Network Points is one of the few companies in New Zealand specialising in structured cabling and is considered by many in the industry as a market leader in this field.

A simple way of extending range is to use a HomePlug wireless access point. This plugs into a mains socket where you need to extend your wireless network to. You need a second, normal HomePlug adaptor connected to your router via Ethernet.
Using a wireless range extender is one of the easiest ways to improve range. These products repeat your existing wireless signal, giving you better Wi-Fi range without having to use any physical cabling. For the best results, you have to place the extender halfway between the existing router and the area you get poor reception in.

There are two types of product that you can use. First, many routers support the Wireless Distribution System (WDS). This allows you to create a single wireless network in your home, with great range. It can work in two modes. First is wireless bridging, which creates a point-to-point link and doesn't allow wireless clients to connect. This mode is useful in businesses, such as for joining two separate buildings together on the same network. The second mode is wireless repeating, where the wireless signal is repeated and wireless clients can join. Unfortunately, in our experience, WDS is a real pain to set up, particularly between different router manufacturers.

An alternative is to use a dedicated wireless range extender. During set-up you connect the extender to your existing wireless network, as though it were just another wireless devices. You then create a new wireless network on the extender, following our advice on how to set up a network. It means you end up with two wireless networks: one original one and one that you use when the main network is out of range. When you're connected to the new network your data is transmitted to the range extender, then repacked and transmitted over the existing wireless network.

The beauty of this system is that a wireless range extender will work with any router and is far easier to configure than WDS. However, you end up with two wireless networks, so it's important to make sure, particularly for 2.4GHz networks, that the new network doesn't overlap or interfere with the old network.

A secondary problem is that you don't have one contiguous wireless network. If you were downloading a file on a laptop, for example, in your lounge on the main network, then moved outside and joined the new wireless network, the connection would be interrupted. You'd then have to resume or restart the download.

Speed can be an issue with these types of products, as you've got two wireless connections. Latency, which is the time it takes for a request to be sent and the reply to be received, can also increase. Latency is important as it dictates how responsive things feel. A high latency wireless network means clicking on a link on a website, for example, takes a while to send the request and receive the reply, making it appear to take a while to load the next page.
For these reasons, wireless range extenders are best for fixed devices that don't currently have very good internet access, or for general web browsing.