5g internet home coverage

[anuplander]

I am moving into a flatshare with 5 people total, with bedrooms on the ground, first and second floor.

The 5g coverage is good in the area with the provider, Three, in the area. If i purchase a package would i still have to worry that the 5g router in the property wouldn't have a powerful enough signal to be picked up by every room? Can boosters be bought? Would a 5g router only be suitable to serve one floor? Would putting the router on the 1st floor likely serve the whole house. Would we need to purchase multiple 5g packages to get multiple routers to serve the whole house by putting on each floor? The house is quite narrow and compact for a 3 storey.

I am looking at 5g options as the landline broadband can only reach an average of around 30 mbps, and i am looking at alternatives to support it. I am considering 4g options too, as i have heard they are liable to drop off less, with consistent connections and it looks like boosters are available.

A total of 60-100mbps+ should be plenty enough for the 5 of us at the same time using multiple internet sources. That is the problem we need to solve in the London, UK, to top up the landline broadband for everyone's usage needs.

Online it is tough to find the answer about 5g home router in home coverage.

If you can advise, cheers, if not no worries.

 

[Haze]

Are you the landlord then? why are you sorting other peoples internet access if you are not? just worry about yourself?

 

[WJA96]

This isn’t going to end well. While it might sound great, there will always be a user or users who take the proverbial and you will fall out over it.

It’s very unlikely you’ll find a single WLAN device to cover a 3-storey dwelling.

 

[Rroff]

I live in a reasonable size 1970s build house (quite thick walls but not the worst) and the WiFi covers about 5-6m in any direction including floors below or above before it gets a bit flaky. There are various ways to boost it using repeaters.

 

[ChrisD.]

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...adband-thread-three-ee-vodafone-etc.18917203/

That thread has lots of decent information in it.

 

[anuplander]

Cheers for input people, and also thank you for the 5g thread link thread link too, i will have a look at that.

To respond to points made. I am not the landlord, i am moving into a place with 5 others, but the landlord has given scope for me to assess the internet options.

To 1 person taking the proverbial with their usage, i could see this happening. I don't think there are massive downloaders in the house. Yeh video calls and streaming services, but not everyone will be using at the same time, so i am hoping there is a workaround here. I am just hoping that repeaters/boosters will increase coverage around the home, so that the 4g/5g coverage helps support the low offering from the landline. I am hoping there is a way around getting high internet speeds using 4g/5g on top of the 30 mbps landline in a 3 storey house, otherwise we are in trouble. I could see myself resorting to buying my own 5g router and package and just placing it beside my desktop and let the rest of the house worry about themselves.

The 5-6m coverage sounds about right, i guess i would need to have wifi access points at different places everywhere in the property to increase coverage.

If it sounds like i am a tech newb, it is because i am, and don't mean to offend if i am misusing terms.

 

[Rroff]

Had similar experience where I am now - moved into a house in a rural location with 30Mbit/s FTTC and multiple users we've mostly sorted ourselves out - I've got my own 4G router and plan that I use to supplement the FTTC and other people living here have sorted themselves out likewise.

This is the FTTC:

(slightly slower than normal as someone else is online - it is usually about 30/6)

My 4G:

Slight oddity with the 4G - I found a approx 18inch by 18inch spot where the speeds basically double - most other parts of the property it is about 30Mbit maybe 40 at this time of night. If you go more than a few metres either side of the property it drops to like 16MBit - many of the neighbours struggle to get speeds into double figures on fixed or 4G.

 

[anuplander]

Is that the probable work around to make sure all 5 of us in the house are sorted? To each buy our own 4g/5g package? I am a little confused by the technology. Would the internet slow down on the 5g/4g if everyone had their own package with sim card in and router beside their desktops, or would the speed be solid for everyone because each 4g/5g package comes with its own set speed. We would all be using Three as a provider too, would that cause issues at all?

Ultimately i am trying to work out how to get decent stable internet for everyone in the house.

 

[Rroff]

More devices will likely bring down the speeds a bit everyone sees. Ideally you'd probably want a couple of 4/5G routers load balanced through a TL-R470T+ or similar then hardwire a couple of WiFi boosters/extenders if you can as WiFi repeaters will drop the WiFi performance a bit. (Though a bit complex for someone with limited experience).

TP Link do a whole range of options for extending WiFi. Assuming you aren't going to hardwire with switches.

 

[anuplander]

Excellent input with pics and explanation btw, i am grateful.

You last response there is a bit over my head, but i should be able to work it out with further online research.

Are you effectively saying getting in two 4g/5g paid packages, then put them beside and connect them to the TL-R470T+ (or similar) and then getting other boosters from that point to hopefully serve the whole property? The TL-R470T+ in effect combines the two paid for 4g/5g pacakages?

So in effect each paid package of 4g/5g with its own sim is like increased engine power for internet speed in the house?

I was under the impression it wouldn't matter how many 4g/5g sim card router paid packages you had, as they are all drawing from the same technology in the area, and as long as you had one package, and a system to boost that 1 package around the house you would be fine. Is that wrong?

 

[Rroff]

Excellent input with pics and explanation btw, i am grateful.

You last response there is a bit over my head, but i should be able to work it out with further online research.

Are you effectively saying getting in two 4g/5g paid packages, then put them beside and connect them to the TL-R470T+ (or similar) and then getting other boosters from that point to hopefully serve the whole property? The TL-R470T+ in effect combines the two paid for 4g/5g pacakages?

So in effect each paid package of 4g/5g with its own sim is like increased engine power for internet speed in the house?

More or less - wouldn't worry too much about that specific setup but in my experience something more towards that end tends to ease things with multiple users.

I was under the impression it wouldn't matter how many 4g/5g sim card router paid packages you had, as they are all drawing from the same technology in the area, and as long as you had one package, and a system to boost that 1 package around the house you would be fine. Is that wrong?

It probably doesn't make a huge difference but the more devices in an area the more the cell tower can struggle - potentially bringing the peak speeds any one user sees down at busy times more than sharing out 1-2 packages - though the combined bandwidth might be less affected.

 

[TallPaul_S]

In short, the three 5g router is unlikely to cover a house that size, mine is the CPE pro (not the 2 model) and although it has wifi6, the WiFi coverage when you're not in the same room is pretty terrible.

Budget for a mesh system - I use a TP link deco with 3 WiFi nodes which covers a large 3 bed detached house with no issues.

As for speed well that depends on your 5g signal and mast location. I get 800+ Mbps download speed, which I think you'll find would be just fine for a house of 5 people.

 

[anuplander]

Input has been great from everyone. I am much more at ease about this all and 5g generally, the amount of time someone can spend to help someone on the internet boggles the mind, if only i could contribute more here. Happy new year everyone.

If you want to laugh about my newb nature, the landlord was clueless about the landline service at the property as was I, thinking only openreach with the max 40mbps speeds were available which would have been the case, had i not factored in that virgin have their own fibre optic, and service the area, and i am looking at up to 500mbps speeds with the landline, lol. A good ending to the story and very lucky before we were tied down to the landlord with a crappy landline. I am an eejit.

The 5g knowledge is great though and i am probably going to buy the 5g anyway as a backup internet. Cheers again.