Which ISP has the best off the shelf router?
Discussion
Our virgin contract is up soon, and I will be sacking it off ASAP due to the never ending connection/range issues we have with them.
Previously we had BT and then Vodafone. BT was good, albeit expensive and vodafone started out crap but after numerous calls with tech support we had something resembling a decent service. Virgin claimed faster internet (our street didn't have fibre at the time) so we went with them.
I get a solid 250Mbps next to the router (11Mbps upload) but devices around the house regularly drop out with seemingly no pattern. I can be streaming HD Netflix on my Xbox which is right next to my laptop which will have zero internet at the same time. We now have 3 virgin boosters around the house and it's made no difference.
As fibre has now been installed down the street, I'm considering going back to BT, but are their routers any good? Two of us WFH and two kids with various devices so the demand is high!
Previously we had BT and then Vodafone. BT was good, albeit expensive and vodafone started out crap but after numerous calls with tech support we had something resembling a decent service. Virgin claimed faster internet (our street didn't have fibre at the time) so we went with them.
I get a solid 250Mbps next to the router (11Mbps upload) but devices around the house regularly drop out with seemingly no pattern. I can be streaming HD Netflix on my Xbox which is right next to my laptop which will have zero internet at the same time. We now have 3 virgin boosters around the house and it's made no difference.
As fibre has now been installed down the street, I'm considering going back to BT, but are their routers any good? Two of us WFH and two kids with various devices so the demand is high!
MrBig said:
Our virgin contract is up soon, and I will be sacking it off ASAP due to the never ending connection/range issues we have with them.
Previously we had BT and then Vodafone. BT was good, albeit expensive and vodafone started out crap but after numerous calls with tech support we had something resembling a decent service. Virgin claimed faster internet (our street didn't have fibre at the time) so we went with them.
I get a solid 250Mbps next to the router (11Mbps upload) but devices around the house regularly drop out with seemingly no pattern. I can be streaming HD Netflix on my Xbox which is right next to my laptop which will have zero internet at the same time. We now have 3 virgin boosters around the house and it's made no difference.
As fibre has now been installed down the street, I'm considering going back to BT, but are their routers any good? Two of us WFH and two kids with various devices so the demand is high!
Why worry about how good or bad the isp provided modem/firewall/router/switch/accesspoint is?Previously we had BT and then Vodafone. BT was good, albeit expensive and vodafone started out crap but after numerous calls with tech support we had something resembling a decent service. Virgin claimed faster internet (our street didn't have fibre at the time) so we went with them.
I get a solid 250Mbps next to the router (11Mbps upload) but devices around the house regularly drop out with seemingly no pattern. I can be streaming HD Netflix on my Xbox which is right next to my laptop which will have zero internet at the same time. We now have 3 virgin boosters around the house and it's made no difference.
As fibre has now been installed down the street, I'm considering going back to BT, but are their routers any good? Two of us WFH and two kids with various devices so the demand is high!
You can easily install your own device & then isolate yourself from that question should you want to change isp’s in12-24 months should you want to chase cost savings or find their service poor.
It makes changing isp’s less impactful.
^ this. Buy yourself a decent wireless router, preferably a mesh setup. Any time you swap providers it's simply a case of plugging the network cable from your set up into the providers router and everything carries on connecting as before.
I've got a 4 BT discs that I bought years back, a lot of people will say they're not the best but they've been almost faultless, just requiring an off and on once a year or so when they decide they're not letting one device connect.
Before I got these the really annoying ISP swap was when the new router supplied said my very long wireless password wasn't secure enough and need a number as well as upper, lower and a special character. Meant I had to go around every connected device adding a number to the password.
I've got a 4 BT discs that I bought years back, a lot of people will say they're not the best but they've been almost faultless, just requiring an off and on once a year or so when they decide they're not letting one device connect.
Before I got these the really annoying ISP swap was when the new router supplied said my very long wireless password wasn't secure enough and need a number as well as upper, lower and a special character. Meant I had to go around every connected device adding a number to the password.
MrBig said:
Our virgin contract is up soon, and I will be sacking it off ASAP due to the never ending connection/range issues we have with them.
Previously we had BT and then Vodafone. BT was good, albeit expensive and vodafone started out crap but after numerous calls with tech support we had something resembling a decent service. Virgin claimed faster internet (our street didn't have fibre at the time) so we went with them.
I get a solid 250Mbps next to the router (11Mbps upload) but devices around the house regularly drop out with seemingly no pattern. I can be streaming HD Netflix on my Xbox which is right next to my laptop which will have zero internet at the same time. We now have 3 virgin boosters around the house and it's made no difference.
