Improve home network with Mesh WiFi / Powerline / other options

[GMac11]

I hope I'm not overlapping with other threads on here, I tried my best to read through the active ones.

I need to improve my network within the house. Two caveats, I am using a 4g/LTE router as I can't get fixed line BB where I live so my router options are limited and the higher end ones are just too expensive. Secondly, hardwiring throughout the house is not an option. Again this is partly down to the 4g situation. My router has to be in the front room as that's where the best 4g signal is and this room is one corner of the house.

I can run most devices on 2.4ghz but signal at far end/upstairs is patchy. I want to have my PC on the fastest connection possible for gaming as the 4g itself is already pretty limiting in regards to latency. This means the PC needs to be on 5ghz band or (as it currently is) run via powerline. The powerline is a stable solution but often the Ping can be quite high. The 5ghz is marginally quicker but the signal is about 50%.
I have tried various range extenders but they don't provide the throughput required. And finally the router I have only has 10/100 Lan ports so there is no point getting 10/100/1000 powerline adapters.

So, would I see an improvement with a decent mesh setup? Is a strong 5ghz WiFi connection quicker than a 10/100 powerline connection in real world terms?

 

[bremen1874]

Powerline doesn't typically suffer from high pings. It's usually better than wireless.

The ping on the 4G/LTE WAN is probably going to be so high and variable that what you have on the LAN won't really matter.

 

[alexakasloth]

As said, I would (and have) stuck with powerline over wifi as it is a more stable and faster connection in our house, even though it's on a seperate ring circuit that the other adapter.
Who is your 4G connection with? I got a 24 month contract with Three for their unlimited package, the 4G router they supplied (Huawei B535) has 4 gigabit ethernet ports.

 

[GMac11]

As said, I would (and have) stuck with powerline over wifi as it is a more stable and faster connection in our house, even though it's on a seperate ring circuit that the other adapter.
Who is your 4G connection with? I got a 24 month contract with Three for their unlimited package, the 4G router they supplied (Huawei B535) has 4 gigabit ethernet ports.

Yeah I went with Three as well however I took the SIM only option and decided to bu my own router as the one I have was on sale at Amazon for half price. I had also read on the thread over at HUKD that the Huawei supplied router wasn't that good although admittedly at the time I didn't know what I was looking for in a router. Fortunately I took the 12 month option which is up around April time so I may see what options Three have then that include a good router.

 

[alexakasloth]

Was that the b535 router that was described on HUKD, or the previous b525? The newer one that I'm using works well and gets good reviews.

I went for that with the 24 month plan at £17/month.

 

[Heyhey]

Hi,

I’ve just purchased a 535 with unlimited from three. I want to use it with my current network (ASUS router) instead of the 535 wifi, but when I connect I got poor performance (pages take ages to load, logins to sites etc) but can get still 60meg in speed tests. So I’m not really sure what’s happening. If I connect direct to 535 WiFi no problems at all. Any advice would be appreciated