Broadband extender how does it work?

[Everardo]

Hi. I am new here. Hope this is posted in the right place. 

I was recently trouble-shooting poor WiFi coverage at a friend's house. They have a Virgin Hub 3 and a Virgin Broadband extender which I believe is a powerline extender.

When I surveyed the house with my phone WiFi Analyzer, I could only see one VM signal on each band (2.4 and 5). I could not see a separate signal for the extender.  

Is this what I should expect? Or is the extender not actually transmitting?

The Virgin website says this about these extenders:

They can also use your home’s electrical wiring to transmit the signal, like our Powerline Boosters. Because they simply extend the range of the Hub’s signal, you won’t need to set up a new network. Simply connect your devices to the Hub and the Wi-Fi extender will handle the rest.

What does this mean? Does the extender not produce it's own WiFi signal? (albeit with cloned SSID and password from the main router). Even if it was on the same channel (which would perhaps seem an odd choice) wouldn't it show up as a separate spike on the WiFi Analyzer app?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me here.

[Adduxi · Accepted solution]

VM no longer supply or support these old PLA's.  In fact if you search these Forums, some of these older PLA's have died in a spectacular fashion. 

It would be better if the Account holder either requested these to be replaced with the new WiFi Pods, or replace them with their own PLA's, or a Mesh system.  Depending on the account, the Pods will be free, or £8 pm.

In the meantime, you could try resetting the PLA's and using WPA to re-pair them again.  I would have thought the PLA's may have the same SSID as the Hub, but with the extension _EX appended?

[Everardo]

Ok. Thanks. That is helpful.

As ever, with WiFi, one answer prompts several further questions!

So if I do not see a separate spike on the WiFi Analyzer am I right to conclude that this unit is not actually working?

And what sense do I make of these units still being detailed on the Virgin website, if they are not supported?

And what does that stuff on the website mean? "Simply extend the range of the Hub's signal" It has to produce it's own signal, doesn't it?

In case of doubt I have attached an online photo of the kind of extender I am talking about.

 

Thanks

[Adduxi]

These old units are not supplied anymore, as the latest and greatest wifi Pods have replaced them.  As for how they work I can't answer that, as I've never used them.  However have a read at this Powerline Adapter Started Sparking and Went bang!!... - Virgin Media Community - 5386345

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/wifi-max- Wifi Pod information

[Client62]

Using a Wi-Fi analyser on a mobile phone we would expect to see two 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Access points, one being the VM Hub and one being from the Wi-Fi end of the VM Powerline extender.  

Any doubts with the VM Powerline extender & retirement is the safest option.

[Everardo]

Can anyone can shed any light on what Virgin means by saying:

Because they simply extend the range of the Hub’s signal, you won’t need to set up a new network.

Thanks

[Adduxi]

I would assume the SSID is the same as the Hub. However we are flogging a dead horse here as VM now use the Pods. 

[jpeg1]

How does it work? Sometimes by smoke signals 😞

[BrownSauce]

What they mean (yes poorly worded but still), is that in theory, suppose your WiFi name (SSID) from the hub is VM123456, then the extender should use that same name but 'extend' it further. So all you need to do is to connect your devices to VM123456 and it should work even if you are out of range of the hub but the extender uses the same name and can, well, extend the range of this network.

Meanwhile, in the real world, it's all somewhat more complex and nuanced than it might appear.

[Everardo]

Yeah. Ok. Thanks.  So I am becoming convinced that given I could not see a seperate spike for this unit on my WiFi Analyzer app, it is not actually working.