As fibre has now been installed down the street, I'm considering going back to BT, but are their routers any good? Two of us WFH and two kids with various devices so the demand is high!
You are incorrectly conflating internet speed with wi-fi speed. Previously we had BT and then Vodafone. BT was good, albeit expensive and vodafone started out crap but after numerous calls with tech support we had something resembling a decent service. Virgin claimed faster internet (our street didn't have fibre at the time) so we went with them.
I get a solid 250Mbps next to the router (11Mbps upload) but devices around the house regularly drop out with seemingly no pattern. I can be streaming HD Netflix on my Xbox which is right next to my laptop which will have zero internet at the same time. We now have 3 virgin boosters around the house and it's made no difference.
As fibre has now been installed down the street, I'm considering going back to BT, but are their routers any good? Two of us WFH and two kids with various devices so the demand is high!
If the incoming internet speed provided by the ISP is acceptable, all you need to do is change the default wi-fi router to a better spec one, or possibly add a few access points in low signal areas of your house.
It's a lot simpler and quicker than changing ISP, which potentially may not even solve your problem anyway.
Mandat said:
You are incorrectly conflating internet speed with wi-fi speed.
If the incoming internet speed provided by the ISP is acceptable, all you need to do is change the default wi-fi router to a better spec one, or possibly add a few access points in low signal areas of your house.
It's a lot simpler and quicker than changing ISP, which potentially may not even solve your problem anyway.
No I'm not. My point was that there is no issue with the internet speed, but the signal from the router is terrible.If the incoming internet speed provided by the ISP is acceptable, all you need to do is change the default wi-fi router to a better spec one, or possibly add a few access points in low signal areas of your house.
It's a lot simpler and quicker than changing ISP, which potentially may not even solve your problem anyway.
Why should I have to buy another router when the one provided should be fit for purpose. The one BT previously supplied was.
MrBig said:
Mandat said:
You are incorrectly conflating internet speed with wi-fi speed.
If the incoming internet speed provided by the ISP is acceptable, all you need to do is change the default wi-fi router to a better spec one, or possibly add a few access points in low signal areas of your house.
It's a lot simpler and quicker than changing ISP, which potentially may not even solve your problem anyway.
No I'm not. My point was that there is no issue with the internet speed, but the signal from the router is terrible.If the incoming internet speed provided by the ISP is acceptable, all you need to do is change the default wi-fi router to a better spec one, or possibly add a few access points in low signal areas of your house.
It's a lot simpler and quicker than changing ISP, which potentially may not even solve your problem anyway.
Why should I have to buy another router when the one provided should be fit for purpose. The one BT previously supplied was.
It’s also worth considering that other peoples experience of wireless networking devices is anecdotal at best, what works well in their home is not guaranteed to work well in anothers.
Still as ever the only people that need to be happy with your home network experience are you & your family.
There is definitely no "one size fits all" for home wifi and it's not the realm of the ISP. You can pretty much guarantee the router you receive from your ISP will be the cheapest they could negotiate. That will provide adequate coverage of a small house of standard construction. In contrast, the appropriate router for our non-standard home cost £400. Sky did not provide that.
If you've got 3 wifi "boosters" (which are actually repeaters and speed-dividers) then you have a non-standard application and you need alternative equipment.
Choose an ISP based on price and maybe positive reviews.
BTW: No ISP endorses replacing their router because they can't then troubleshoot for you but it's usually straightforward. Sky is an exception in that it's achingly difficult to substitute their router so probably isn't right for you.
If you've got 3 wifi "boosters" (which are actually repeaters and speed-dividers) then you have a non-standard application and you need alternative equipment.
Choose an ISP based on price and maybe positive reviews.
BTW: No ISP endorses replacing their router because they can't then troubleshoot for you but it's usually straightforward. Sky is an exception in that it's achingly difficult to substitute their router so probably isn't right for you.
MrBig said:
No I'm not. My point was that there is no issue with the internet speed, but the signal from the router is terrible.
Why should I have to buy another router when the one provided should be fit for purpose. The one BT previously supplied was.
Because in the real world, ISPs want to make profits, and handing out decent networking gear doesn’t help that. Why should I have to buy another router when the one provided should be fit for purpose. The one BT previously supplied was.
When we were all on 8-20Mb with only a couple of devices, a cheap box with a slow but long range 2.4Ghz WiFi band was acceptable.
Now, when people want 300Mb throughout the home and garden, and dozens of smart devices all communicating with each other and the internet, you actually need decent hardware in the router to get good performance.
Most ISPs just give the bare minimum to get you online and then send you round in circles when you have problems.
