarification is in order.

 

no you were right the 200 foot works great i just want wifi up there. the range extenders do not work well at all and causes ip problems and coverage is bad.

 

Sweet. Then go ahead and just put a WAP (or router configured as a WAP) upstairs on your ethernet and you'll be golden.