BT home hub 6 wifi signal issue

[arkiboys]

Hello,
I hope I am in the correct forum...
My main issue is the wifi signal from the router throughout the house...
I have been using BT HUB 6 (Router) as well as two wifi extenders for a while now.
At present, the location of the BT socket and the router is in a small room ias you enter the house. The room is made of brick walls. then there is a room towards the back of the house and there is the stairways to upstairs rooms... Hope you get he picture of the house.
Because I only get the best wifi signal in the room where the router is, I am using two BT wifi extenders (1200). One in the kitchen (In the middle of the house on the ground floor) and another upstairs in the study room...
In the front room where the router is, wifi connection is best, however in other rooms (Ground or upstairs) signal is low when connecting to router. So when I connect o the extenders, the signals seem good with mostly full bars but the extenders a lot of the time go to red light indicating low signal.
And in the rear room where the wifi enabled TV is, it gets disconnected a number of times even when connected to the extender...
Question
After doing some research it looks like I have to move the router somewhere away from the small room in the front of the house.
Should I leave the BT phone socket (Positioned in the small room in front of the house) where it is and get an extra cable for the router and lead the router to the middle of the house somewhere? Any suggestions on moving the router and can it still be connected to the BT socket as is? Will the extention cable cause slow wifi connection...?
Thank you

 

[BigT]

I wouldn’t move the router. I’d look at the following:

1.your WiFi extenders need to be half way between the router and your dead spots. Too far from the router and it doesn’t get enough signal to boost. Make sure this is the case.

2. Instead of moving the router can you run Ethernet cables from where the router is to anywhere closer to your deadspots? If so then run cables and on the end of them put wireless access points. You’ll see Ubiquiti UNiFi UAPs recommended on here. I use them myself and have seamless roaming full strength WiFi all over my house and garden.

3. If cables aren’t an option then look at a wireless mesh system. No cable required and you essentially put a series of satellite units around your house and they’ll talk to each other and provide WiFi coverage across your house.

 

[arkiboys]

Hello,
1-
do you think the problem is to do with my extenders (As sometimes they show red colour indicating low/bad signal) ?
2-
The extenders you suggested, are they better than the ones I have?
3-
what do you mean by running cables on the end of them?. do you mean run cable from one end of router to both the extenders (from router which is on in the room in-front of the house sitting on the floor)?

Thank you

 

[BigT]

So to answer your questions

1. Could be. You need to move them progressively nearer your router until you find they don’t ever show red. Then see if they provide WiFi where you want

2. I didn’t suggest extenders. I suggested access points which are very different. An extender receives a signal from your router by WiFi and then sends it onwards. That’s why it needs to be not too far away from your router. An Access Point receives its signal from the router by means of an Ethernet network cable so can be as far away from the router as you want up to 100m. Then wherever you place it will give full speed WiFi from that location. The idea is you can put it in the problem spot which you must not do with an extender.

3. Yes I mean run an Ethernet network cable from the ports on the back of your router to a central location or to where the WiFi black spots are. The access point will plug into the other end at that location you choose. This can be problematic if there’s no easy way to route the cable to where you need to. This is a problem that does not occur with my final suggestion of wirelessly mesh but that is the most expensive.

 

[arkiboys]

Thank you for the details...
In regards to wirelessly mesh, am I right to assume they behave similar to my existing extenders (Which are wireless), but send more powerful wifi signals to devices in black spots?
I do not mind spending the extra pounds for a good wifi device which stops my connections to fail regularly...
What is the life span of the wireless mesh devices compared to wifi extenders?
And, any particular wireless mesh system you can suggest?
And, to confirm, you think I can still leave the existing BT hub 6 on the floor located in front room of the house?
Thank you

 

[BigT]

Mesh systems work in a different way to extenders but aim to achieve the same result of WiFi everywhere. They do a better job. You’ll probably want to turn off the WiFi on your router, put one mesh unit plugged into your router next to it. This unit will talk to the other mesh unit’s wirelessly. You place those further away and you get WiFi everywhere.

I’ve not used any systems much but hear good things about most. Netgear Orbi I think is consistently good at the top end and Tenda MW6 or BT whole home as more cost effective options. I’d wait and hope someone who has more personal experience comes in the thread and recommends a system or go look for some reviews. I can be fairly certain whichever’s you choose should solve your problem elegantly.

Mesh devices and extenders probably have a similar life span. They are all electronic devices that could last many, many years.

 

[arkiboys]

I see.
The BT website shows to have the router moved into the middle of the house. But this means k have to use cables which is not convenient. Just to confirm, using the wireless system, j can keep the router on the floor in front room?
Thankyou

 

[BigT]

If you’re going to look into a mesh system then yes you’ll be able to keep the router where it is.

 

[arkiboys]

I see.
And if I would like to stick to the extenders I have, I can not get them any closer to the router as there are no power sockets closer to router. In this case, should I consider moving the router using a cable extension into the hallway perhaps?

Many thanks

 

[BigT]

Perhaps yes. That would achieve the same outcome of bringing the extenders and router closer together to eliminate the ‘red’ drop outs.

 

[arkiboys]

Ok
Thank you for the suggestions.

 

[iamtheoneneo]

HH6 is awful...like seriously ****.
If you have the cash i would recommend getting a unifi setup - I have recently done it and the difference is pretty crazy.