poor upstairs wifi signal from router

wallofbeans

Hi All,

My router doesn't seem to reach upstairs very well. I only have a small two bed terrace, but the master socket is downstairs in a corner at the front of the house and so not placed in a central position to maximise the spread of the signal. Any advice on how to improve things?

I thought about perhaps getting a new router, my own rather than the one that came from the ISP? I also thought about signal boosters, but these require plugging in and there are no sockets between where the router is now and the upstairs of the house, so I'm not sure if that would work. 

Can anyone recommend a router that might give me the needed boost, but wont break the bank? Or offer any other ways to resolve this issue?

Thank you!

MikeJXE

Hi,

Who is the isp and which router ?

I'm with talktalk and can get a signal upstairs and  even up the garden 

I just moved home and they have supplied me with a new wifi hub black so I have a spare,

wallofbeans

MikeJXE said:

Hi,

Who is the isp and which router ?

I'm with talktalk and can get a signal upstairs and  even up the garden 

I just moved home and they have supplied me with a new wifi hub black so I have a spare,

Hello!

It's vodafone, and whatever their standard router is. I used to be with Talktalk and that was ok, this new routers wifi doesn't extend as far as that did...

fatbelly

I had that problem and use a signal booster. 

On an extension cable if necessary

Bought in from Lidl

wallofbeans

fatbelly said:

I had that problem and use a signal booster. 

On an extension cable if necessary

Bought in from Lidl

Do you have a link to the one you bought? And how did you connect it to the router?

binao

wallofbeans said:

fatbelly said:

I had that problem and use a signal booster. 

On an extension cable if necessary

Bought in from Lidl

Do you have a link to the one you bought? And how did you connect it to the router?

If no longer in shop, Google for resellers. Might be a few pence more.

flashg67

How about wifi powerline adapters - I've usd these successfully for years - TP Link are a popular brand - eg https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354616746224 

HaroldWhistler

wallofbeans said:

Hi All,

My router doesn't seem to reach upstairs very well. I only have a small two bed terrace, but the master socket is downstairs in a corner at the front of the house and so not placed in a central position to maximise the spread of the signal. Any advice on how to improve things?

I thought about perhaps getting a new router, my own rather than the one that came from the ISP? I also thought about signal boosters, but these require plugging in and there are no sockets between where the router is now and the upstairs of the house, so I'm not sure if that would work. 

Can anyone recommend a router that might give me the needed boost, but wont break the bank? Or offer any other ways to resolve this issue?

Thank you!

There are a few options. First, it is important as to what the incoming internet speed is into the house. Think of the internet speed like the water pressure into the home. 

Network devices like Mesh systems or Routers that you can buy usually have more powerful antennas to provide a powerful signal throughout the home. You can also try to get a Wifi 6 network if you can, but these might be slightly more expensive. The best way to get speed around the home is ethernet (or fibre) wiring. But there are certainly very good options that are either wireless, or use the existing home electrical network. They do not have to be expensive. Simply check the speed that a product is capable of versus what you get into the house and what you need on average around the house. 

If the Broadband product speed is anywhere up to around 300Mbps, then you could try one of the following solutions:

1. BT Home Mesh Wifi 3 pack (around £129) - You connect the first disc into your main existing router. A second can go somewhere else downstairs, and the third one upstairs. The second and third "satellite" discs simply need to be plugged in to a power socket. You then turn your Wifi off on your main Vodafone router. The discs should then "Mesh" together as a seamless new Wifi network. 

2. Powerline system (a 2 pack can be had for usually around £70, and a 3 pack for around the £100 mark, possibly cheaper depending on if there are offers from places like Amazon, Curry's etc). This uses your existing home electrical wiring to spread the internet connection around the home. You simply connect (by ethernet cable) the first Powerline unit into your main existing Router. Then follow the setup instructions to sync those up to your other Powerline nodes. Those nodes merely need to be plugged in to a power socket upstairs. And a Wifi signal will be broadcast from that node upstairs. This will mean you can bypass obstacles like walls. The technology has a slight limitation in that it usually cannot get to speeds above 150Mbps and may slow down to around 60 to 80Mbps if there are many appliances running in the house at the same time (e.g. the oven, microwaves, vacuum cleaner etc). TP Link seem to be highly rated. Although you can keep the same Wifi name and password and devices will automatically connect, do note there may be a slight delay if you cross between upstairs and downstairs as technically speaking there are two different wireless networks in the house and a device hops off one and onto another.

3. Powerline Mesh system (possibly around £150 to £300) - Works the same way as (2), but the wireless signal that comes out of each node meshes together as a single network rather than having two separate wireless networks upstairs and downstairs. In this scenario, some products are such that the first node can also be used as the Router as well and you can simply disconnect your Vodafone router altogether. Or you can keep your Router and just use them as Wifi points around the home (remember to turn your Vodafone router's Wifi off in that case). Products include the TP Link Deco systems. 

If the speed of the Broadband is over 300Mbps and under 500Mbps, you could try a different type of Mesh system:

4. Asus Zen XT8 Wifi 6 Mesh system - a two pack is around £400. This is a great Wifi 6 Mesh system that will work in a similar fashion to (1) though is more powerful. It has a dedicated "backhaul" signal to communicate between the network itself (between the node downstairs and the node upstairs) which should give you higher speeds, less delays etc. The initial downstairs node can either be plugged in to the Vodafone router, or replace it altogether. 

If the speed of the Broadband is up to 700Mbps:

5. Asus Zen XT8 (as in 4) Mesh system

If the speed of the Broadband is close to 900Mbps/Gigabit:

6. Asus Zen XT12 Mesh system - works exactly like (4), but slightly more advanced. Well reviewed. A two pack usually costs around £500 to £650 depending on offers. Can be used with the Vodafone router, or completely replace it.

8. Netgear Orbi Wifi 6 Mesh system - works similar to (7). Famous for its range, and its crazy price. A 3 pack usually costs around £700. Can be used with the Vodafone router, or completely replace it. 

For any of the Internet speeds, you could also theoretically buy your own Router which would usually provide a more powerful signal than the existing Vodafone router. As to whether it fully reaches the whole house wirelessly by itself, will depend on the walls of the house:

9. TP Link Wifi 6 AX3000 router - usually costs around £90 - Depending on the size of the house, one router may be enough to rule them all. Can technically speaking create a Mesh network by adding more TP link products to it which creates one network (e.g. a TP Link Deco Powerline node upstairs). 

10. Amplifi Alien Router - one of them costs around £400 - Depending on the size of the property, one of these might be enough to cover the whole house wirelessly. It is simple to use with a touchscreen as well. I would say however that it isn't the best value if more units are needed. Can be used as a replacement Router, or connected to your existing Vodafone router. 

11. A Netgear Wifi 6 router - different models cost between £200 to £450 depending on offers and what sort of speed you need. If the model you see is faster than your Internet speed, then you wouldn't need to go for a "faster" more expensive one.