Reply to: Boosting Home Wifi

[WTFH]

Yep. There is a really good Android app called wifi-analyser that profiles signal strength and crossover.

I use Inssider and airport utility

[Andy Hallett]

To stop crossover, I hope it's more like 6,13, 1,11 (if you had 4 floors)

Yep. There is a really good Android app called wifi-analyser that profiles signal strength and crossover.

[WTFH]

The Hallett house is on three floors and all block and concrete construction. Although the thing is bloody well built it's not wifi friendly.

I've solved this by using homeplugs. These connect to 3x wireless routers. Through trial and error I found that you have to turn off the slave routers' DNS server and change the IP. It also boosted performance when you changed the channels. Mine run on 1,6,11,13.

The result is wifi all around the house and across the gardens.

To stop crossover, I hope it's more like 6,13, 1,11 (if you had 4 floors)

[ChimpMaster]

The Hallett house is on three floors and all block and concrete construction. Although the thing is bloody well built it's not wifi friendly.

I've solved this by using homeplugs. These connect to 3x wireless routers. Through trial and error I found that you have to turn off the slave routers' DNS server and change the IP. It also boosted performance when you changed the channels. Mine run on 1,6,11,13.

The result is wifi all around the house and across the gardens.

Same here but I find that when I move from one wifi 'zone' to another, the phone/tablet has to reconnect to the new 'zone' and that occasionally has to be forced manually.

[Fred Bloggs]

I have tried the TP Link option to enable me to work from the patio, about 30 yards from the house. Works just fine for me. Just £15 from a superstore.

Yes, cheap as chips and very effective when I have used TP Link WiFi extenders.

[Andy Hallett]

The Hallett house is on three floors and all block and concrete construction. Although the thing is bloody well built it's not wifi friendly.

I've solved this by using homeplugs. These connect to 3x wireless routers. Through trial and error I found that you have to turn off the slave routers' DNS server and change the IP. It also boosted performance when you changed the channels. Mine run on 1,6,11,13.

The result is wifi all around the house and across the gardens.

[Hugh Jardon]

TP Link worked for me

The absolute simplest way to boost your home wifi is to get a couple of very good home plugs that have LAN connection and are also wifi range extenders. That means ignoring crap like TP Link and the like.
You need to look at the Develo range. These have through plugs (so you do not lose one of your house plug sockets), have upto 3 LAN connectors and are wifi range extenders.

Sure, you can get cheaper lesser options linke the TP Link rubbish but dont be surprised when they dont do as it says on the tin.

I have tried the TP Link option to enable me to work from the patio, about 30 yards from the house. Works just fine for me. Just £15 from a superstore.

[saptastic]

Havent heard any more from you!

How did you get on?

Better coverage achieved yet?

I went for a couple of Netgear wi-fi extenders - about £100.
Simple and seem to work well so far!

[Hugh Jampton]

Fed up of poor wifi coverage]
Sky have mentioned a couple of products for boosting coverage
Has anyone used these or anything else?

Unifi
Homeplugs

Ta

Havent heard any more from you!

How did you get on?

Better coverage achieved yet?

[d000hg]

How do you get your WiFi signal down a cable? I'm talking about a passive rather than active system that lets your existing router work better without modification.

[gables]

Slightly silly but still genuine question... can you install 'conduits' to allow WiFi signal to get through walls and floors it struggles with? I forget what part of the spectrum is involved and how it behaves, whether drilling bits of pipe through your walls would work or not.

And slightly silly answer from me is that the 'conduit' you're thinking of is called a cable I'm I couldn't resist

[mall]

wifi

I have an app on my phone that shows all the wifi signals and the channels they use. On android it is called Wifi Analyzer. Then you can walk round the house to find the best spots.

Try changing the channel to a less congested one.

Move your router to a different location. Also higher up away from electronic devices like TV's etc.

Get a better router and use 5GHz rather than 2.4GHz.

All else fails try powerline adapters(never used them myself).

[vwdan]

Yeah the multiple identical SSIDs Vs mesh is something I never got my head around. Is that a feature some kits have but not others?

Mine are named differently which has pros and cons.

"Mesh" means different things to different providers, but basically it's a mess that still doesn't really work right some ten years after I first got involved with them. In terms of managing multiple access points through a centralised system it's fine, but I don't buy into the device management aspects of it.

Problem is that there's no real standard for it, so you're still somewhat at the mercy of the device. I got a Ubiquiti access point (one of their commercial grade jobs) but I've not bothered getting another one because the hand off tech sucks.

And, as for the reviews on that site posted - I'll just pop this snippet here:

The Plume system doesn’t even use a router.

Instead of using a local router to do the “thinking, Plume is a cloud-based system”

The fact that the above is a technical impossibility leads me to believe the reviews aren't worth taking too seriously....

Move further away from your neighbours to eliminate interference from adjacent wifi networks.

Or line the external walls of the house with tin foil ;-)

Joking aside, auto channel selection can be absolutely rubbish when there are a few routers about. It won't really help your range as such, but sometimes selecting a fixed channel can really work wonders.

[d000hg]

Slightly silly but still genuine question... can you install 'conduits' to allow WiFi signal to get through walls and floors it struggles with? I forget what part of the spectrum is involved and how it behaves, whether drilling bits of pipe through your walls would work or not.

[DeadEyedJacks]

Move further away from your neighbours to eliminate interference from adjacent wifi networks.

Or line the external walls of the house with tin foil ;-)