Streaming slow on home network, most devices/apps are buffering

You might save your self a lot of pain just getting some one in to wire to your office, it is the best way, if the main thing you want is good internet on your PC you won't get better.

AP placing is critical, if you consider whatever signal is coming out of your wifi source is coming out like a 360 degree halo (simplistic view, it is rarely that good) with your router/AP in the centre and that halo only has a diameter of 8m (so 4m either side of your source) each metre from the wifi source speed will drop off and it is not linear, so 1m from router/AP might give you 1Gb, 2m 700Mb, 3m 300Mb, 4m 150Mb, add a wall in to the equation and you can take another fairly hefty percentage off.

As mentioned a simplistic view as there are so many factors on environment and the hardware. People, myself included, often place APs where it is convenient like the point the signal comes in next to the exterior wall or a desk in an office next to another exterior wall throwing away a lot of useful signal (just described my house :D ) so its great at the entry point but crap elsewhere in the house

A mesh system can help close up holes in these halos and extend your wifi etc, this is great if coverage is your issue but still has the same limitations, anything on the fringes of a wifi signal halo won't get speed, wired stuff always gets speed.

Image to aid my dodgy description :D

networking.jpg
 
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There's also latency/jitter to consider, cable is king for this and no WiFi system will come close. If you play online games you really need cable, or if you do voice calls such as Teams/Zoom. I can always tell when someone is on WiFi as the voice goes all robot for a split second.
 
ChrisD. said:
I did say. :)

I don't know much about Mesh systems, you need to find one which is tri-band I think they're called, the one you linked is dual band only so you lose available bandwidth because the units use the same radios to talk to one another as well as serve client traffic. They have a radio dedicated to backhaul which leaves the others free for client communications. Some of the systems require a subscription as well I believe.
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Massive price difference between the dual and tri band devices isn't there. Thanks for the explanation. I didn't think upgrading our internet package would come with lots planning like this!
 
sandys said:
You might save your self a lot of pain just getting some one in to wire to your office, it is the best way, if the main thing you want is good internet on your PC you won't get better.

AP placing is critical, if you consider whatever signal is coming out of your wifi source is coming out like a 360 degree halo (simplistic view, it is rarely that good) with your router/AP in the centre and that halo only has a diameter of 8m (so 4m either side of your source) each metre from the wifi source speed will drop off and it is not linear, so 1m from router/AP might give you 1Gb, 2m 700Mb, 3m 300Mb, 4m 150Mb, add a wall in to the equation and you can take another fairly hefty percentage off.

As mentioned a simplistic view as there are so many factors on environment and the hardware. People, myself included, often place APs where it is convenient like the point the signal comes in next to the exterior wall or a desk in an office next to another exterior wall throwing away a lot of useful signal (just described my house :D ) so its great at the entry point but crap elsewhere in the house

A mesh system can help close up holes in these halos and extend your wifi etc, this is great if coverage is your issue but still has the same limitations, anything on the fringes of a wifi signal halo won't get speed, wired stuff always gets speed.

Image to aid my dodgy description :D

networking.jpg
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Brilliant thanks for the information that makes sense, I thought it was something like this. I could think about the wiring option it's just it would have to go through the ceiling in the living room into the bedroom above, then up into the loft. Bit of a nightmare if I'm honest unless I'm missing something obvious.

Is that 4M figure specific to a router with AC capability? Stupid question but what is the height of this signal; is it 4M out from the level the router is at or 4M like a sphere?

Yeah that does make sense. Our house isn't massive or anything so hopefully I can get away with one WiFi 6 AP. It's not like I can't trial different setups to see what's best.

Would this product be sufficient? I know it's not tri-band but it seems decent - TP-Link Deco X20 AX1800 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System, AI-Driven Mesh, Up to 4,000 sq ft Coverage, 1 GHz Quad-Core CPU, With TP-Link HomeShield's kit, Pack of 2
 
ChrisD. said:
There's also latency/jitter to consider, cable is king for this and no WiFi system will come close. If you play online games you really need cable, or if you do voice calls such as Teams/Zoom. I can always tell when someone is on WiFi as the voice goes all robot for a split second.
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Yeah I like to play competitive FPS games..are there any tricks to make wiring a lot easier?
 
Brumboy said:
Yeah I like to play competitive FPS games..are there any tricks to make wiring a lot easier?
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Then you absolutely should cable it. You could go from your router location downstairs, go external then up the house into the loft. Put a switch up there and then drops down the wall recesses into the office/bedroom etc.
 
Brumboy said:
Is that 4M figure specific to a router with AC capability? Stupid question but what is the height of this signal; is it 4M out from the level the router is at or 4M like a sphere?
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Made up for description purposes, its range will depend on antenna array capabilities, wifi band and environment.
 
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Brumboy said:
Yeah I like to play competitive FPS games..are there any tricks to make wiring a lot easier?
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External routing is definitely the easiest.

