modem for virginmedia?

Hello all, I am a new member, who has recently signed up with Virginmedia - the 30meg package. I had to call out a technician as my broadband service is a bit dodgy on one side of the house (ie. the other side to the side which has the modem) . The technician told me it was a 'wireless' issue, that the modem (virgin superhub) was not strong enough and may be clashing with other modems in the street! He said to get an 'external' modem - eg Belkin - which he reckons only cost around £35 - but that I would have to switch off the wireless in the virgin modem as can't have both.
I had a look at prices, but am very confused - does he mean a modem, or just a router? There are belkin routers available for that price, but modems are a lot more expensive, and presumably I need to use the superhub for the TV anyway??? I have a 3 bed house, and can't use my netbook upstairs or my android phone - unless I am in the room immediately over the superhub.. can anyone recommend a modem (or is it router?) for virginmedia?

You need a wireless router. They work with any ISP. You could also use a wireless modem and turn off the WAN (broadband) port. Belkin have a poor reputation. Netgear are OK but pricey. I have had good results with Edimax kit but I haven't tried one of their routers.

Post deleted by MHC

MHC was correct - a wireless access point would do. Before you spend any money, install inSSIDer on a laptop - this will show you any wireless devices that may be interfering with you own equipment.

Other people who can give you more detailed advice will doubtless be along shortly.

yeap wireless access point is what you want, forget all this router and modem talk.
Stick to using the Virgin device to terminate the line.

Run an ethernet cable from the superhub to an optimal location for the new wireless access point.

That's basically what I said - I don't know why I deleted my post! and cannot remember doing it either. At least the OP may have a copy and Mick saw it

Many thanks for the fast responses - but the original post re. wireless access point has gone - so what is a wireless access point and how do I set one up???

A wireless access point basically replicates the wireless bits in the modem/router and is connected to it over the wired network. It is configured in a similar manner to the wireless port on the router, i.e. channel selection, encryption keys, etc. Configuration will normally be done using a web interface over the wired network, as for the router.

Oh, OK - just looked it up and found some on Amazon - but set up does sound a little technical, also not sure if they are specific to ADSL or Cable or does it matter? Found an Edimax EW74-16APN for £32 which sounds quite good, but will it work with cable modem?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B001HW0JVU/r...

But then again, this TP-link one is half the price - will it also do the job?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-WA701ND-150Mbps-W...

They are not specific to ADSL/Cable - they connect using one of the modem/router's ethernet (LAN) ports and, in fact, know nothing about your Internet connection.

As Mick says, they are almost "Plug and Play" and do not worry if you have Cable, ADSL, VDSL, or fibre connectivity ...

How many Ethernet ports (RJ45) are there on your Hub?


Both of those are "average", middle of the road WAPs and should be fine and I have heard some good things about TP-link recently.


You may also want to think about adding an antenna - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-ANT2405C-2-4GHz-O... You can then locate the WAP at floor level close to a power socket and have the antenna in what you find to be the "best" location.

Edited by MHC (Tue 16-Aug-11 12:08:08)

The Edimax EW-7416APN is a' range extender' and communicates with the modem/router wirelessly, which is why it has two aerials - one to talk to the router and the other to act as an access point. Note that your modem/router will need to support something called 'bridging mode.' If you use bridging mode, the router will not be able act as an access point unless it has two aerials to cope for this. Bridging mode may be tricky to set up, but I've never done it.

I don't beleive it is a wireless range extender ... there is a LAN port on te back of te EDIMAX and the installation instruction state that it should be connected to the router. http://www.edimax.co.uk/images/Image/QIG/Wireless/EW...


Also, give the OPs problem, he would not want to connect the AP to Hub wirelessly as he has problems with coverage.


Of the two, there is not much to consider, Edimax is 300Mbps and TP-Link 150Mbps but they do also have 300Mbps models.

In reply to a post by MHC:

I don't beleive it is a wireless range extender.

Well, Edimax claim that it is. That's good enough for me.

In reply to a post by micksharpe:

In reply to a post by MHC:

I don't beleive it is a wireless range extender.

Well, Edimax claim that it is. That's good enough for me.

I see what you mean but have a quick skim through the installation guide though ! That only refers to a wired install! And that would be fine for the OP.

You're probably right in that a wired connection is preferable. If I were the OP, I would look at relocating the modem/router if this is possible. Doing this with ADSL is simple enough but I don't know how cable modems are connected to the outside world.

Not easy ... I believe he already knows he needs to run a cable through to another WAP. The VM technician did a great job of misinformation and confusion!

Thanks, does it matter that the modem itself is wireless? ie, do I have to switch the wireless bit off in the virgin superhub?

In reply to a post by MHC:

The XXX technician did a great job of misinformation and confusion!

... which is why I stick with BT.

Nope! You can use the wireless port on the modem as well as the access port. Just make sure that they use different channels.

Great, thanks to you all for the advice, I'll go for the Edimax, and hopefully won't need to come back to you with set-up problems!
Lisa

Personally I would have gone TP-link with an additional antenna - but the choice is yours.

Before forking out any cash - as advised elsewhere in this thread (about using inSSIDer) - look what channels neighbouring wireless devices are using and change your devices' channel (set via the router web interface) to the least populated.

There are 13 channels commonly in use (in Europe at least), however they overlap each other for the most part. Common wisdom is to use channels 1, 6 or 11 as they do not overlap each other. As the diagram and article here explains:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc783011%...

So basically - use inSSIDer to find which of those 3 channels is least used in your locality and change your router to use that channel.

You may find that cures your range problem.

I tend to find that 1, 5, 9 & 13 is a reasonable set when there are problems.

Hello, yes I did experiment with changing channels - this is what Virgin did over the phone when I first complained - but it doesn't really make much difference.

I have now bought and installed the Edimax, but am not sure what difference it is making. For example, the wireless network windows icon is telling me the signal strength is much better, and downstairs it is has increased to 54 mbps (whereas before it was very very low) however when I do speed tests on, I am getting very low speeds - under 5 meg??? (my service is supposed to be up to 30meg) I really don't understand the info. the wirelss network icon provides - or how signal strength etc.. inter-relates to the download speeds - when I asked Virgin they couldn't reall answer!

If when you connect via an ethernet cable the speedtests are giving sensible results then the issue will be the wireless.

54Mbps on the wireless icon, gives a maximum download speed of around 21 to 22Mbps. The 54 is both download and upload added together, then there are overhears.

Poor G wireless kit might only manage 15Mbps.