As someone else suggested, the Fritzbox Zen sends out is not too bad. But you will need mesh if you want to maintain high speeds throughout the home and a decent mesh system that reliably switches between access points and doesn’t need resetting every so often costs money. With two people WFH it makes sense to invest in decent kit you don’t need to wrestle with.
jrb43 said:
BTW: No ISP endorses replacing their router because they can't then troubleshoot for you but it's usually straightforward. Sky is an exception in that it's achingly difficult to substitute their router so probably isn't right for you.
There are now a number of manufacturers that support the dhcp option 61 that Sky in there infinite wisdom have chosen to use, so the options are better than they were.Failing that it’s obviously possible to simply disable wifi on any isp provided device & use a mesh in accesspoint mode (or accesspoints themselves).
I can't remember the last time i used an ISP provided router.
They are built to a cost and have a limited subset of features to suit the ISP and their marketing waffle.
If you prioritise good internet throughout your home then you'll need to install something to achieve that aim then pick an ISP that can achieve their aim of putting a suitable connection to the router.
They are built to a cost and have a limited subset of features to suit the ISP and their marketing waffle.
If you prioritise good internet throughout your home then you'll need to install something to achieve that aim then pick an ISP that can achieve their aim of putting a suitable connection to the router.
somouk said:
I can't remember the last time i used an ISP provided router.
They are built to a cost and have a limited subset of features to suit the ISP and their marketing waffle.
If you prioritise good internet throughout your home then you'll need to install something to achieve that aim then pick an ISP that can achieve their aim of putting a suitable connection to the router.
I bought my own router back in 2017 (Netgear R7800) and it has served me well these last 5 an a half years (touch wood still going strong and supports MIMO so on certain devices is gets almost the full bandwidth a wired connection gets). The three virgin routers I have had in those years spent all their time in modem mode (well I try them briefly when they first send them to me - to see if they still have woeful wifi and they are consistently terrible). The £180 seemed a little steep at the time but worth it as a one off cost over its lifetime.....They are built to a cost and have a limited subset of features to suit the ISP and their marketing waffle.
If you prioritise good internet throughout your home then you'll need to install something to achieve that aim then pick an ISP that can achieve their aim of putting a suitable connection to the router.
MrBig said:
No I'm not. My point was that there is no issue with the internet speed, but the signal from the router is terrible.
That was my point as well. If the ISP is providing a good enough internet speed then they are not the problem, so why go the hassle of changing ISP, for an unproven alternative ISP, which might not solve your problem anyway.MrBig said:
Why should I have to buy another router when the one provided should be fit for purpose. The one BT previously supplied was.
You are obviously bothered enough by it to post here for advice, and you want to change ISP to try to solve the slow wi-fi problem.What I, and others are advising you, is that changing ISP is not the optimum solution to your problem, with the quickest & easiest solution being to change the wi-fi router (or add new access points, etc) to a product that will suit your specific needs & circumstances.
Airband are promoting FTTP and the optical connection box will use a good quality Linksys MX4000 router. Depending on the package you will get either one or two.
https://www.airband.co.uk/
https://www.airband.co.uk/knowledge-base/getting-t...
https://www.airband.co.uk/
https://www.airband.co.uk/knowledge-base/getting-t...
Edited by jhiker on Friday 10th March 16:09
jhiker said:
Airband are promoting FTTP and the optical connection box will use a good quality Linksys MX4000 router. Depending on the package you will get either one or two.
https://www.airband.co.uk/
https://www.airband.co.uk/knowledge-base/getting-t...
I'm with airband, they are a very limited deployment company so not everyone will get them.https://www.airband.co.uk/
https://www.airband.co.uk/knowledge-base/getting-t...
Edited by jhiker on Friday 10th March 16:09
The Velop units they send out aren't bad, I had 2 either side of the house at one point and it worked as well as some unifi kit I had in before. Now swapped them out to proper POE powered TP Link APs though.
I had grand visions too. The Fritzboxes are very configurable, and they do a neat mesh thing by adding more of them and pressing some buttons. I have three in the house and one in the workshop with wired back haul and it works brilliantly.
Could have done it with two in the house, but the office is effectively a tanked basement so has its own.
Could have done it with two in the house, but the office is effectively a tanked basement so has its own.
We've been with Virgin for years on 100Mb. The hub they gave us we never got more than 30/40Mb even standing next to it. Needed restarting quite often too.
Swapped it with an Asus router and it has been faultless for last 5 years. I get 110Mb over wifi in every inch of the house, and about 90Mb at the end of the garden.
As above, just get a decent router, ISPs never hand out anything of decent quality.
Swapped it with an Asus router and it has been faultless for last 5 years. I get 110Mb over wifi in every inch of the house, and about 90Mb at the end of the garden.
As above, just get a decent router, ISPs never hand out anything of decent quality.
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