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Wifi solutions
I want to move my computer into a different area of my house. However this would mean that it would be out of the range of my wifi box. My current box is rather mediocre thing that came from the phone company. I'm unsure if buying a different one will solve the issue however. Having said that ideally I would like a solution that doesn't require lots of wiring, so if there is a good wifi router out there that is sure to solve any issues I would be happy to hear about it.
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Get a wifi extender
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/netgear-netgear-universal-wi-fi-range-extender-wn3000rp-100pas-wn3000rp-100pas/10187350.aspx?path=3673ec2941f1c818c01e355b358ed146en02
Do they effect performance much?
Basics, its a daisy chain that talks though your house wires. As long as all wiring is connected it will extend it to every area you plug in an extender. So if your garage has its own fuse box, you would not be able to extend it to their unless the room closest to the garage extended the wifi far enough. Its a fast system and the slowest point normally ends up being the router, netcard or the modem. Your house wiring can handle a lot of bandwidth.
Avoid WiFi for gaming. It can suffer from interference from other household wireless devices like cellular phones, cordless phones, and baby monitors. Microwave ovens almost always put out an obscene amount of RF noise that disrupts WiFi signals when they are heating food. Even if you don't have interference issues, you may have issues getting a WiFi extender to work at the same reliability as a wired connection.
Your alternatives are to either run a wire from your router to your computer, or to install powerline Ethernet adapters. Running a wire may not always be practical due to the locations and distances, and a professional installation can be expensive. Powerline Ethernet adapters work almost as well as having an actual Ethernet cord connecting two points of your house. In addition, they are less likely to suffer from performance issues - either they will work at a stable speed all the time, or they won't work and you can simply return them.
4 solutions.
1) Run a CATV wire to that area of your house, and plug in a WiFi Access Port. This will be the most practical solution. Yes requires wiring but it is worth the effort.
2) Use a PowerLine network adapter to get networking through your electricity. Then plug a WiFi Access Port through that. I don't like using the electrical system of a house as network cable. Homes electrical wires tend to be run from circuit to outlet to outlet. The wire is also unsuitable for stable network connections. So your packets could jump several times the distance of your house going from 1 outlet to the next on copper wire.
3) You can upgrade to a Wireless-AC router. The voip boxes ATT installs allows you to use your own router by turning off the routing from the box. However, this will also require a computer that can broadcast Wireless-AC.
4) You can turn off legacy mode and significantly increase the signal range. Most Wireless-N routers also broadcast to Wireless-B,G devices. This increase compatibility, but comes reduces the maximum speed and range of the router to that of a Wireless G device. Since no one uses Wireless-G anymore, just having it broadcast in Wireless-N will increase its stability.
Get a good quality WiFi extender and you will be fine, it'll prove a solution to the thick materials around the house. I don't find any problems or difference (in terms of connection and internet speed) when using WiFi compared to the ethernet cable, unless you're with a sh*tty ISP or have a bunch of people using huge bandwidth. If you are planning to download large files, ethernet cable is recommended.
;;; l|
I would just get a new wireless router.
Last time I bought a new router I went ahead and spent around $100 on a decent one. I live in a two story house with the router upstairs. I get a signal outside in the driveway and on my front & back porches ( as well as all over the house)
Unless you live in a very large house or have the router in an unusual place a good router should be able to cover the entire area. My parents live in a 3 story house and with their router on the middle floor the entire house has wifi.
Most standard off-the-shelf routers will cover an area the size of a typical house, especially if you have it centrally located. The ones that are supplied by the ISP - sometimes they are ok, more often than not they are utter crap.
I have a Nighthawk, and I can get my signal nearly all my entire 5 acre property. Granted - that's direct LOS, not many walls or anything to get through.
Lower frequency signals - the 2.4Ghz band - have better range, but that frequency band is often more crowded and has a lower transfer speed - that is what B/G uses exclusively, so a lot of older devices and routers can only talk over 2.4Ghz. 802.11N and AC can transfer over both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, and a lot of times routers will make 2 wireless networks, one for the legacy/longer range/slower 2.4Ghz network and one for the faster 5Ghz network.
I'm only using it until wifi 6 setups are a little more baked. Word is the latency is crazy low and there's much less packet loss and interference. That might be an option for you too.
I've had terrible luck with powerline adapters. I can never get more than 1/2 bandwidth.