Router to replace BT homehub 5

fez

fez

fez

Caporegime
Joined
22 Aug 2008
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Tunbridge Wells
Hi all,

I have just had BT fibre installed and I am not super impressed by it for the most part. The speeds are quite variable depending on times of the day (not necessarily when there would naturally be lots of people online either).

The biggest issue I have found however is that the range on the home hub 5 is quite ****. I live in a flat that has solid concrete walls and I am going through 3 of them at a slight angle to get to my office.

The signal on my mac is always full yet the internet speed I get from the router quite often drops off a lot at random times and is much more stable the closer I get to the router. I have a Synology DS214 connected to the homehub which I use for torrents, backup and general storage and I can't even stream full HD movies from it over the network. It is just too slow.

What would people recommend I use to replace the home hub 5. I am not overly concerned about the budget as I work from home so this is quite important.
 
I have a MBP that doesn't have a network port and running cat5 all the way to my office would be a nightmare unfortunately.
 
Download WIFI Analyser for your phone and check to see if any other networks are on the same channel as your HH5.

If your sure relocating it won't make things better or changing the channels, then maybe try something like the Asus RT-N66U. I used to have one plugged in to my HH5 (HH5 acted like a router only - if you have the white openreach modem box on the wall it can plug straight into that).

hth
 
There's an Apple Thunderbolt to Ethernet adaptor. Works well - I use one.

If you won't want to run CAT5, then there's always powerline adaptors either for an ethernet connection, or to extend the wireless range.

Concrete walls have a very high transmission loss on Wireless signals. You're asking for the impossible IMO. Work turned an old 60s children home into an office when it fell out of use, it was full of concrete walls and the wireless signals were unreliable in there even after we shotgunned the building with APs based on a wireless survey.
 
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Thanks for the advice guys. I am running 2 monitors off the thunderbolt ports at the moment but I could swap one to hdmi. I'll have a think and decide what option is going to be best.
 
What wireless router did you use before that managed to transmit (and receive signals back from your gear) through 3 concrete walls?
 
I have only just moved into the flat so nothing really. I have an old apple AirPort Extreme that I used before we had infinity installed that was patchy but faster when it did work. Is cat5 really the only sensible solution?
 
Set the Airport Extreme into AP mode and put it in the office. Connect it to the HomeHub using a set of powerline adapters as a substitute for CAT5?
 
fez said:
I have only just moved into the flat so nothing really. I have an old apple AirPort Extreme that I used before we had infinity installed that was patchy but faster when it did work. Is cat5 really the only sensible solution?
Click to expand...

I think you've hit the limitations of Wi-Fi rather than the Home Hub to be honest.

Powerline adaptors to the office area and then plug the AirPort in would be a good option.
 
I am happy enough to run cat5 cable to the office if I'm honest. I've heard mixed reviews of these power line adapters so I would rather not do that.

Am I right in thinking it would look something like:

BT home hub
Cat 5
5 port switch
Cat5
MacBook

What sort of speeds can I expect over the network for file transfer if I plug the Synology into the switch?
 
If you buy gigabit kit (and why wouldn't you) then you will get the maximum speed that the Synology box can deliver.
 
Are you using 2.4GHz or 5GHz wifi?

Also i'd be using CAT5e minimum and might as well use CAT6.
(my home network is CAT6).
 
InQ said:
Are you using 2.4GHz or 5GHz wifi?

Also i'd be using CAT5e minimum and might as well use CAT6.
(my home network is CAT6).
Click to expand...

I am using 5ghz which I know has less range that 2.4 but the 2.4 on the home hub is appalling whenever I use it.
 
I've bitten the bullet and bought an 8 port switch, a load of cat6 cable and a thunderbolt to ethernet adaptor. I'll have to do a little drilling and cable routing but it shouldn't be too much work and I am sick of crap wifi.

I was trying to stream some 1080p stuff off my DA214 last night and it was stuttering so regularly that it was a joke. My laptop was sat 2ft away from the router and it didn't make any difference. I'm looking forward to having a network that actually allows me to use my NAS properly and stream media.
 
I have to say i've been using the HH5 for 3 ish months and very happy with it. Got Intel 7260 AC wifi chips in both laptops and my sons NUC. The HH5 is in 1 corner of my house and my sons NUC is in the opposite corner (upstairs) still connects at 240mbit ish. Does sometimes drop to 120mbit. But its ok to transfer the odd 4gb file once in a while.

My house is a new build though so no concrete walls. . . But as far as routers go I have no issue with the HH5. Its free after all :-)

Going wired is always best though. In my previous house I ran eithernet cable to living room, office, 1 bed room and kitchen. Can't beat 1gbit wired really!
 
fez said:
I am using 5ghz which I know has less range that 2.4 but the 2.4 on the home hub is appalling whenever I use it.
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There's so many 2.4GHz networks in my apartment block that there's no unused channels. I'm running a 5GHz AP to cut through the murk!
 
darknite said:
I have to say i've been using the HH5 for 3 ish months and very happy with it. Got Intel 7260 AC wifi chips in both laptops and my sons NUC. The HH5 is in 1 corner of my house and my sons NUC is in the opposite corner (upstairs) still connects at 240mbit ish. Does sometimes drop to 120mbit. But its ok to transfer the odd 4gb file once in a while.

My house is a new build though so no concrete walls. . . But as far as routers go I have no issue with the HH5. Its free after all :-)

Going wired is always best though. In my previous house I ran eithernet cable to living room, office, 1 bed room and kitchen. Can't beat 1gbit wired really!
Click to expand...

To be honest, its alright, its just not got many settings that you can control compared to a lot of routers, the range isn't that good and the control panel for it is quite pants. If you don't need it to do anything beyond give you internet and transfer the odd file its alright. Ask it to do anything more though and it starts to fall down.
 
Dear lord! I wish I had done this at every property I have lived at. I have just hooked a switch up to the BT Homehub and plugged my DS214 into it along with a cable to my macbook and the speeds and responsiveness of it all are amazing.

Before it would take 2 or more hours to transfer 10gb. It now takes about 2 minutes. Connecting to the NAS is almost instant and everything in folders shows up straight away. I assumed WiFi was better than it is apparently.

Speed tests now show my max speed solidly rather than very occasionally and with many ups and downs. Colour me amazed. Thanks for all the advice guys.
 
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