Help needed re rural poor internet / multiple users wfh and teens!

[Deleted User]

Hello! I'm hoping someone can help with this and please make this as much of an idiots guide too as possible because I really really don't understand this stuff which doesn't help...

A couple of months ago we moved in to a rural cottage and we are struggling with internet given there are two of us working from home (with quite high internet demands on it) plus two teen children. We knew internet speeds were poor and previous owner made us aware that she had 3 different lines to the property - one to the main cottage, one to the annexe where we frequently work and then another to the downstairs bedroom which was her son's bedroom for gaming.

We followed suit in getting two different lines for main cottage and annexe and held off on the third line to see how we got on. In general things work well, however, the problem is for the downstairs bedroom which is my son's room and he does a lot of gaming as well (as all teenage boys tend to!) and his world seems to be online and he's getting increasingly frustrated with it and we are really stuck what to do.

It must be the cottage walls but his room seems to be somewhat of a dead spot for wifi and all of our phones lose connection and he is lagging a lot on his games. I really want to get this sorted. Is it likely that a third line is the way to go and wire his computer in to it so it's not lots of wifi signals? We are willing to do this and saw it as an additional cost / frustration of the house but I'm not sure if that's the best thing. I know there are lots of different options of stuff we can buy to try but I feel like we are going to potentially end up spending more money down the drain doing that than putting the third line in! Also - are there any fundamental problems with doing this and having three lines? I know it's an unusual situation.

Thanks so much in advance!

Browntoa

Bt discs , or something similar used with the existing line ,will extend the signals

https://shop.bt.com/products/bt-mini-whole-home-wi-fi-four-discs-101550-FG7W.html

littleboo

Can you run a cable between his room and the router in the house?

macman

Use ethernet or powerline networking, not wi-fi.

flashg67

I've just bought these to overcome a similar issue in an old cottage
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07H2Q92T2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Deleted User]

Thanks @littleboo. Unfortunately the router is in the kitchen which is a long way away so it isn't possible. @flashg67 we have these but unfortunately they don't seem to work for our situation, I'm not sure why!

molerat

Have you really got multiple phone lines to the property ?  What connection and download speeds do you get ?

glennevis

Deleted_User said:

Thanks @littleboo. Unfortunately the router is in the kitchen which is a long way away so it isn't possible. @flashg67 we have these but unfortunately they don't seem to work for our situation, I'm not sure why!

Ethernet cables can be 100m (300 feet) long. I doubt your cottage is that big.

pramsay13

We have the same issue with a large old house with thick walls. 
We have powerline adapters so one plugs into the electric circuit and connected to the router. 
The other adapters plug in wherever we want a signal. They can be WiFi hotspots or we can plug them into computers or laptops directly.
I'm not sure why you would have 3 lines, as long as the rooms are all on the same electrical circuit these will work well.

littleboo

Deleted_User said:

Thanks @littleboo. Unfortunately the router is in the kitchen which is a long way away so it isn't possible. @flashg67 we have these but unfortunately they don't seem to work for our situation, I'm not sure why!

As already mentioned, you can go 100m with the cable. It might be a faff to run, but wired networking gives the most reliable and consistent outcome. If you can extend a wired connection to the bedroom, then you can also add a wireless access point on that location to improve wifi coverage.

Apintplease

flashg67 said:

I've just bought these to overcome a similar issue in an old cottage
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07H2Q92T2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These are what I use, one for the upstairs tv with the TV plugged into it and one in the kitchen so the cameras in the detached garages work

But wired is the best. in my last house we had cable that came into the living room but my pc was located to the back of the house so yes I had a cable run through, along skirting and around door frames