Do boosters connect to each other, or do they all directly to the Wifi Hub?

[Fernwood]

Hey all, I have a TELUS wifi hub that was just set up yesterday. It's in one corner of our basement. We also have a paired wireless booster connected across the basement from it. The basement booster is showing as having an excellent connection in the "My Wifi" app. Our second booster, which is directly upstairs from the first booster (maybe 10-12 feet above it), but that booster is showing a "poor connection" indicator in the app, and the booster's light is orange.

Any idea why?

I suspect maybe it's connecting all the way to the basement wifi hub, instead of chaining the connection from the other booster? Is there a way to check whether it's connected to the other booster or the hub? Or to force it to connect to the other booster instead of the hub?

Thanks for your help!

[Kronos]

Did you setup the second booster using the Telus app? I never use it, but I think yes the booster must have been paired to the hub.

Yes, you can chain boosters. You need to hold the WPS button at the back for 5 seconds on both boosters (not at the same time) and they should pair with each other. The hardwired booster or the one closer to the hub will be the master.

[Fernwood]

I use the WPS button to chain boosters to each other instead of using the app? The app walks me through a process of connecting the booster to the hub via ethernet cable (presumably to download the network configuration details from the hub), then power it down, disconnect, then power it back up at my location of choice.

This is where I seem to be having problems with the second booster showing kind of a shoddy connection, even though it's directly upstairs from the first booster.

I strongly suspect it's only communicating directly to the hub, and not to the first booster at all.

In other news, I got 2 additional boosters from a friend who also had a starter pack. I keep trying to add a third booster using one from that set, but I get a red solid light when going through the pairing process. It doesn't work at all.

[NFtoBC]

There should be nothing unique about the boosters you obtained from the friend preventing your use. Have you reset them to factory default?

The boosters should hop one to the other, but the speed halves with each hop. 

[Fernwood]

Thanks @NFtoBC ...Yeah - both were reset (at least I think so, I powered them on and clicked the factory reset button for 5-10 seconds, until the light on the front blinked).

After doing that, and after going through the connection wizard on the Telus app (connecting with ethernet to the hub, letting it initialize, disconnecting, moving to a new location, powering back up, waiting for it to connect), it results in a solid red light. This is happening with both the boosters I got from a friend of mine. The two boosters I have were connected using this very same process, and both are working fine*.

* = while they are working fine, the second booster only has "good" signal strength despite being directly upstairs from the first booster.

[NFtoBC]

@Fernwood you can also find the IP address of an Ethernet-connected Boost in your router settings, and use the internal web administration page of the Boost to set up the devices.

[Fernwood]

@NFtoBC oh ok - is there a link somewhere giving some detail on how to do this?

[NFtoBC]

Unfortunately, no, as Telus has moved to using the app. You can find the IP address of the Boost devices by logging in as admin to your router, then looking for the connected devices page. The Ethernet-connected Boost device should be listed. Now type that IP address into your browser search bar, and the interface should be visible. Any login information is contained under the cover on the Boost. The web interface should be self explanatory.

[Fernwood]

Thanks @NFtoBC - I'm going to try this later this evening.

Any idea if this method will still have everything "meshed" with other existing boosters and the hub? I'll be able to move around with devices and it will all be treated a the same network?

[NFtoBC]

@Fernwood 

  Yes, you should be able to move about, and have your devices connect seamlessly with other Boost devices. Just remember, each hop doubles the latency.

Also, start by resetting the Boost device using the reset pin on the back.

[Teryl]

I was under the impression that 3 Telus boosters are the maximum. It sounds like you're trying to set up 4 in total. Could this be why the last one only shows a red light?

[psl]

You can have up to 5 boosters in total. Red typically means no connection to access point through Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Would suggest to also try moving the expansion units closer to the master unit, and restart the system from the app (settings menu) or, manually power cycle units.

[Fernwood]

@psl thanks for clarifying on number of boosters. As mentioned, this would only be booster #3.

I've tried the pairing process via the app several times, with two different booster units now, while only a meter or so away from the hub. Each time, no luck.

I'm going to try again this evening, using some of the suggestions other users have shared.

[Fellifel]

Did you ever solve this issue? Running into the same situation with a second starter pack.

[Fernwood]

@Teryl I only have 2 boosters connected. I am trying to connect a third. It has failed when trying to pair two different boosters as the third booster. Even when it's only a few meters from the hub. The first part of the initialization seems to work properly when I connect via ethernet for it to download configuration details, but then when I disconnect, power it down, and power it back up again wirelessly (this is all following the steps outlined in the Telus app by the way) - the booster ends up presenting a solid red light.

[Fernwood]

@Kronos I'm going to try the WPS method to connect the booster instead. If I do this with the hub using the WPS button, will it still "mesh" with the two other boosters I have, or only create a new network using the default wifi password written on the back of the booster? I was under the impression I needed to follow the process outlined in the app (using an ethernet connection, etc) to have it mesh with the existing network.

I don't really understand how exactly any of this works though, so I'll give it a shot. 🙂