My WIFI problems

IOIO

I have problems with my WIFI range. Xbox disconnects from upstairs bedroom and i have just put up an IP camera and that also disconnects frequently.

I have already used WIFI analizer app to find the best available channel. I have also searched all local routers and found an available channel which is not being used by anyone else.

I have a SKY router. have been upgraded to the newest dual band router which i have found to have an even worse WIFI range than the previous model.

I am out of contract with SKY so my first question is would another company (maybe BT) offer a better router with a further WIFI range?

I have talked to SKY who have offered to sell me a WIFI extender for £40 or a sky q system.

Ideally i would prefer a better router. Would it make any difference changing internet providers?I dont want the xbox gaming to be affected by extenders/repeaters etc

JJ_Egan

BT HH 6 is probably the best of current ISP router for wifi.


Wifi channels should be 1 6 or 11 for best performance

BigAl94

BT HH6 is a pile of cxxp! I had several from BT all caused drop outs and were hopeless. Bought a TP Link VR900 over a year ago and have had trouble free wifi and broadband since.

IOIO

If i stick with sky is it possible to change the router to improve the wifi reception

Frozen_up_north

Can you relocate the router to a more central part of the house? Or use Ethernet cabling for a much more reliable connection?

wunferall

IOIO wrote: »

If i stick with sky is it possible to change the router to improve the wifi reception

You can certainly change your router and stick with Sky.
How much your WiFi will improve is dependant upon many variables but Sky has user forums which might help, like the following:
http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/sky-broadband-fibre-help/58957-tp-link-vr900-sky-fibre.html

We bought a VR900 (the upright white one) about a year ago and ours has been problem-free although we are not with Sky.
Personally I would look into using a second router upstairs - say your existing one if you buy another.
This is what we did & now we have excellent (and secure) coverage throughout with no dead spots even in our garden.

ukjoel

We has this issue and tried everything.

We got a free extender from sky - it did nothing.

We bought our own top end netgear extender - it made a small difference but only at certain times of the day.

We bought powerline adaptors and used our electricty lines to route the internet, as well as buying a top end router with 8 massive antennas on to improve the signal.


It all made a small improvement and we went from no signal, to fair signal, and then robust signal but speeds of only 10% of what sky, BT, and Plusnet promised.......


Then I bought the googlwifi or googlemesh.

3 small units, set up via my phone in 15 minutes, and speeds went from 5mbps to 60 mbps according to my tests.

Its been in for 6 weeks and not one device connection (and we have 20 plus in the house) has dropped a single time since being set up.

its not cheap, but tech wise its up there with my bean to cup coffee machine, and my first ssd drive for my best tech investment ever.

If you think about what you pay sky a month for fast access, then three of these units work out as ten pounds a month when spread over 2 years.

Other cheaper mesh systems are available but i knew 3 people who had these and all described it as life changing, which made me roll my eyes at the time but they were right.

JP1978

There are so many variables for anyone to offer a guaranteed solution.

Where is your router located? Best been in a central location to the house.

Can you use power line adaptors - I use TP-Link ones to extend the network upstairs to ethernet devices (Xbox, Printer, Work PC, Sons Gaming PC and CCTV NVR) and find the speeds very good.

You can change the Sky Router (even if on fibre, Sky have changed their T&C's so you can use ANY router inplace of the one they provide). I have done just this - replaces with a TP-LINK VR900 V2 (note if you have Sky Fibre they need to be compatible, Sky forums will help).

System

The Wifi on Sky routers has been and always will be crap.

I have a TP-Link router like JP1978, albeit an older model as I changed quite a long time ago, and it was much better.

IOIO

JP1978 wrote: »

There are so many variables for anyone to offer a guaranteed solution.

Where is your router located? Best been in a central location to the house.

Can you use power line adaptors - I use TP-Link ones to extend the network upstairs to ethernet devices (Xbox, Printer, Work PC, Sons Gaming PC and CCTV NVR) and find the speeds very good.

You can change the Sky Router (even if on fibre, Sky have changed their T&C's so you can use ANY router inplace of the one they provide). I have done just this - replaces with a TP-LINK VR900 V2 (note if you have Sky Fibre they need to be compatible, Sky forums will help).

Thank you for this. If i purchased the TP-VR900 V2 router would it give a better range for the wifi signal?
Also with a change of firmware from the TPLink website it says i would just need to enter the sky user name and password? Is this a case of running wireshark to obtain them?

arciere

For what it's worth, always try to use channels 1, 6 and 11 to avoid overlapping. Channel sharing is always better than using adjacent, overlapping channels. If you see many radios using channels 1 and 6, using channel 3, for example, is a bad idea because you will be receiving (and transmitting) interference from all devices communicating on channels 1 and 6.

That being said, if your router is dual band, disable the 5Ghz band. 5Ghz is normally faster and less crowded than the 2.4, but it has a reduced range.

Also, to avoid confusion if you decide to buy new equipment, you can only use 1 router in a network, if you want to extend your WiFi coverage you will need 1) an additional wireless access point, directly connected to the router; 2) PowerLine adaptors or 3) the least preferable option, use WiFi extenders/repeaters.