Hi.
I have a BT,Home hub 3. The wireless signal going upstairs is always dropping, watching my son on his Xbox the other day and the bars are constantly up and down making gaming hardly worth it.
I have been looking at options and i read about the
Asus RT-N66U
Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router.
I have read reviews by customers but they all seem to know a bit more about these things than me (judging by the lingo)
What i generally want to know is how much of a techie does one need to be to swap the two over and get a basic wireless set up running. I literally want to swap them over and turn it on.
Do i need to understand all the settings etc? Thanks.

Changing the router may make no difference at all. The power output of all WiFi routers is limited by regulations so there is no real guarantee that a different router will improve the signal level.

What might be a better solution is using a pair of PowerLine adapters which send the network signal via the mains. For example

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-PA41.../dp/B0084Y9N3O

or if you are short of mains sockets...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-PA251KIT-.../dp/B005KTM2G6

And you can even get ones with WiFi at the remote end

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-WPA281KIT.../dp/B0067GS29W

The latter would extend your WiFi network range much better than a new router.

Thanks. The TP link was the first thing i looked at but i couldn't find the particular info i was looking for regarding how it actually works. I appreciate it sends signals via the house wiring but seeing as upstairs is on a different circuit i could only assume it uses the earth as all earths are bonded. Is this the case.? I also read contradictory statements that they don't work as well from a muti socket extension lead. Some reviewer said they they do and another said they don't.
It is hard to know exactly what is what, most of the reviewers talking about the Asus router said it made a big difference to their signals around the house.
If i went with the TP link i guess i would need 3 of them, One for the PC down here and one each in my kids rooms upstairs, I was a bit unclear as to the set up for the main PC downstairs, upstairs i would plug the TPs in and plug an ethernet cable from the TP link socket to whatever they are using upstairs. What would be the set up on this PC? (my pc is hardwired)
Sorry to sound totally ignorant but i like to know exactly what is what before i spend my hard earned cash

Powerline adapters, you would have one near your router and plugged directly in there. The others for upstairs just plug in near the equipment your want to connect.

They are really plug and go as they will find each other, your upstairs will be on the same ring so you will be ok.

One of the main reason I find that the HomeHub 3 to be poor is the automatic channel selection. You should go into the settings of the hub and change the channel to one of the fixed channels 1-11.

You can use a program called inssider http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/ , use it on a wireless laptop desktop and it will search for less cluttered wifi channels.

They use the live and neutral wiring. They can go across ring mains provided both rings are connected back to the same Consumer Unit (AKA Fusebox) and are on the same electrical phase (which is likely in a domestic situation).

Some of these units can be picky about where they are plugged into the mains it is generally advised that you plug direct into the wall socket. As I posted you can get types with passthrough sockets so you just unplug whatever is in the mains socket, plug the adapter in then plug whatever you unplugged into the mains socket on the adapter. Handy if you are a bit short of free sockets.

The TP-Link (or any other similar adapters) plug into the router at one end. So you plug the ethernet port on one of them into a spare port on the router, exactly the same as how your PC is connected now. The remote unit plugs into whatever device, PC, games console, TV etc etc you want to link up. Think of them as a replacement for the bit of wire between your router and your PC and you'll get the concept.

There should be no need to unplug your PC from the router, it can remain connected as is. The only problem you may have is if there are no spare ports on the router. In that case you need a very simple Network Switch such as this...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Unma...dp/B000FNFSPY/

You just unplug something from the router and connect the freed up port to any of the ports on the switch. Then plug whatever you unplugged from the router into one of the other switch ports and the PowerLine adpater into a third port on the switch. And you have two left over for anything else you may want to connect up.

Up to you which you go for. The Asus looks a decent bit of kit. However, it is not an ADSL router so if you have ADSL broadband (ie the HomeHub plugs into the phone line) it won't be a direct swap. If you have Infinity or similar with a separate modem then it could be a straight swap. Though it would still need a bit of tweaking of the config to get it up and running.

Great info. Exactly what i needed to know. Plenty of ports on the router so will be going with that.
Also i didn't realise the links were also pass through adapters which is good.
Thanks very much.

I use 4 homeplugs, 1 of which is on a different ring to the rest. It works but is quite a bit slower than the ones on the same ring.

I have old style fuse wire fuses but I have heard that modern MCBs can cause comms issues between mains rings.

Well. I told my son i would get a TP link if he could try and keep his room in a half decent state. But when he looked at me like i just asked him to willingly contact leprosy i concluded that he would rather have a dodgy wifi connection.
I have read that electrical cables and circuitry can interfere with wifi signals. If the person on wifi is upstairs and the ceilings downstairs have 5 transformers (12 volt each) feeding 15 downlighters, plus the cables, all in a false ceiling, would this interfere with the signal and if so by roughly how much? A lot, a little or not worth worrying about.
We are talking about an average size semi-detatched house.

A lot of low voltage halogen light "transformers" are actually Electronic chopper power supplies & yes, they can cause interference to AM radio & broadband signals. Dimmers can too.

Speaking as an electrician Colin_London, fuses are a thing of the past & MCBs & RCDs are a far safer way to go in this day & age - from both the shock & fire point of views.