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HitTheTrail
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PostThu Jun 19, 2014 6:04 pm 
I currently have a Cisco Valet M10 that is and has been working just fine as a wireless router. My problem is that I need to connect a semi-smart TV downstairs to the internet with a Ethernet Cat5 cable via wireless bridge. I am told the M10 has all kinds of known issues and does not support connecting to a wireless bridge. I found this out myself after getting one (a Linksys/Cisco) and trying for three hours to pair them. My options now are to upgrade my router to one that is compatible with a bridge. Any advice on which brand/model?? Thanks for any wise words.

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mike
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PostThu Jun 19, 2014 9:17 pm 
hardwire (CAT5e) the TV to the router if at all possible

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HitTheTrail
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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 5:46 am 
mike wrote:
hardwire (CAT5e) the TV to the router if at all possible
That was what I was trying to avoid. It would involve fishing a cable down through the wall studs and then over across the downstairs room. My wife says that would look too tacky. Besides we live in a wireless world, why not use that technology?

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mike
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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 8:53 am 
HitTheTrail wrote:
Besides we live in a wireless world, why not use that technology?
In my house the wireless to the TV was just too flaky so I manned up and crawled under the house and pulled wire. Much better! Also pulled new wire from the interface box while I was at it and improved internet speed too.

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tigermn
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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 9:09 am 
HitTheTrail wrote:
Besides we live in a wireless world, why not use that technology?
Because a wire is still more reliable. It just depends on your needs. If wireless works for what you are doing fine. It probably will for most. For working at home I still use a wired connection. I have not done much streaming and such so don't know about that, but I'd think a wire would better.

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HitTheTrail
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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 9:14 am 
mike wrote:
In my house the wireless to the TV was just too flaky so I manned up and crawled under the house and pulled wire.
Actually, I agree you probably went with the best solution. Before I started doing any of this I did some research on bridges (which are also signal boosters) and learned that they cannot do much to boost a weak signal but do a pretty good job of extending a strong signal. I took my laptop downstairs by the TV and was getting a full four bars of signal so that influenced my decision to try a wireless solution.

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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 9:15 am 
The cheapest way to add new cat 5 wiring is to drill a hole through through to the outside, string the cable around under the eaves and then through the wall into the new room. Staple the cable to the siding / eaves with a staple gun. Seal the hole with caulking. On the interior, there are "blind" low voltage boxes that can be used if you want a professional look or just plan on covering it up when you sell the house. On the exterior it is easy to paint over the cable if you have left over paint from the last time the house was painted. Of course the YMMV depending on how the house is confirgued. Also I don't know how things work in your house, but for projects like this, I usually wait until I can do something like this by myself -- and then do a good enough job that it either isn't noticable or that the storm will die down quickly. If I try to coordinate beforehand -- I tend to encounter statements like "we really should repaint the house, and while we are at it all the exterior windows should be replaced"

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mike
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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 10:09 am 
RandyHiker wrote:
The cheapest way to add new cat 5 wiring is to drill a hole through through to the outside,
this

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HitTheTrail
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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 10:37 am 
RandyHiker wrote:
Also I don't know how things work in your house, but for projects like this, I usually wait until I can do something like this by myself -- and then do a good enough job that it either isn't noticable or that the storm will die down quickly. If I try to coordinate beforehand -- I tend to encounter statements like "we really should repaint the house, and while we are at it all the exterior windows should be replaced"
Not sure I even want to go there since my wife sometimes reads this forum. But there is one thing I have learned over the years.....The secret to a long marriage is making a concerted effort to keep the spouse happy.

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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 10:48 am 
If you do go the wire route, invest in a bell hanger bit . A hole drilled through the tip allows you to pull wire or fish cable through the hole as you withdraw the bit. Also, a tent pole make good fish in some circumstances. Tape the joints to you can pull it out if it gets stuck.

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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 11:09 am 
I deal with this issue every day. I am a low voltage tech. I set up networks and fish in wire. Pm me if you would like some assistance. A new wifi router could improve your system. Asus has some great routers from $150 - $250 you basic routers strugel trying to provide wifi for militple devices. High end routers have dual chip sets allowing higher wifi trafic. I can also heat map your home showing exatctly where signal is or is not.

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HitTheTrail
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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 11:27 am 
DogNTallGrass wrote:
Pm me if you would like some assistance.
Thanks for the offer of technical help. I may take you up on it if I run into problems. Staples has a state-of-the-art Linksys dual band router and compatible Linksys bridge combo for around $160 for both. I am sure that will solve my problem since I have a strong wireless signal downstairs. It’s just the two of us and we would rarely be using more than one or two devices at one time. I have been using Linksys routers for years with no problems. I guess my original question is…are they a decent brand? Or do they still have problems like the M10?

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mike
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PostFri Jun 20, 2014 2:06 pm 
HitTheTrail wrote:
I took my laptop downstairs by the TV and was getting a full four bars of signal
Sounds like you are getting a good signal downstairs without a booster so the bridge-router combo should be fine. Good luck. Another reason I pulled wire is that I'm cheap smile.gif

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509
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PostSat Jun 21, 2014 5:03 pm 
Is it the TV that is your problem? It might be cheaper and easier to replace the TV than the router and fishing a wired connection. Aren't you in Chelan County so you must have fiber. Our TV is at the OTHER end of the house from the router and works fine on the internet. Never had a problem with running four or five devices including the TV at the same time.

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HitTheTrail
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PostSat Jun 21, 2014 5:37 pm 
509 wrote:
Is it the TV that is your problem?
No problem with the TV or wireless signal in my house. In fact downstairs by the TV my laptop shows a full strong signal. Actually I left out some of the details. The TV is not smart enough to accept an internet signal so we have a Blu-Ray DVD player hooked to it that streams a signal via HDMI cable. The problem is that the only way to get the internet signal to the Blu-Ray player is with a cat5e wire. Thus we need a bridge that gets a wireless signal and puts that signal out to the DVD player via a cat5 wire. Sorry for all the confusion here. We knew how to make it work from the beginning. I was just asking for input on different router models. I am going out on a backpacking trip early in the morning up in the Pasayten but when I get back I will probably get a new Linksys router and bridge.

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