Internet solution for home

[DragonElm]

Hello,

 

I joined this forum to get tips on how to improve internet range at my home. We have a 20mbps connection. Our main router is in the living room, The other bedrooms are down the hall from the living room, so reach is quite poor. For this reason I've placed a Belkin dual band extender in the first room closest to the living room. It was working pretty well, until one day the speeds from the extended network dropped by 80%. Before that I was getting the same speed on my extended network as my router (how? i don't know). My Linksys AC1200 smart wifi router has dual band...so I enabled the 5ghz band on the main router and the extender thinking it would improve the speed, but it didn't..so I figured 2.4ghz was the issue and disabled the 2.4ghz on the extender and set it to extended just the 5ghz ac wifi while my main router had both 2.4ghz and 5ghz enabled. And I got my speed back. 

 

But my problem is that some devices don't support 5ghz ac..like my Note 3 (for some reason), PS3, PS4, PS Vita and Chromecast...If 2.4ghz speeds were okay on the extender, I wouldn't have an issue, I've tried many ways to improve speed on the 2.4ghz band, but with no luck.

 

What can I do? is a passthrough powerline with wifi a good option? I live in a fairly solidly built apartment building, I'm not sure if electrical disturbance would be an issue.

 

If powerline adaptors are the way to go, would it be safe to plug in the TV, PS3, PS4 via extension cord on the passthrough socket on the powerline adaptor?

 

help..

[kristaps552]

Powerline is probably your best shot if you don't want to run cables from your router to other areas. 
And it is safe to plug the extension cord into the pass through of the powerline adapter.

[mikat]

you can install the app inSSIDer on your phone and walk around the house to see how much interference there is

[Networking Wolf]

Make sure to look into Wifi Analysizer for android. It will show you what the other wifi signal and channels are so you can ask your isp to change it to a proper rang

[Belgiangurista]

5GHz has a shorter range, but is usually interference free.

It doesn't solve the problem if there was a range issue to start with.

 

As been said here, powerlines are your best bet. 3 standards these days, from descent to better: AV < G.hn < AV2.

[DragonElm]

Thank you everyone. I'm going to look up a buying guide on powerlines...hopefully get one today or tomorrow.

[Belgiangurista]

here's a quick guide:

 

1. Don't believe what they put on the box. 500Mbs/1200Mbs ... it's bullshit.

 

2. There's 3 standards you want to look for:

• AV: Cheap, does the job, but don't expect more then an averageing 70-100Mbs out of them.
• G.hn: Makes a calcultation of the pins through the powercircuit (Line 1, Neutral or Earth) and decides wich way is best or makes a combination of any of the pins) double the speeds (in most cases) then AV standard (avg 250Mbs - MIMO support)
• AV2: expensive but the best standard there is atm. Higher frequencies get send out over the powercircuit. (avg 350Mbs - MIMO support)