Home network recommendations

[shredgodxp]

Just had my Fibre internet installed and sadly had to get the router moved to a room at other end of the house. We live in a Semi Det 1950s house (think brick internal walls and solid concrete floors!) and have found the Wi-Fi strength in our office is a tad weak (-70dbm give or take).

I'm using a powerline adapter which is ok (ish) but does sometimes drop to 40mbps speed when I should be getting 100+ from the fibre.

Ideally looking for a solution that will work for me without having to spend £££ on Ethernet in the house (which will be a pain due to brick walls and concrete flooring) - we have the most up to date Sky Hub router (not max) but will swap this out for something which works better and meets needs.

Any recommendations?

 

[Meddling-Monk]

Given the type of residence you are describing, if you want anything remotely resembling the internet speed you are getting in such locations, the best thing remains at least getting one ethernet line that goes between floors and then getting another Access Point for th level you are having trouble at.

If you want to trial out first, grab the longest pre-made Cat 5e/Cat 6 cable you can get. And attempt to lay a run that goes between your router and a way up the stairs to a central location where you can try and get an access point for (slightly better, as at least it's on the same level) Wi-Fi access. You'll be tucking it along the skirting board and under each step if it needs to cross over to the other side, and hence why the need for the tac. Once set up, try and see if it works better; If this works out better, you can then consider deploying just the one line like this if you don't want to spend much.

Although you're probably better off planning out such a setup anyway. As when Wi-Fi channels get congested (I'm unsure on your locals around you), you'll likely be wanting a hard line to each room at that point anyway. If only to have an Access Point in the room in question (office for example) so that the proximity of the Access Point can at least be got the most out of when the area is flooded by overlapping and busy Wi-Fi traffic.

 

[shredgodxp]

Given the type of residence you are describing, if you want anything remotely resembling the internet speed you are getting in such locations, the best thing remains at least getting one ethernet line that goes between floors and then getting another Access Point for th level you are having trouble at.

If you want to trial out first, grab the longest pre-made Cat 5e/Cat 6 cable you can get. And attempt to lay a run that goes between your router and a way up the stairs to a central location where you can try and get an access point for (slightly better, as at least it's on the same level) Wi-Fi access. You'll be tucking it along the skirting board and under each step if it needs to cross over to the other side, and hence why the need for the tac. Once set up, try and see if it works better; If this works out better, you can then consider deploying just the one line like this if you don't want to spend much.

Although you're probably better off planning out such a setup anyway. As when Wi-Fi channels get congested (I'm unsure on your locals around you), you'll likely be wanting a hard line to each room at that point anyway. If only to have an Access Point in the room in question (office for example) so that the proximity of the Access Point can at least be got the most out of when the area is flooded by overlapping and busy Wi-Fi traffic.

This makes sense - current issue point we have is on the ground floor - office room is basically at back corner of the house with the router on the opposite corner - between the office and router there's a chimney stack (internal), Hallway and then the wall to the living room.

Might try running a long Cat cable to the hallway and putting an access point in to see if it increases speed some more but to me it doesn't seem like a long way away - if anything it'll just push the signal past the chimney stack and potentially increase the strength.

 

[Meddling-Monk]

Sometimes all you need to do is just take a slightly longer route to go around and things will be so much better; I would agree with going around that chimney if you can to see if the signal improves (and it should, given the typical materials used inside chimneys from the 50-70s, although I'd try and stay away from the chimney by at least 1 meter either way). Then see what options are suitable for your price and situation to make it permanent (and if possible, future proof it by setting things up so any changes in the future means you can also adjust more quickly and easily).

 

[Mercutio]

This makes sense - current issue point we have is on the ground floor - office room is basically at back corner of the house with the router on the opposite corner - between the office and router there's a chimney stack (internal), Hallway and then the wall to the living room.

Might try running a long Cat cable to the hallway and putting an access point in to see if it increases speed some more but to me it doesn't seem like a long way away - if anything it'll just push the signal past the chimney stack and potentially increase the strength.

If you have an unused chimneystack you have your route between floors for cable.

 

[Steveocee]

Just had my Fibre internet installed and sadly had to get the router moved to a room at other end of the house. We live in a Semi Det 1950s house (think brick internal walls and solid concrete floors!) and have found the Wi-Fi strength in our office is a tad weak (-70dbm give or take).

I'm using a powerline adapter which is ok (ish) but does sometimes drop to 40mbps speed when I should be getting 100+ from the fibre.

Ideally looking for a solution that will work for me without having to spend £££ on Ethernet in the house (which will be a pain due to brick walls and concrete flooring) - we have the most up to date Sky Hub router (not max) but will swap this out for something which works better and meets needs.

Any recommendations?

If it’s for work. Cable in an AP where you need the coverage, ideally cable your work PCs in.
Where abouts are you roughly? Pulling cables is super cheap.