Having trouble with low connectivity on wifi Blu Ray player... looking for wireless solutions.

[Aunnix]

I have just setup a new wifi blu ray player (Sony S390) on my main living room TV. I was running the blu ray player on an old Linksys wireless-B router and seemed to have no issues (with no other devices connected wirelessly). I just received a (refurbished) WNDR4000 Netgear N750 Dual Band router and set it up last night. Hooked up the blu ray player to the 2.4ghz band/radio and I'm getting a signal of like 35% which apparently is pretty weak and it is having trouble streaming netflix. So, I setup my ps3 in place of the blu ray player to test it's wireless connection. When I checked it's settings or whatever it said it was receiving a signal of about 60%. (I can't remember exactly what I would get with it on the the Linksys wireless-B router, but I believe it was a bit higher like 75%.)

I'm assuming that it is not the router, because obviously different devices (located in the same location) are connecting at different signal strengths. So, I am wondering if it the wifi adapter in the blu ray player is just a more generic adapter and just isn't picking up a decent signal at it's distance. Is this possible?

Anyway, I need a solution that will allow me to connect the blu ray to my 5ghz band/radio and increase it's signal strength. And, no I cannot and do not want to move the current/gateway router as it is already in a central point of the house. It has been suggested to me to look into setting up/buying a bridge, but I have a couple questions after doing some research...

1. What is the difference between a bridge and an extender? For example, I found this Netgear Universal Dual Band WiFi Range Extender (WN2500RP) on Amazon and it seems like it does the same thing that a bridge would do. It connects to my gateway router wirelessly then I can connect devices to it either wirelessly or wired (which the plan is to connect the blu ray player to it by wire then let it pick up the wireless signal).

2. Would this bridge/extender setup increase the signal strength of the blu ray player?

3. What is my cheapest option? lol

Also, I plan to use the Linksys Wireless-B router as an access point for the PS3 since it is not N compatible and I do not want any B or G devices degrading my data transfer speeds. I do some minor PC repair for family and friends so this AP will be used for any of their devices that are not N capable. (And the AP is not currently setup and running.)

What is (currently) running on the network:
wifi Blu Ray Player wireless on the N750
1 b/g Laptop running wireless on the N750
2 desktop PCs connected to an 8 port gigabit switch which is wired to the N750

Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Aunnix]

The built in WiFi in your blu ray player is very low power and short range.

Ok. This is what I thought but wanted to be sure I wasn't the only one with this conclusion, lol.

What you need is a high power WiFi bridge like the ECB350

It has a 800mW radio and large 5dBi antennas you connect to your router via WiFi and then plug the ethernet cable into your player.

More info here
http://www.keenansystems.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=2&products_id=348

Ok. I assumed this would be the route I need to go. But, I want to put it on the 5ghz band and it doesn't seem like the ECB350 is dual band.

Also, the other thing I'm asking.. I don't see the difference between a bridge and range extender (like the Netgear device in my OP) because they both grab the gateway router's signal wirelessly and then hook into my blu ray player by ethernet. The only difference I can imagine is that the extender will extend my wireless signal on top of connecting the blu ray player by ethernet essentially acting as a bridge.

Which leads to the question... why not skip the bridge and buy the range extender that will capture my signal and deliver it (via wire) to the blu ray player while also taking that signal and pushing it to increase the range for my wireless devices?

 

[Aunnix]

if you use a range extender the throughput will be cut in 1/2 and you will have added latency. The consumer WiFi equipment makers market these as quick fixes but the usually make the issue worse.

In bridge mode the ecb350 gives you 100% of the available bandwidth.

Ok. This is what I was looking for. I did not know this. I do not necessarily need to extend the range but it just seemed like the better choice until finding out it cut my bandwitdh in half.

Range on 2.4Ghz is much better then 5.8Ghz indoors.

The is a 5.8Ghz outdoor bridge the ENH500 you could also use it has a directional antnena so the range should ok indoors.

more info here
http://www.keenansystems.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=2&products_id=344

I'm not too worried about outdoors. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to keep my data flow as optimal as I can while spending the least amount possible. At some point, I'm looking to have 3-4 devices capable of streaming on the 5ghz band.

I did pick up the range extender that I mentioned in my original post, so I may just set it up this evening and see what kind of performance I do get from it (although I'm not sure how to test it, lol). If I'm not impressed I will exchange it for an actual media bridge.