Virgin Hub3 increase WIFI

JohnSwift10

I bought a AC750 and while it does what it is supposed to do, it is not doing what I need it to do.

I have it plugged into a socket(inside) which is on an external wall, which is breeze block and brick cavity wall, typical 1990's construction and 30 feet away outside the signal is unusable.

I think I need something more powerful 

Back to the drawing board.

Sebi_895

victor2 said:

jefaz07 said:

Mine was woeful. I fitted a mesh system and now get 200mbs at the farthest point. Their routers are dreadful. 

VIrgin hubs are pretty poor for WiFi. Like above, buy a decent WiFi router and switch the Virgin hub into "modem only" mode. I didn't even need a mesh system, just bought an Asus router (capable of mesh if I needed it) and now get good WiFi all over the house and garden, where I had dead spots before

This is the best advice - I did the same. VM speed is amazingly fast but they're routers are rubbish! And don't listen to anything they say when they try to sell you other bits and bobs!
And yes I get it when you're probably thinking they should provide the correct working equipment for the job but if you've ever tried talking to them you'll realise it's just not worth it.

victor2

JohnSwift10 said:

I bought a AC750 and while it does what it is supposed to do, it is not doing what I need it to do.

I have it plugged into a socket(inside) which is on an external wall, which is breeze block and brick cavity wall, typical 1990's construction and 30 feet away outside the signal is unusable.

I think I need something more powerful 

Back to the drawing board.

Seriously, look at a new dual band WiFi router and put the VM hub into modem only mode. You presumably don't need WiFi6, which does bump the price up significantly, but a router cabled into the VM hub can be placed in a better position to give improved coverage.

For example, Amazon sell an Asus RT-AC51U for £34.99. Buy from Amazon and you can always return it if it doesn't do the job.

onomatopoeia99

victor2 said:

jefaz07 said:

Mine was woeful. I fitted a mesh system and now get 200mbs at the farthest point. Their routers are dreadful. 

VIrgin hubs are pretty poor for WiFi. Like above, buy a decent WiFi router and switch the Virgin hub into "modem only" mode. I didn't even need a mesh system, just bought an Asus router (capable of mesh if I needed it) and now get good WiFi all over the house and garden, where I had dead spots before

Be advised that you will use your internet connection completely if you do this and you have a static IP from VM.  For reasons which are unclear, VM use the hub to build a GRE tunnel to obtain the static IP and this doesn't happen in modem only mode, so you end up with a randomly assigned dynamic IP and your traffic still all being sent to the static IP.

custardy

Recently went mesh with 2 sets of these in a 2 bed new build. massive improvement.

https://www.box.co.uk/MW5-2-Pack-Tenda-Nova-MW5-AC1200-Mesh-Router-(2-Pac_3944176.html

Annie1960

onomatopoeia99 said:

victor2 said:

jefaz07 said:

Mine was woeful. I fitted a mesh system and now get 200mbs at the farthest point. Their routers are dreadful. 

VIrgin hubs are pretty poor for WiFi. Like above, buy a decent WiFi router and switch the Virgin hub into "modem only" mode. I didn't even need a mesh system, just bought an Asus router (capable of mesh if I needed it) and now get good WiFi all over the house and garden, where I had dead spots before

Be advised that you will use your internet connection completely if you do this and you have a static IP from VM.  For reasons which are unclear, VM use the hub to build a GRE tunnel to obtain the static IP and this doesn't happen in modem only mode, so you end up with a randomly assigned dynamic IP and your traffic still all being sent to the static IP.

Can you explain what you mean by 'you end up with a randomly assigned dynamic IP and your traffic still all being sent to the static IP'?

I'm having a similar problem to the OP. but did not realise it was due to the VM Hub3.

victor2

Annie1960 said:

onomatopoeia99 said:

victor2 said:

jefaz07 said:

Mine was woeful. I fitted a mesh system and now get 200mbs at the farthest point. Their routers are dreadful. 

VIrgin hubs are pretty poor for WiFi. Like above, buy a decent WiFi router and switch the Virgin hub into "modem only" mode. I didn't even need a mesh system, just bought an Asus router (capable of mesh if I needed it) and now get good WiFi all over the house and garden, where I had dead spots before

Be advised that you will use your internet connection completely if you do this and you have a static IP from VM.  For reasons which are unclear, VM use the hub to build a GRE tunnel to obtain the static IP and this doesn't happen in modem only mode, so you end up with a randomly assigned dynamic IP and your traffic still all being sent to the static IP.

Can you explain what you mean by 'you end up with a randomly assigned dynamic IP and your traffic still all being sent to the static IP'?

I'm having a similar problem to the OP. but did not realise it was due to the VM Hub3.

That problem only affects people with static IP addresses, which Virgin only make available to business customers, so it won't affect domestic users.

Annie1960

Ant555 said:

JohnSwift10 said:

Does the AC750 require an ethernet cable?

I need something that can extend my wifi range without requiring an ethernet cable

It doesnt need an ethernet cable, it just plugs in to a mains socket.

I set it up close by the router at first then unplugged it and moved it to the bedroom immediately above where the router is.  It works very well as all of the upstairs can now stream netflix etc where is was a bit patchy before.

The device recreates my wifi with _EXT at the end of the wifi name - I simply connect to that network when upstairs and it works fine.
Note that you can have the same wifi name but I wanted it different as it isnt clear what network I was connecting to when it was the same name.

For £20 from Amazon with the option of returning it for free if it doesn't work, its quite a good cheap thing to try.

I'm thinking about trying this. Will it work with Chromebook? I also have Win 10, but like to use Chromebook for Zoom meetings, but Chromebooks are not listed on the Amazon details.

If I set it up using Win 10, will I be able to use my Chromebook?

debitcardmayhem

@Annie1960 there is no reason why not, but you will need to re-pair the chromebook with the extender

Ant555

Annie1960 said:

I'm thinking about trying this. Will it work with Chromebook? I also have Win 10, but like to use Chromebook for Zoom meetings, but Chromebooks are not listed on the Amazon details.

If I set it up using Win 10, will I be able to use my Chromebook?

Definitely will be fine as its just 'wifi' - for instance I connect my Samsung Galaxy watch to it.