Broadband, WiFi and hardwiring
Discussion
We are about to move out of a house with decent WiFi and cat 5 cabling in every room to one with poor WiFi and no cables.
Both houses are on EE, currently own both so aware of the above situation.
What’s the easiest way to improve the WiFi though out the house and also, if possible add a couple of hardwired connections to take the sky stream (had to take that due to the house being listed) and also for work use?
I really don’t particularly want to be redecorating so it would be good if there is some new technology that will help me without installing too much paraphernalia.
I’m not particularly tech savvy unfortunately.
Thanks in advance
Both houses are on EE, currently own both so aware of the above situation.
What’s the easiest way to improve the WiFi though out the house and also, if possible add a couple of hardwired connections to take the sky stream (had to take that due to the house being listed) and also for work use?
I really don’t particularly want to be redecorating so it would be good if there is some new technology that will help me without installing too much paraphernalia.
I’m not particularly tech savvy unfortunately.
Thanks in advance
Mesh but use the wired network as the backhaul.
Depends on your budget, but wifi6 should be fine, if you have deeper pockets and devices that support 6ghz, then wifi 6e, or if you have really deep pockets, wifi7
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-AI-Driven-Coverag...
These have 3 ethernet ports, giving you 2 extra ports in each room with one of these.
Tri-band really bumps the cost up.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BF5GK7TD
Depends on your budget, but wifi6 should be fine, if you have deeper pockets and devices that support 6ghz, then wifi 6e, or if you have really deep pockets, wifi7
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-AI-Driven-Coverag...
These have 3 ethernet ports, giving you 2 extra ports in each room with one of these.
Tri-band really bumps the cost up.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BF5GK7TD
dave123456 said:
Thanks which is the best TP link package? I’ll have a look at the mesh system
I have these and they have been faultless, I bought just a couple initially but subsequently bought a few more and they all connected without an issue, even between different power circuits in my house (upstairs/downstairs and between the original 1850’s house and the much newer extension)https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07G37DJ8R/ref...
I use them for the backhaul from each of my WiFi mesh points and to connect directly to the sky box, the kids X box, etc…
Is there any old wiring that's not needed any more?
My house had phone lines going to 3 different rooms, and I used the old the phone cables to pull pairs of new Cat5e cables through, with double wall ports in the rooms and a cheap patch panel in the cupboard where the old phone connection came in. I then have TP-Link Deco mesh nodes for wifi, but 3 of them are using a hardwired connection for the backhaul rather than relying on wireless.
My house had phone lines going to 3 different rooms, and I used the old the phone cables to pull pairs of new Cat5e cables through, with double wall ports in the rooms and a cheap patch panel in the cupboard where the old phone connection came in. I then have TP-Link Deco mesh nodes for wifi, but 3 of them are using a hardwired connection for the backhaul rather than relying on wireless.
A budget option might be something like a TP-Link AC2600.
By running one ethernet cable from the front to back of the house. between that thing and the router a 900M connection is shared over 3 floors and 6 people without any noticeable problems.
With an additional switch, it also means further ports can be accessed quite easily.
Not the dream set up but works fine in this case, and outlay was minimal.
Edit, haven't had much luck with powerline adapters due to mains interference - might be worth trying if you can easily return them.
By running one ethernet cable from the front to back of the house. between that thing and the router a 900M connection is shared over 3 floors and 6 people without any noticeable problems.
With an additional switch, it also means further ports can be accessed quite easily.
Not the dream set up but works fine in this case, and outlay was minimal.
Edit, haven't had much luck with powerline adapters due to mains interference - might be worth trying if you can easily return them.
Edited by dan98 on Wednesday 11th December 11:12
Just a thought. Different houses have different issues with WiFi.
My old house was timber framed 2 stories, no WiFi issues. Current house is a bungalow and between the WiFi and my study is a bathroom, and a kitchen with tall radiators, fridges etc.
I put a wired extender in a location higher up so each place I use WiFi has a clear line of sight. All the problems I had before have gone away with a single access point and no need for mesh or more £.
My gf place on the other hand is 3 stories, presumed steel frame construction and I've had to put in a variety of extenders but we cannot wire them. My parents is 17th century stone walled and again it's tricky.
I thought it was worth mentioning incase it helps.
My old house was timber framed 2 stories, no WiFi issues. Current house is a bungalow and between the WiFi and my study is a bathroom, and a kitchen with tall radiators, fridges etc.
I put a wired extender in a location higher up so each place I use WiFi has a clear line of sight. All the problems I had before have gone away with a single access point and no need for mesh or more £.
My gf place on the other hand is 3 stories, presumed steel frame construction and I've had to put in a variety of extenders but we cannot wire them. My parents is 17th century stone walled and again it's tricky.
I thought it was worth mentioning incase it helps.
It may be worth trying a few things before spending lots of cash.
Check what neighbours networks are on close channels,
Check your router is set to full power, it seems some ISPs ship them out throttled?
A simple £15 TPLink extender made a huge difference in our old house.
Here, I've put in ethernet for the main TV, which is a big remote from the router.
If doing any refurb, I would consider what ethernet cabling could be done.
If your household is really heavy on data, you might consider adding another wifi router and putting a few devices on that.
Also, what do you need?
I'm getting 36Mb/s through 2 fire doors and up some stairs.
A lot of the 'crap wifi' problems are not just RF path loss.
I used to have a good app for wfi channel surveys on my old phone, I'm not sure what the nest one is now, but these things can be handy to understand what the real problem is.
Check what neighbours networks are on close channels,
Check your router is set to full power, it seems some ISPs ship them out throttled?
A simple £15 TPLink extender made a huge difference in our old house.
Here, I've put in ethernet for the main TV, which is a big remote from the router.
If doing any refurb, I would consider what ethernet cabling could be done.
If your household is really heavy on data, you might consider adding another wifi router and putting a few devices on that.
Also, what do you need?
I'm getting 36Mb/s through 2 fire doors and up some stairs.
A lot of the 'crap wifi' problems are not just RF path loss.
I used to have a good app for wfi channel surveys on my old phone, I'm not sure what the nest one is now, but these things can be handy to understand what the real problem is.
That's a great point I forgot about that. I use wifiman. Here is the link for android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....
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