Amazing what you learn about on here…
Been having some difficulty extending our wireless network throughout the house – old house, some solid walls etc means the wifi network is patchy at best, particularly in the living room where the TV and Xbox live, both of which I’d like to connect to the ‘web.

So, would something like this work? Sounds a bit like voodoo to me, but assuming both ends are on the same circuit could I just plug the router in at one end and the tv/xbox into the other?

If so, which ones? They appear to come in 4 speeds, is it a case of more is better? Are they easy to configure?

Yep. Plugged a pair of the 200mpbs ones in in my mum and dad’s house, for the same reasons as you. They’ve been in there for a couple of years now and I’ve only had to tell them to turn-them-off-and-on-again once in that time. Didn’t need much setting up apart from sorting the wireless settings to match those on the router. Good stuff.

I’ve got a couple of the 1gbps ones here, though, and those seem a bit less reliable, they’ve needed a few restarts. But they’re still better than faffing with around weak wifi signal problems. And it could well just be because whoever wired this house up was clearly an idiot…

Yes absolutely. Make sure both ends run at the same speed (and preferably the same make) – I use 3 x Solwise and they’ve not missed a beat in years.
I recently added one of these.

They have an ethernet port (for your TV/Xbox) and work as a wifi access point so it extends your wifi network at the same time.
Google Solwise WiFi Extender.
I would expect that faster ones to be less reiable due to the amount of noice on the power cables. I’ve only used the 75mb ones and they’re fine for everything we do (internet and AppleTV)

Excellent… two Solwise plugs ordered. If they work ok then I might go for the wireless one as well.

I’ve just bought a set of 3 200mbps own-brand from 7dayshop for £50 or so.
Not tried them yet, but they’re very small so well hidden.

You could have done 1 x wireless (TV, etc) and 1 x normal (router)

If so, which ones? They appear to come in 4 speeds, is it a case of more is better? Are they easy to configure?

The 85mbps ones don’t talk to the others, so make sure you’ve got the same type at both ends. Even the slowest ones are quite capable of shifting your internet data are the right speed, if you want to start streaming video etc. all over the house I’d say go for the fastest ones you can afford/justify.

And pretty much plus and play, certainly using ethernet. Not sure what you need to do for the wifi extender, presumably set up the security keys on it for your network etc., wouldn’t think it’d be a chore though.

Do these still work if you have the upstars sockets on a different circuit breaker to downstairs where the router is plugged in?

Do these still work if you have the upstars sockets on a different circuit breaker to downstairs where the router is plugged in?

I’m def no ‘leccy but my office is on separate breaker and it works fine. The oldest part of the house is on a completely different circuit/fuse box though and cannot communicate with the office.

Not sure what you need to do for the wifi extender, presumably set up the security keys on it for your network etc., wouldn’t think it’d be a chore though.

All I had to do was give it the same encryption key and SSID as my existing access point.

Okay thanks for that. Sorry to hijack but do these plugs have more than one ethernet socket? I want to plug 2 devices in one room into one and would rather not use two plugs.

There’s all sorts by the look of the Solwise website… I went for one with a couple of ethernet and 6 power sockets as I’m a bit short of power points in the room I’ll be using it in.