WiFi Signal Boosters

[Jobbo]

Google have just launched Google WiFi (not to be confused with Nest WiFi). It's £189 for 3 pucks.

Just launched? I've had Google Wifi for about 3 years. It's not bad; easy to use, bit pricey, needs restarting from time to time (which you do via the app, no need to go round turning them all off and on again).

[Simon]

This is the new Gen 2 though so hopefully fixes a few of the bugs from before.

[Ascender]

BT WholeHome is brilliant as well as being reliable and idiot proof.

[IanF]

I plugged in some netgear Wi-Fi 6 mesh devices and have touched it in 12 months other than to get her kids off devices (you can block individual devices on the app). 4K streaming all over the (old, 4 storey, 400m2) house and a strong, stable connection during homeschooling earned me beaucoup brownie points!

[dinny_g]

I was going to say the BT 3 mini disc mesh solution is about £75 but they appears to have gone up to £110 now.

What’s the difference between the mini (£110) and the ‘normal’ one for £199

[mik]

If anyone is interested - I have an unused BT SmartHub2 (broadband as opposed to fibre version) - no discs, but obviously ready to connect to them…

[RobYob]

I was going to say the BT 3 mini disc mesh solution is about £75 but they appears to have gone up to £110 now.

What’s the difference between the mini (£110) and the ‘normal’ one for £199

AC1200 vs AC2700 and some different control options. Practically I don't know what that means but I'm happy with the minis for all the streaming to TVs, phones, tablets and laptops that we do at home. Seems to happily download stuff onto a laptop at around the maximum 3MB/s my internet supports.

[dinny_g]

Cheers Rob - Ordered!!

[mik]

Seems like a decent thread to add this to. I've been considering an external antenna for quite some time so this vid / info is very useful.

Anyone else done it? If you stick an antenna on one side of your house, does the signal carry to the other side?

[Mito Man]

I use the TP link outdoor ones but can’t answer your question as I used them to fill deadzones.

[Jobbo]

I stuck a couple of our old Google Wifi points either end of the garage to provide some coverage outside but it's nowhere near the range of that external aerial. When our wifi needs replacing I might get something similar. Can't imagine it would have a good signal the opposite side of the house though; if it did you might as well install it in the loft.

[Matty]

External, directional attenna is the best if you want to cover a garden area and/or external buildings. Putting an AP on the inside of an external wall will work, but how much bleeds into the garden depends on wall construction, and just how big your garden is.

[JonMad]

Looking back at the older posts in this thread, we've just moved from PlusNet to EE and with the new router the wifi is comparatively rubbish (and I threw out the old one!) - my phone upstairs drops to 4G now and again, and my wife's work area has patchy signal. I have some Devolo powerline adapters laying around so maybe need to resurrect a few of those. Don't really want to spend £££s to fix the wifi, but it is annoying.

[DeskJockey]

Looking back at the older posts in this thread, we've just moved from PlusNet to EE and with the new router the wifi is comparatively rubbish (and I threw out the old one!) - my phone upstairs drops to 4G now and again, and my wife's work area has patchy signal. I have some Devolo powerline adapters laying around so maybe need to resurrect a few of those. Don't really want to spend £££s to fix the wifi, but it is annoying.

Check with EE. They (ISPs) sometimes offer free boosters to cover poor signal.

[Beany]

Sometimes if you just moan to your ISP, if they do a fancy pants mesh system they'll upgrade you for free (why should i have to pay when the previous supplied router worked fine, etc).

I'm having to look at replacing my Synology networking gear because I'm finding it's a bit too 'hands off' for management and keeps picking bad channels to use - that, and it can't route >1gb broadband usefully (it has 2.5gb in, but 1gb NICs for the output, which is rather pointless) so I'm currently looking at Ubiquity stuff.

Which is annoying.

[simon_g]

Haven't regretted a penny I've spent on unifi wifi gear. U7 Pro mounted on the hallway ceiling gives decent coverage everywhere and if you're anywhere near it you can get the full 900mb down. Be a room or two away and it's still 400+.

Almost all internet gripes I hear are people using the rubbish ISP router, and usually stuck in the corner of their house. A U7 lite would do much the same job, one of those plus a cloud gateway ultra and a POE injector will give most houses excellent wifi for under £200.

[Mito Man]

Just replaced an old router with another old router - Apple Extreme. Box said 2013

Still have a new Express in the box too. Should probably be in a museum!

[Beany]

Sometimes if you just moan to your ISP, if they do a fancy pants mesh system they'll upgrade you for free (why should i have to pay when the previous supplied router worked fine, etc).

I'm having to look at replacing my Synology networking gear because I'm finding it's a bit too 'hands off' for management and keeps picking bad channels to use - that, and it can't route >1gb broadband usefully (it has 2.5gb in, but 1gb NICs for the output, which is rather pointless) so I'm currently looking at Ubiquity stuff.

Which is annoying.

OK, so I bit the bullet and got an Ubiquity Dream Router 7, and a U7 Pro - both Wifi 7 devices. Which isn't necessary, but the radio link (and the 2x2 (x3) radio setup) means when they mesh, they should mesh fast.

I have set them up and they mesh fast.. Like, 2gb/sec reported mesh speed.

iPerf3 (a network speed test package) from my NAS (upstairs) to the telly PC (downstairs) is a solid 1gb/sec - because that's the fastest connection I have up there (the tellybox has 2.5gb on it - which is connected to the U7 Pro's PoE injector. It will soon be connected to a 2.5gb switch a I might want to put another device down here and one port won't cut it.

I can now get the full 900mb of my internet connection down here too, obviously, which is nice - something the synology setup never managed.

Honestly, it absolutely kicks the shit out of the Syno gear in every respect - should have bought it in the first place, really Oh well, ho hum etc.

Here's a diagram, this is why work pays me the big bucks.

NetworkLayoutBasicBitch.png (3.92 KiB) Viewed 49 times

Edit: A bit more fiddling and I got a 240mhz mesh going, which is reporting as over 2.5gb each way, and with a system that can push that, I can get a real 1.8gb/sec over it.

That's enough to transfer an entire DVD image in about 25 seconds. Over a wireless bridge.

Lummy

[Delphi]

I tried getting a UDR7 and they were permanently out of stock. Ended up using an Amplifi router directly connected to my ONT and a couple of mesh points covering the back of the house and upstairs. For the first time since I've been in this house, I've got perfect Wifi coverage with zero issues and faff.