Router recommendation to go with Virgin media Hub

Bagpu55 · 19 Jun 2022 at 19:00

Hey all, I am after general purpose router that I can use with my virgin media hub 3 at home. I basically am after something that adds more security and improves the wifi connections. I get a signal throughout the house but quite poor in areas. The main desktop has a direct ethernet connection so it basically connects to laptops, mobiles, TV, alexa etc. I have not got a clue what to look for but will probably push to around £150. I understand to make the virgin hub to modem only looking at other posts, im on the M200 fibre broadband.

Thanks for all you help

Slackworth · 20 Jun 2022 at 09:29

Whilst the Virgin SH3 isn't the best, a new router won't necessarily improve your signal - there's some other information needed - how big is house, how many devices do you have, what construction in your house and is there any ability to run any cables for a ceiling AP in a central location anywhere?

On the budget side the TP-Link Mesh systems seem to get recommended but once we know a bit more we can answer above a bit better.

Avalon · 20 Jun 2022 at 10:46

Firstly - depending on package - virgin will supply free of charge wifi signal boosters that aren't actually bad iirc. I'd start with that first. I can - admittedly at a push - cover a 3 floor town house with my VM SH3, I don't because it's not suitable for my needs. If you choose not to go with this option, then your issue is wifi, you don't generally fix a wifi issue by replacing a router that broadcasts at the maximum permissible power level with one limited to the same level and expect miracles, you run a cable to a central location eg upstair landing and fit an AP, or you buy mesh with a wired backhaul and use that, or if you have to, mesh with at least a dedicated wireless backhaul and not a shared client/backhaul radio set-up. Either way, non of those options are a new router and will generally be a lot more suitable for your stated problem.

Defy Belief · 20 Jun 2022 at 13:47

What do you mean by 'adding more security'? What features are you looking to have?

Bagpu55 · 20 Jun 2022 at 20:00

Hello cheers for the responses. I have a 3 bed 1960s house, plasterboard walls (wouldnt say its solid construction

). In almost all rooms I get a signal (garage tends to drop out so I run a tp powerline adapter for a cable connection, bit of a pain but works). My main gripe is how slow the wifi can be at times but could be my ageing phone (and PC). 3 of us in the house with the usual PCs, laptop, xbox, TV streaming, phones, alexa. I was under the impression a new router would help with signal and quality of(but I have no real idea hence my question and expect an education). Yes regards security, again my lack of knowledge, do routers offer any firewall, VPN benefits on top of the router I have? Otherwise do I just stick with what I have and save my pennies.

Avalon · 20 Jun 2022 at 21:42

Bagpu55 said:
Hello cheers for the responses. I have a 3 bed 1960s house, plasterboard walls (wouldnt say its solid construction ). In almost all rooms I get a signal (garage tends to drop out so I run a tp powerline adapter for a cable connection, bit of a pain but works). My main gripe is how slow the wifi can be at times but could be my ageing phone (and PC). 3 of us in the house with the usual PCs, laptop, xbox, TV streaming, phones, alexa. I was under the impression a new router would help with signal and quality of(but I have no real idea hence my question and expect an education). Yes regards security, again my lack of knowledge, do routers offer any firewall, VPN benefits on top of the router I have? Otherwise do I just stick with what I have and save my pennies.

All routers use NAT and offer basic firewall functions, even the VM SH3 will allow you to open ports and set up forwarding, generally you don't want to run a VPN on a consumer grade outer and certainly not for everything, it tends to be painfully slow using anything like OVPN and you'll not do well o things like player, online banking, purchases can and do get flagged for fraud and some sites simply won't serve you the page you request based on your IP range. The other points are already answered above - run a cable, install an AP or run more cables and install mesh, or run no cables and buy not awful mesh, but at least explore the potentially free option via Virgin first.