Boosting Signal

[Budlet]

Has anyone used one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300Mbps-Wireless-N-802-11-AP-Wifi-Range-Router-Repeater-Extender-Signal-Booster-/141158142304
My internet connection is very poor, and because of this (I presume) I am unable to watch BBC iplayer etc on my Smart TV. The programmes just buffer every 10 seconds. I am really desperate to sort it out but would be very grateful for some advice please. I can't move the router away from the pc so that it is closer to the TV.

[Buenchico]

>>>My internet connection is very poor

Why is your internet connection 'very poor'? If it's simply because your smart TV is a long way from your router (meaning that it only receives a weak signal from it, even though you've got a good signal through your phone line) then the device you refer to may well help.

However if the speed of connection provided by your phone line is poor in the first place, then attempting to boost it at a later stage simply won't work.

Connect a PC or laptop to your router with an ethernet cable (not wirelessly). If you've not got an ethernet cable, Poundland sell them for a quid. Then use it to go here to run a speed test:
http://www.speedtest.net/
In theory you can get away with a speed of around 2.5Mbps but I doubt that would really be reliable. You should probably be looking for a speed of at least 5Mbps.

Then, if you've got a laptop or netbook with a wireless connection, run the test again (but wirelessly) to check the speed by the TV. If there's a big drop a signal booster might help (assuming that you got a decent speed in the first test) but I'd still prefer to see the signal from your router carried by cables. Look into the systems that carry a signal via your mains wiring.

As I've indicated above, if the speed through an ethernet cable is poor, it's pointless trying either the device you refer to or a mains cable solution. You need to speak to your ISP. (Try asking them to upgrade your line from 'ADSL Max', which is the standard broadband connection, to 'ADSL 2+', which effectively gives you two connections to the internet at the exchange, thus doubling your speed).

[Budlet]

Thanks for your answer Buenchico. I live in a very rural area and am at the very end of line. In fact I was told by one provider that I was lucky I could get anything at all. 21st century? 30 miles from London! My download speed is 2.3 and upload 0.41 Mbps which is extremely poor. We regularly lose our internet connection and, despite many many calls to Sky and BT Openreach, we can not boost the line strength at all. So I was hoping there was something I could 'plug in' somewhere to boost the signal.

[ayabrea38]

I am by no means good at stuff like this,and a repeater may help,but just thought you might like to know,I thought this particular worked well in my house,I did not have a WPS button on my router and it was quite hard to install.My son eventually got it working and it performed well.
Now with a router that has a WPS button I still could not get it to work the other day(after not having had to use it for a while) it just messed up my routers settings.
I think it is really bad that providers still have their blackspots,you are not even that far from the city!!!I bet you don't get any discount either,even though there are long periods without service.Not good.

[beso]

Unfortunately nothing is going to help your situation.