Broadband speed . Is my broadband too sluggish ?

tempus_fugit

[Deleted User] said:

another_casualty said:

I was advised to move the router away from walls , electricity , furniture etc which I said was impossible .

This is most likely the biggest part of your problem. Wifi doesn't pass through solid objects very well and it makes a big impact on the speed.

A good place for a wifi router is in the centre of the house, high up about head height above all furniture etc. 

Unfortunately I see most people put their wifi router right near the front wall where the internet comes in and then put it on the floor, in a cupboard, behind the TV etc, all of which are terrible places.

It is never impossible to put the router somewhere else, in fact it will take you less time and energy than contacting Vodafone. It just needs a little thought and maybe a cable and this will make a big difference.

Having said all that, moving away from the ISP free router is another great step forward and a worthwhile investment if you care about your wifi coverage and quality.

There are so many options nowadays it really is a no brainer. When people are paying £200-£400 per year for internet and then only getting a slow speed, it soon becomes clear that investing in a new wifi solution for £200 that will last many years is good use of money.

One decent wifi router can make a massive difference - I can still use my wifi for video calls 20 metres down the back garden and that is after the wifi has passed through 2 brick walls to get there. My ISP router would barely cover the whole house let alone any of the garden.

BIB, maybe not "impossible", but certainly "impracticable". Our fibre comes in on one side of the living room, which is at the back of the house and so effectively the router is at one corner of the house. This means that the signal is weaker in the front bedroom, at the other corner of the house. As it is, we have no problems up there and can even stream TV to the smart TV in that room. But having the router nearer the centre of the house would be better, but it's just not practicable at all. For a start it would have to on the opposite side of the room from where the modem is, which would mean running a cable across the room, and whilst this is certainly "possible", it's not easily achieved and would probably involve some compromises. So, it's not about where "people put their routers", it's about where the setup dictates that it goes. When we got our fibre installed the current location is where the installer put it, I didn't have any say in it.

JJ_Egan

No problem for me to run two Ethernet cables bottom of the skirting boards .

No problem to extend router from Ont box .

[Deleted User]

tempus_fugit said:

[Deleted User] said:

another_casualty said:

I was advised to move the router away from walls , electricity , furniture etc which I said was impossible .

This is most likely the biggest part of your problem. Wifi doesn't pass through solid objects very well and it makes a big impact on the speed.

A good place for a wifi router is in the centre of the house, high up about head height above all furniture etc. 

Unfortunately I see most people put their wifi router right near the front wall where the internet comes in and then put it on the floor, in a cupboard, behind the TV etc, all of which are terrible places.

It is never impossible to put the router somewhere else, in fact it will take you less time and energy than contacting Vodafone. It just needs a little thought and maybe a cable and this will make a big difference.

Having said all that, moving away from the ISP free router is another great step forward and a worthwhile investment if you care about your wifi coverage and quality.

There are so many options nowadays it really is a no brainer. When people are paying £200-£400 per year for internet and then only getting a slow speed, it soon becomes clear that investing in a new wifi solution for £200 that will last many years is good use of money.

One decent wifi router can make a massive difference - I can still use my wifi for video calls 20 metres down the back garden and that is after the wifi has passed through 2 brick walls to get there. My ISP router would barely cover the whole house let alone any of the garden.

BIB, maybe not "impossible", but certainly "impracticable". Our fibre comes in on one side of the living room, which is at the back of the house and so effectively the router is at one corner of the house. This means that the signal is weaker in the front bedroom, at the other corner of the house. As it is, we have no problems up there and can even stream TV to the smart TV in that room. But having the router nearer the centre of the house would be better, but it's just not practicable at all. For a start it would have to on the opposite side of the room from where the modem is, which would mean running a cable across the room, and whilst this is certainly "possible", it's not easily achieved and would probably involve some compromises. So, it's not about where "people put their routers", it's about where the setup dictates that it goes. When we got our fibre installed the current location is where the installer put it, I didn't have any say in it.

Fair enough, but there are then other choices such as mesh wifi or a better router if moving it is not practical, but as it is the cheapest option just to run an neat ethernet cable along the skirting board or even tucked under carpet, I do always suggest that as the best money saving option as it can be done for less that £10 and half an hour of effort.

But speaking of the money, many people will spend from £1k to £2k over the next 5 years on their broadband so a £200 investment in a better wifi router or mesh system that should last 5+ years is also reasonable. No point paying that £1-2k and getting a poor wifi service when a bit extra spent increase the value for money aspect dramatically.

This will become more of an issue now faster speeds are coming into peoples homes and many more devices are connected.

And although I could easily put my wifi router in another place, mine is also at the front corner of the house because it was the best place to get some height by putting it on some furniture. I invested £260 on my wifi router 3 years ago and it has been worth every penny and expect it will give me at least another 3 years of life - so I see it as just £3.50 a month extra on my broadband bill and I get rock solid wifi all around the house and garden:



It isn't the best looking device but funnily enough big external aerials are a lot better at sending and receiving radio waves.