If you only want point to point connection then get two surface mount back-boxes and punch-down RJ45 socket faceplates. Buy pre-made cables from your device to the boxes.

Decide if you want 1 cable (8mm hole) or 2 cables (10mm hole). Angle the holes so that water will not run into your house through the hole, (even if you fill the hole with mastic it can still leak but water will never leak upwards!l

Decide if you are going to have external trunking. If not, then you need UV resistant external grade cable and fit a cable nose to make the hole pretty.

Decide what cable you want to use. CAT5e is fine, CAT6 gives you some guarantee of a 10GbE connection. Anything better is dependent on how much you want to spend and how much you value the ‘latest and greatest’.

Buy good quality cable and connectors. I like Excel (also called CCS or Connectix) and I would buy everything at one time, from one source, to guarantee It will all work together. Connectix in the UK are Cable Monkey and they will advise and sell you whatever you need.

Buy a good quality cable stripping tool, a good quality pair of electricians scissors and a good quality punch down tool.

Watch loads of videos on YouTube.

Practice preparing the cable with off-cuts before you do the real thing.

Leave yourself some excess cable so if you fluff the initial punch down, you can take it back and start again without running new cables.

Don‘t get hung-up on testing, if it works and passes data at 1GbE, it will usually work at 10GbE. If it doesn’t work at 1GbE you need to do it again.

With all the set-up costs, for one run of cables it’s almost certainly cheaper to get someone in to do it rather than doing it yourself. I’ve found TV aerial installers really good as they are to working at height, don’t have any inflated opinions of themselves or their value and they know how to drill through domestic walls which are very different to commercial buildings (certainly in the UK).
 
Brumboy said:
Yeah I like to play competitive FPS games..are there any tricks to make wiring a lot easier?
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It really isn't difficult, just pull the carpet up a little and tuck the cable underneath. The space between the carpet grippers and the wall is usually perfect for it. Then pull the carpet back over and stand on it... job's a good 'un!
 
Worthy said:
It really isn't difficult, just pull the carpet up a little and tuck the cable underneath. The space between the carpet grippers and the wall is usually perfect for it. Then pull the carpet back over and stand on it... job's a good 'un!
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Yes, that's also a good way to run cables - along the edges of the room, up the stairs skirting board and then again, around the room(s).
 
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Brumboy said:
Thanks for the response regarding the wiring very helpful indeed and hopefully it helps anyone else out too.

I am looking into it but if I decide to go down the Wireless route what routers on OCUK are actually good enough to handle a 1gig connection?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus-tuf-gaming-ax5400-dual-band-wifi-6-gaming-router-nw-126-as.html - this looks like it ticks all the boxes but on the higher price end
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Serious routers don’t tend to be aimed at attracting young boys. As stated above, pretty much anything will route 1Gbps - you only need especially powerful devices if you want to do edge security features where you’re checking for malware on incoming data packets.
 


I get 6ms ping on Speedtest

Very impressed, I will test the new router tomorrow and assess from there. Quite chuffed not going to lie!
 
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Brumboy said:
I couldn't see a better one at that price range. It's very well reviewed & has a lot of features. Is there a better one in the £100-£150 price range?

Only one I could see is https://www.overclockers.co.uk/tp-l...al-band-gigabit-wi-fi-6-router-nw-22e-tp.html
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What does the Asus do that your ISP router cannot?

What are your exact requirements? As if it's whole house fast WiFi, you're going to be spending more money as you've bought the wrong product to achieve that.
 
ChrisD. said:
What does the Asus do that your ISP router cannot?

What are your exact requirements? As if it's whole house fast WiFi, you're going to be spending more money as you've bought the wrong product to achieve that.
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Well the Asus has 5400mb bandwidth, the Fritz has 1200mb, I play Quest2 via Link which eats up bandwidth etc, the range is huge on the Asus, the list goes on really look at the specs it's very impressive.

I'm potentially just going to try to connect my PC via ethernet through the loft and get a switch etc

Here are the combinations I've tried so far:

Fritzbox (LAN) - PC (LAN) - 5 ping, 950mb download, 110mb upload

Fritzbox (ac) - PC (ax) - 7 ping, 130mb download, 105mb upload

Fritzbox (ac) - TP-Link Deco X20 access point mode (ax) - PC (ax) - 6 ping, 580mb download, 110mb upload - this result varies quite a lot, from 350mb all the way to 580mb

TP-Link Deco X20 router mode (ax) - PC (ax) - 5 ping, 270mb download, 105mb upload - set it up with PPPoe, on 5ghz but only getting 270mb which is weird because it's a modern router than the Fritzbox, any idea why it's so low?

Router (ax) - PC (ax) - Will test when the router arrives today
 
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For the cost of that abomination sold by a company who has no regard for customer security, you could have paid toward an electrician or CCTV installer to run a cable to your office.

If you have Deco X20, why did you buy the Asus? Seems completely pointless to me. Or are you just following your own narrative no matter what anyone here says?
 
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