Any way to compare broadband router range?

GMNN

Vodafone is our current broadband provider and for the past ~18 months we've had to put with a weak Wi-Fi signal in our upstairs bedroom which is at the opposite end of the house to the kitchen where the Openreach socket is and therefore where the router sits. We've tried various solutions including moving the router a bit closer, getting a Wi-Fi extender, even contacted Vodafone who sent us a new router in case the original was defective, but didn't really improve the situation. I think it is simply down to the range of the Vodafone router, as we didn't have this problem before when we were with EE - the signal from the router was much stronger and more stable. It's only really a problem when connecting from the bedroom, but as I've been "working from home" from there more often in the past year this problem is now more annoying than it was before..

Our Vodafone 18-month contract is ending soon and therefore we would like to switch to another broadband provider to get a better Wi-Fi signal. But is there any way to tell ahead of time which provider has the router with the best signal strength / range? As I said, our previous EE router definitely had better signal range & stability than our current Vodafone one, but how can I know if Sky, BT, Talktalk, Plusnet, Shell etc.. have better or worse router signals? Is there some kind of technical specs I could ask the companies about? Hard to find comparisons online for the routers provided by the broadband companies, and would very much prefer to not have to buy my own router when those companies provide it for free.. I don't mind paying an extra few £ / month if it means better Wi-Fi signal - just a question of which company to go with.

Thank you in advance for any help / insight! 

iniltous

You could always buy your own router , and configure it with the credentials of whatever ISP you use , a non ISP provided router may be superior to any provided ‘for free’ by your ISP.
BT’s advert used to suggest that their router was best in comparison to other main stream providers and presumably had ‘statistics’ to back up such a claim , but TBH anyone could claim that their providers router is brilliant, you sign up with that ISP , get the same router and it’s no better than your existing one, or even worse.
TBH, you may be better exploring some ‘whole home’ WiFi solution, or if your WFH equipment  is a PC /laptop a wired solution rather than wireless (if it has an Ethernet port ) a ‘power line’ type solution where the mains wiring of the house is used to distribute Ethernet to a room with poor WiFi reception , or get a long Ethernet cable ( 100m over wired Ethernet isn’t an issue ) and run it from the router to bedroom when it’s needed and remove it when it’s not.

RudolphHucker

You could always read revies of routers. There are lots of sites out there:

https://uk.pcmag.com/routers/8151/the-best-wireless-routers

https://www.tomsguide.com/uk/us/best-wifi-routers,review-2498.html

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/networking/routers-storage/best-router-9-top-wireless-routers-on-test-1090523

https://www.fortress.com.hk/en/promotion/recommended-router

flaneurs_lobster

RudolphHucker said:

You could always read revies of routers. There are lots of sites out there:

https://uk.pcmag.com/routers/8151/the-best-wireless-routers

https://www.tomsguide.com/uk/us/best-wifi-routers,review-2498.html

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/networking/routers-storage/best-router-9-top-wireless-routers-on-test-1090523

https://www.fortress.com.hk/en/promotion/recommended-router

Those are reviews of routers available to purchase. Might be that those sites earn "affiliate commission" on stuff you buy via the review site. What's hard to find is reviews of routers as supplied "free" by ISPs. There are a couple of sites that do lists of features but none I've found that say xISP's wifi range/power is better than yISP's. But everybody agrees the freebies are rubbish.  

RudolphHucker

gavinbaxter said:

Those are reviews of routers available to purchase. Might be that those sites earn "affiliate commission" on stuff you buy via the review site. What's hard to find is reviews of routers as supplied "free" by ISPs. There are a couple of sites that do lists of features but none I've found that say xISP's wifi range/power is better than yISP's. But everybody agrees the freebies are rubbish.  

Change the search then:

https://usave.co.uk/broadband/providers/which-provider-has-the-best-router/

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/compare-wireless-routers/

Granadalad

Your router will be set to use one of 16 (I think) channels which ideally won't clash with your near neighbours. It's possible your Vodafone router clashes with a near neighbour. If so, it will still work as they send data in short bursts when they see a gap in the "conversations" taking place, but it may have to wait for that gap. You can quickly download a wifi analyser for your phone that will show signal strength and activity. I can see two of my neighbours have the same channel. You can usually configure your router to use a channel of your choice, but it might be interesting just to download that little app and walk around to see how your signal holds up in your home and if it is competing with neighbours.

Roland_Sausage

Spend some money on a mesh WiFi system, then just move to whichever ISP gives you the best deal.

All of the ISP routers are built to a price, so I wouldn’t even consider this when choosing your next one.

FaceHead

Mesh Wifi is (imo) overkill for a domestic property unless you live on a country estate, want wifi coverage over your grounds, or have atypical construction where the signal can't penetrate the walls. One well situated router usually does the job. 

In this case it sounds like the is with the openreach socket on one side of the house, and the signal is therefore patchy over the other side. This is very common as master sockets tend to be near the entrance to the house, rather than in the middle. 

Solutions:
(a) Get a better router - probably the most practical and least disruption, but not guaranteed to work. 
(b) Get a better router, and site it in the middle of the house. Ethernet cable it back to the ISP's router, which then functions as a modem. Now you have a decent router sited in the middle of the house. Is running an ethernet cable from the master socket to a more central location possible. If it's major disruption to lift flooring etc. you're probably at solution (a). TBH, you might as well give (a) a go first - get a decent router, site it by your master socket, and if that doesn't solve the problem, then look into better locating it.  

Roland_Sausage

I disagree. The thing about a mesh system is is doesn't have to be expensive. I was able to pick up a 3 pack of TP-link Deco M5 for £149.99 which is what a good router would cost anyway. The Tenda Nova system can be even cheaper, and gets fairly good reviews.

My house is fairly modern, 3 bedrooms with router in the living room. We did get full Wi-fi coverage throughout the house, although the signal was weak upstairs in the room that the wife uses as an office. Although she had a connection, it was slow.

I probably could have got away with a 2 pack of Deco's but I went for 3 and put a third one in the summerhouse at the bottom of the garden. Now we not only have wifi coverage in the summerhouse but throughout the whole garden as well. Im posting this from the patio on my iPad.  And the wife is happy as she has a fast connection upstairs for her work.

Neil49

I would also go down the mesh wifi route. Our router is poorly positioned in our new build property which causes various dead zones around the house. A 2 unit Google mesh system solved the problem completely. 

Carrot007

I use the amazon mesh wifi (3 bought when on offer).

And no note the actuakl chipsert of the modem does matter. My old one broke and I was getting 40 max and when I repeced it with a cheap one I get near 80max. (for modem I am using a TD-W9970. Yes solutions without wifi existed but this was cheaper and you can turn it off!)

As to:

> Mesh Wifi is (imo) overkill for a domestic property unless you live on a country estate, want wifi coverage over your grounds, or have atypical construction

I live in a house constructed in 1950 with internal brick walls. Yes Wifi is bad without either a mesh or other solutions. I would call brick walls typical construction for people wanting a house more than 1 metre away from their neighbours ;-) And of course new builds have the seperate issued of a. WIFI interference and b. Sky customers without sky broadband having the mesh wifi left on becuase thats what the crappy installers do. (and probably more!).

Take control over something this important to most people. Buy something. It does not need to cost a lot.