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Forum Discussion
Nighthawk m1 (MR1100) extending range of wifi
I know the Nighthawk m1 is a mobile hotspot but I would like to leave it centred in the house with ethernet to my AppleTV. Problem is the range is not as great as the Telstra salesperson led me to believe. I was about to purchase a TS-9 MiMo antenna but don't need better 4G/4GX signal just better wifi range in the house. Would a TS-9 MiMo antenna do both? Any suggestion? Thanks.
11 Replies
Yep thanks. Have been looking into these but just wondering if the MiMo antenna idea would solve the wifi range as well as boost the 4G signal strength? I have a landline (ADSL) connection also at the house that the kids use so an extender would need to be smart enough to be able to pick which wifi network to join. Any particular model with the lowest price?
What was the outcome Andy? Have you connected the M1 to a wifi range extender and how did you do it?
AndyR71 Umberto2: Here's a comprehensive article that explains various methods to improve wifi reception around a building. You'll see that wifi range extenders probably aren't the best solution because they reduce available bandwidth.
The solution I chose was to connect a cheap unmanaged Ethernet switch to the M1 and then wire 2 access points into the switch. I put the access points at opposite extremes of the building with the M1 in the middle. In your case AndyR71, you could also connect your AppleTV to the switch. Here are more details of how I converted second-hand routers into the access points. And here's another discussion on the same theme, also touching on mesh networks.
I hope these pointers help solve your issues.
That is very helpful indeed, UK. I will let you know what worked in the case I have - a friend with 2 x MR1100, and so 2 wifi networks that still fail to cover the entire home. That is quite an invetment in gear that is not really designed for the home set up but he is keen to make it work. We shall see.
You're welcome Umberto2. The investment I made was very low - the unmanaged switch was £13 and the 2 second-hand routers that I converted to access points were purchased on ebay. The total cost was about £25 or about $33 at current rates. When you only have to pay this sort of money, it makes experimentation more acceptable - if it doesn't work out, there's no great loss :smileywink:
