Help with boosting wifi

[the_vinyl_frontier 767]

OK, I'm at the end of my tether. We've got virgin 200mb broadband. More often than not, we get at least that download speed over WiFi (when right close to the router),but other times it drops to 10-20mb download. 

 

I have my bike trainer/laptop in the garage (two plasterboard and one brick wall away from the router), which connects to the Internet to run zwift, but it is forever dropping out or not even connecting. I also have a blink cctv camera outside the garage door which gets poor WiFi signal.

 

I bought one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07ZWBBPQN?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title which I have attempted to use and it seems to cause more problems than it solves. I've used it in the garage and moved to the kitchen (nearer the router). Things connect to it OK, but then often can't get online for some reason and it just seems so patchy. If I turn this off, generally the around the house is better (except the garage) 

 

Im looking for a decent solution to boost my WiFi coverage in the house & garage, any help would be massively appreciated. 

 

Thank you! 

[@owlstalk 37,893]

WIFI extenders simply don't work - dont' waste your money

If you can obviously running Cat5 (or above) cable through to there would be the absolute best you can do

Otherwise you might have to buy a router, put your Virgin router into modem mode and use the new router as the one sending signal through the home

[the_vinyl_frontier 767]

Thanks for the info, yeah I get the impression the boosters aren't great. Virgin media are trying to sell me one for £5 per month! 

 

Unfortunately we've just finished renovating the house and I never really thought about networking it, as the WiFi is generally OK, but I never checked it in the garage! 

 

Are poweline adaptors any good? https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-PLP1000-100UKS-Gigabit-Powerline-Adapter/dp/B01N3YCC7R/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=powerline+adaptors&qid=1610393363&sprefix=Power&sr=8-4

 

I guess the only issue is if the garage isn't on the same wiring circuit as the living room. 

 

I may have to end up getting a different router - do you have any suggestions? Is it fairly straightforward to get set up as you've suggested? 

[@owlstalk 37,893]

2 minutes ago, the_vinyl_frontier said:

Thanks for the info, yeah I get the impression the boosters aren't great. Virgin media are trying to sell me one for £5 per month! 

 

Unfortunately we've just finished renovating the house and I never really thought about networking it, as the WiFi is generally OK, but I never checked it in the garage! 

 

Are poweline adaptors any good? https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-PLP1000-100UKS-Gigabit-Powerline-Adapter/dp/B01N3YCC7R/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=powerline+adaptors&qid=1610393363&sprefix=Power&sr=8-4

 

I guess the only issue is if the garage isn't on the same wiring circuit as the living room. 

 

I may have to end up getting a different router - do you have any suggestions? Is it fairly straightforward to get set up as you've suggested? 

 

 

 

Powerline aren't the worst thing and worth trying (maybe get one off Amazon, try it, and if it doesn't work send it back)

 

In theory it should work well. I think you have to have one 'ring' in your house for electricity or something? I"m not 100% clued up on that side of things

I'd not buy a new router without checking and researching to death

@DeeJayOne might know?

[the_vinyl_frontier 767]

Cool, thanks for your help (again). From what I gather for poweline things, as long as your electrical circuits are both on the same RCD in the consumer unit, it *should* work. But yeah I may well just buy one and send it back if necessary! 

[DeeJayOne 5,900]

Powerline adaptors are OK, but are for wired connections. They also depend on the wiring on your house. In my experience they can wildly vary and some I got once just lost connection every week or so and needed re-connecting.

 

Wi-fi repeaters can be OK, but generally you get what you pay for and the cheaper ones just don't work well (same with Powerline).

 

What I suspect you need is a mesh system with a few Wi-Fi mesh points around the house. I wouldn't touch anything that isn't Wi-Fi 6 nowadays (801.11ax standard). Again, don't expect anything decent for cheap. And do your research to ensure it will work with your current ISP: https://uk.pcmag.com/wireless-networking/87178/the-best-wi-fi-mesh-network-systems

 

 

 

 

 

 

[the_vinyl_frontier 767]

Thanks for the info, I appreciate your help. 

 

I think I may try a poweline to begin with, I'm happy to have a wired connection in the garage (although my camera won't agree), at least I will be able to use the laptop for my bike which is only maybe 5-6 hours per week. 

 

If I cant get that working because of the wiring in the house I'll have a look at a mesh system 

[@owlstalk 37,893]

11 hours ago, the_vinyl_frontier said:

Thanks for the info, I appreciate your help. 

 

I think I may try a poweline to begin with, I'm happy to have a wired connection in the garage (although my camera won't agree), at least I will be able to use the laptop for my bike which is only maybe 5-6 hours per week. 

 

If I cant get that working because of the wiring in the house I'll have a look at a mesh system 

 

You can get powerline adaptors that are wired together but then have wifi at the end point 

 

Id try those 

 

They still have wired connections in them if you need them

[@owlstalk 37,893]

 

Definitely check this out too

[@owlstalk 37,893]

 

 

I would get one of these kits from Amazon to see if you can get Powerlline working in your home first - https://amzn.to/2Lo206Y

 

If you find it works and you can use powerline adaptors but need more speed you can easily send that kit back and get a faster one (it 'should' be easily fast enough though)

 

About this item

Ultra-fast Powerline Speed - HomePlug AV2 standard compliant, high-speed data transfer rate of up to 1000 Mbps, supports all your online needs

Dual band 802.11ac Wi-Fi - Extends up to 2.4 GHz (300 Mbps) and 5 GHz (433 Mbps) dual band Wi-Fi speeds to every room of your house

Wi-Fi auto-sync - Instantly configures additional extenders to your power line network by uniformly syncing settings such as SSID, password, Wi-Fi schedule and LED schedule across all network devices

Gigabit Ethernet Port - Gigabit Ethernet port provides reliable high-speed wired connections for gaming or streaming

Plug, pair and play - Set up your power line network and start enjoying fast, seamless wired/wireless connection in minutes

It has powerline capabilty but also has wifi for your garage end so you can wire your laptop in needed but can have normal wifi for any devices in your garage

 

 

[the_vinyl_frontier 767]

Cheers for the help. I decided to take the plunge and buy a basic powerline adaptor from amazon and it works a treat! I get around 70mb download in the garage so more than enough for what I need! 

[@owlstalk 37,893]

Just now, the_vinyl_frontier said:

Cheers for the help. I decided to take the plunge and buy a basic powerline adaptor from amazon and it works a treat! I get around 70mb download in the garage so more than enough for what I need! 

 

Ah great stuff!

Good to hear you're sorted

[the_vinyl_frontier 767]

59 minutes ago, @owlstalk said:

 

Ah great stuff!

Good to hear you're sorted

Thanks for your help mate, I appreciate you taking the time! 

[@owlstalk 37,893]

29 minutes ago, the_vinyl_frontier said:

Thanks for your help mate, I appreciate you taking the time! 

 

 

No worries - happy to help always

[Inspector Lestrade 21,816]

Bloody amateurs

 

 

Reboot

[the_vinyl_frontier 767]

5 hours ago, Inspector Lestrade said:

Bloody amateurs

 

 

Reboot

You sound like you work for Virgin Media...