IsleOfMan

What TiVo do you have, and how is it hooked up to the network? It's possible/likely that it is creating the MOCA network which is usually the case (since the Minis require a 4+ tuner TiVO DVR model, and MOST 4+ tuner models include MOCA built in). As you can see, though, a single MOCA adapter to extend the network will cost as much or more than a Powerline+WiFi WAP kit and won't have the benefit of also extending WiFi upstairs.

Also, depending on how your MOCA network is setup, its likely a 2.0 adapter won't offer any greater speeds because the network will default to the speeds of the device that establishes the network (likely 1.1 if it's a TiVo DVR or an adapter sold by TiVo)

Mary2e

I have the Pro model of the Roamio - 6 tuners and a boatload of recording capacity. I purchased the mini at the same time and set it up in the kitchen to be able to watch TV in there without a cable box. The mini has an Ethernet port, though we don't have a wire on that wall, but could easily run one.

The Tivo, as are most of our computers, are connected via Cat-5 Ethernet cable which we installed when the house was being built 20 years ago. All we use the wifi for is our phones, and if we can't get an Ethernet cable upstairs, the other option was to improve the signal on the second floor.

FlyingDoctorwu

Didn't realize that you had the house partially wired with ethernet. Is your current range extender hard wired? If its not then consider hardwiring it and see how the performance is (that way it can dedicate its wifi radios to just creating a network instead of to grabbing a signal and creating a network) I would also consider looking at your router/extender setup. I'm not sure how big your house is but for example in my house I have a lot of stone (built circa 1920) and the wifi doesn't travel too well.. I have cat 5 on my first floor only and basically installed two Airport extreme routers which provides for great coverage throughout my house.

FDW

SFOffjunkie

I have a similar situation - old house with plaster walls and cast iron plumbing - and tried many different options to get wifi into my (new) 2nd floor office. I tried:
1) 2nd router on the first floor using the same SSID - devices seemed to hold onto the router they first connected with, even when the signal became weaker
2) 2nd router using different SSID - devices would not switch over even when signal weak
3) Powerline adapters - speed was OK but they would glitch every few hours, causing my VPN to drop for a minute or two

I finally gave up and bought a new router - a Netgear Nighthawk 1900 - and installed it on the first floor on top of a cabinet in the middle of the house - and all's well. The 1900 is not the top of the line but wow, did it do the job. Whereas with options 1, 2 and 3 I got maybe 5 unreliable Mbps in my office, I now get 50 rock-solid Mbps.

I couldn't be happier. Maybe a simple setup like this would work for you, too?

FlyingDoctorwu

I tried a 1 router setup and my speeds were about 50 Mbps... I tend to lean pretty heavily on my network so the two routers allowed me to get 200+ in all areas of the house.

FDW

Mary2e

The current range extender is not hard wired. I remember it was a pain to set up because I had to use a computer to make the connection. I will try connecting it to see what happens.

My house is about 3k sq feet, with an open 2 story foyer. The extender is right outside the foyer, so there shouldn't be too much interference going upstairs into one of the bedrooms.

I'll have to play around with it. Thanks

Mary2e

An update.....

We finally purchased a new router after reading about how good it's range was. http://www.tp-link.us/products/detai...Archer-C9.html

So far, so good. We unplugged the old range extender and while I only have 2 bars (out of 3) on my phone when on the first floor, I haven't noticed any real downgrade in speed, and my previous disconnects from the wifi have stopped (so far, fingers crossed). My husband also doesn't seem to have an issue on the second floor. The real test will be if he has a speed issue when he works from home again.

If so, we will either buy an extender or get one of the powerline adapters as mentioned above.

One thing which I thought really odd. My desktop is hardwired (and now a bit speedier) and I have a switch that allows me to have 2 wired connections for the days I work from home. The switch is home run wired directly to the router (which is only about 5 feet below my office) and yesterday after my computer went to sleep I couldn't get internet access upon waking. It also happened this morning. I had to restart the switch and it worked fine. It is a lynksys. My husband had a spare that was newer and connected it this morning - it's a netgear. I haven't been away from the computer for a few hours, but was wondering what might be causing this? It never happened before. I'm on Win10, if that makes any difference. Is something going to sleep that I have to turn off?