WiFi router in old house suggestion

tgon

I live in a typical(?) 1930's built semi with thick walls with FTTH broadband rated at 100 Mbps. The router is a Zytel router provided by my ISP.

Problem 1 is that WiFi upstairs is weak especially in the rear rooms. (I tried Devolo dLan 1200+ WiFi setup but it didn't improve the situation - possible "dirty" mains wiring.) Should I look at a much more powerful WiFi router or the newer Mesh routers that are coming onto the market? My concern is that both types will still have issues with internal walls but maybe Mesh routers are more efficient in how they're designed to work?

Problem 2 is not really a problem but a thought to have a NAS on the network, preferably at the router. (Current Zytel dosent have a USB port.)

Thoughts appreciated.

arciere

Options, in order of preference:
1) Get wires. Possibly more initial work, but far less headache in the long run. One wire from router to upstairs, then standard wireless access point upstairs, problem solved.
2) Powerline adaptors: you already mentioned that they didn't work, but I would try another model, just in case.
3) Mesh: not ideal, since you are repeating the WiFi signal, so you have increased latency, reduced throughput and all those things. Also, depending on the layout of the house and how 'wifi-friendly' the walls are, this could be quite expensive

I wouldn't consider under any circumstances WiFi 'repeaters.

In regards to the NAS, yes go with a proper NAS, not a USB disk. They are relatively inexpensive and you don't need any special gear, just connect it to the router, set a static address and you're done.

EDIT: also try to temporarily disable the 5 Ghz radio, if there is one, see if that makes any difference. You get less interference with 5Ghz but as far as coverage is concerned, 5 Ghz has a worse penetration power than 2.4
EDIT2: forgot to mention that a more powerful router won't help. WiFi is a 2-way communication system: if the antennas on your router are not powerful enough to send the signal to your phone on the first floor (example), your phone definitely won't be able to send the signal back to the router with its radio.

tgon

Thanks for your comprehensive reply - really appreciate your time to do so.

I’ll go for Ethernet from my router to upstairs via an outside cable. (OH would go ballistic to run it along wood floors, carpets, under doors, up the stairs, etc lol) I have an old Draytek router I could use upstairs as AP. Just to pick your brain a bit further, I think I read somewhere that some portable devices can’t “hop” to the strongest WiFi signal within the network, so a device locked onto the downstairs WiFi will just become weaker upstairs as it’s not looking for a better signal. I might have this totally wrong though.

Regards, NAS, point taken. I did read about building a Raspberry Pi NAS but simplicity seems the better course I think for me.

arciere

Well, that's not exactly true. WiFi roaming (the ability to switch from one access point to another) is generally in the hands of the client (the end device), if it decides to stick to an access point (technically speaking, to a BSSID), there is pretty much nothing you can do (this, of course, changes slightly if you have a business-grade, centralised equipment).

What you can do to make roaming as flawless as possible, is to have the exact same SSID on all the access points (Mynetwork is different than MyNetwork). Also, use the same authentication/encryption on all the radios (for example, use WPA2 only with AES). Any differences in the set up of the two access point will make the clients believe that those are two completely separated networks and will try to stay connected to a radio for as long as possible. Obviously, the two APs will need to have the same password.

This is pretty much all you can do to make it work with 'regular' equipment. You can check if the access points (or the Draytek) allow you to disable the slower WiFi speeds, that should 'force' the clients to disconnect when they reach that threshold of 'usable' signal.

juliaormand

I read your issue regarding weak wifi signals.
In my opinion you should do some basic to get rid on that particular issue. For example: you should need to change the location of your wifi router, may be it works for you. If this doesn't work then you should need to survey of your wifi network, sometime other wifi network signals overlap with your network signal. It may cause for weak and no signal issue. you can also update your device firmware for the better signals, some routers can configured automatically. Switching the wifi router frequency will help to improve the wifi signals. 
Might be this article will help you to identify the exact solution of your issue.

callum5

I think a mesh WiFi system might be a better choice as it will create one seamless WiFi network for devices to connect to, you could probably order a mesh system online from Amazon or similar sites and return it if it does not suit. I also believe that you can provide a wired connection to some mesh WiFi points to boost performance, not sure which ones support this though

Hope this helps 

benson1980

We have a 1920s chalet bungalow with solid walls, and very long due to a rear extension (loft conversion as well). A google wifi mesh system worked a treat for us. You just have to place them in 'sight' of one another to get the best results- we had to fiddle around a bit with placement but the app takes you through it. We have one by the entrance, another towards the end of the house at the other end of our long hallway, and then one in the upstairs landing. Guessing with your house you might be able to get away with two, if your router is by the entrance hall, and then one on upstairs landing.

onomatopoeia99

This topic has been zombied by a spammer trying to build a post count ("juliaormand") and is from last year.

Norman_Castle

Try putting the router centrally upstairs.