Poor wireless

[Lee Monk]

Hi All,

Reaching out for some help here as I am at a loss (most likely based on my massive lack of understanding on this topic).

I have Virgin Media at home. A while back we had an extension built and as part of that we moved the router to the middle of the house (via cables installed by the construction team).

Previously:

Wifi:
This allowed the wifi to be reasonable across the house as it sat mostly in the middle of the house.

Direct connection:
As part of the extension we put in a box (not sure on name), where I was able to run cat5 cables from the router into the box which distributed it across the house to permament fixters (PC, TV, Console etc).

Life was good and covid19 wasnt here at the time!

Currently:

The main incoming cable from outside broker somewhere under the house. The route has now been moved to the front room and front corner (it couldn't be further away from everything in the house).

Direct Connection:
Fortunately the wires to the afore mentioned 'box' go both ways so I've been able to run a single cat5 back to it and am able to distribute to a few of my other permament connections. As the route is now by the main TV I've also been able to cat5 that aswell. So..... no losses on my permament connections.

Wifi:
This is where it's gone horribly wrong.

The box is just to far from anythign in the house to allow signal. The only place it really works is the main bedroom which is directly above the route.

I bought:
NETGEAR Wi-Fi Mesh Range Extender EX6250 - Coverage Up to 1500 sq ft and 25 Devices with AC1750 Dual Band Wireless Signal Booster and Repeater (Up to 1750 Mbps Speed) + Mesh Smart Roaming

But this seems to cause problems with my wireless printer and sonos. I think they both sit on the main router but when on wifi the other devices cant find them though I do not think it should work that way.

Here is an image that may help explain the above. I think I may have been generous with the wifi coverage.

Red is main line in. As you can see its gone from the middle of the house to the front.

The Right image shows a cat5 connection going from the front of the house to the middle to my 'box' and then out from there again

upload large pictures

How do I fix this?

Do I buy a proper wifi route and put it at the old 'box'?

Please note that under the current system I can't move the old box back to the original position as the main cable broke.

I guess I could buy a cat5 to cat5 connector??

 

[Lee Monk]

Hi,

Anyone able to help/advise on this?

 

[bremen1874]

Two usual options:-

• Put the Virgin hub into modem mode and connect a decent wireless router to it.
• Leave the Virgin hub in router mode and connect a wireless access point to it. Optionally disable the onboard wireless to avoid complications.

In both cases, the connected device needs to be as centrally located as possible allowing for where you can run network cables.

What you'd use for this will depend on how much you're willing to spend.

If that isn't what you're asking then try asking again being as concise as possible.

 

[Lee pearce]

HI everybody, my first time posting so go gentil..... advise required from you knowlegeable lot as i know a minimum really.
currently i have 100mbps broadband from virgin media with their superhub 3 router i also have a Tenda mesh system running a seperate network but via the superhubs ethernet port (not an expencive mesh system) mainly for my access and sonos etc. i have 3 children all using mobile phones connected as well as apple tv, 3 alexas and my sons xbox which is constantally lagging and dropping out etc. my question is this, am i better putting the superhub into modem mode and buying a decent router like an asus rt-ac86u or equivelant and then using wifi extenders (3 bed house with loft room) and loosing the mesh sytem or is there a better alternitive ??? currently getting around 25-30 mbps on a wifi speedtest done via my galaxy s10.. thanks in advance, regards lee.

 

[cyber69]

I have a Virgin Media SH3 and since lockdown the wifi has been really bad to the extent it is un-useable downstairs (router is in upstairs small bedroom/office). I have been using TP-Link AC1200 powerlines for items such as the main TV to get Netflix etc, a powerline in the garage so the CCTV can access it and it has been rock solid.

I would strongly recommend using AC1200 or better powerlines for items such as TV etc and for everything wireless use a mesh based wifi solution such as a triple pack of TP-link M5 units or Amazon's eero devices. Go for a triple pack even though maybe 2 might suffice. This connects directly to the VM router in modem mode and then the other two units connect to that.

You will need to purchase a small gigabit switch to replace the ports on the VM Hub if using a desktop PC or NAS.

 

[Firegod]

HI everybody, my first time posting so go gentil..... advise required from you knowlegeable lot as i know a minimum really.
currently i have 100mbps broadband from virgin media with their superhub 3 router i also have a Tenda mesh system running a seperate network but via the superhubs ethernet port (not an expencive mesh system) mainly for my access and sonos etc. i have 3 children all using mobile phones connected as well as apple tv, 3 alexas and my sons xbox which is constantally lagging and dropping out etc. my question is this, am i better putting the superhub into modem mode and buying a decent router like an asus rt-ac86u or equivelant and then using wifi extenders (3 bed house with loft room) and loosing the mesh sytem or is there a better alternitive ??? currently getting around 25-30 mbps on a wifi speedtest done via my galaxy s10.. thanks in advance, regards lee.

For me I'd personally do the following:

Get some Homeplugs / Powerline adapters around the rooms. Devices like TVs and the XBox can then have wired connections, thanks to the electrical cables, back to the Router and enjoy nicer speeds. I'd then get a dedicated WiFi Router, and have that connected to a Homeplug too back to the main Router. Have the WiFI router somewhere central so that it acts as the focal point for all things Wireless and gives even coverage. All devices like phones, tablets, etc connect to the WiFI router (in AP mode) and use the 2.4Ghz mode. This will mean when you roam around the house or outside you should hopefully retain good coverage on those devices. Any other devices, like Laptops where you may be stationary (at a desk, or table) but want better bandwidth, they can use the 5Ghz channel.

Also worthwhile scanning your network and checking what channels your neighbours are using. 2.4Ghz will most likely be most congested. Channels 1, 6 and 11 are the only none overlapping channels. 5Ghz thankfully doesn't suffer too badly with congestion. But getting devices split between 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz should help with congestion. Avoids any mesh systems and removes any extenders (as extenders lose bandwidth).

But that's just my thoughts - please don't spend loads of money and come back and say it's crap.

 

[pp111]

I spent many years messing with wi-fi and eventually just abandoned it for hardwired. In a house wi-fi never achieves what it is supposed to, and even when it does it's very unreliable and fiddly.

Personally, I would hard wire as many connections as you can, then use homeplugs to the rest. If you do need wireless for a laptop say, then use a homeplug wireless adapter in the room you need it in. If you want to transmit to a tv then use Bluetooth directly from your laptop or PC ( in the same room ).