Advice needed.

[charbel1011]

So im gonna move the modem tomorrow from the living room to my bedroom so i can finally get ethernet on my gaming pc so i can have a decent internet without interaption from the wifi. But the problem im having right now. Our house is big. And my basement is huge. So of course im gonna be lacking of coverage in the basement and elsewhere. I have a shitty netgear router connected to the comcast modem with no antennas on it. I live in my uncle's house otherwise i dont care about other room lacking coverage. But my uncle watch and stream movies downstairs so i need to have coverage in these areas. Money aint a problem right now. So what do you guys advice? Range extenders? Or new router? But like the new router gonna be connected to the modem and the modem gonna be in my room. So it's like im stuck.

[homeap5]

Repeaters or just few routers acts like switches with separate wifi (so different wifi for different rooms / floors).

[charbel1011]

1 minute ago, homeap5 said:

Repeaters or just few routers acts like switches with separate wifi (so different wifi for different rooms / floors).

What do you mean by few routers? And act by switches part? How can u connect a router without connecting it to the modem?

[r2724r16]

Grab a few routers and hook them up to your modem.

[jared404]

7 minutes ago, charbel1011 said:

So im gonna move the modem tomorrow from the living room to my bedroom so i can finally get ethernet on my gaming pc so i can have a decent internet without interaption from the wifi. But the problem im having right now. Our house is big. And my basement is huge. So of course im gonna be lacking of coverage in the basement and elsewhere. I have a shitty netgear router connected to the comcast modem with no antennas on it. I live in my uncle's house otherwise i dont care about other room lacking coverage. But my uncle watch and stream movies downstairs so i need to have coverage in these areas. Money aint a problem right now. So what do you guys advice? Range extenders? Or new router? But like the new router gonna be connected to the modem and the modem gonna be in my room. So it's like im stuck.

If money is not a problem I would run (or have someone run) ethernet cables in the walls to Ubiquiti access points from the main router.

[charbel1011]

13 minutes ago, crashahotrod said:

If money is not a problem I would run (or have someone run) ethernet cables in the walls to Ubiquiti access points from the main router.

Of course money is not a problem. But it's my house and i cannot do anything like that. He finally decided to put the modem in after last time he took it back to the living room which i dont blame it he lost all the coverage downstairs. He told me today i can get it back but with 1 rule. I need to get coverage downstairs and around the house.

[charbel1011]

1 hour ago, crashahotrod said:

If money is not a problem I would run (or have someone run) ethernet cables in the walls to Ubiquiti access points from the main router.

Do u think a good  router will solve the problem?

[jared404]

38 minutes ago, charbel1011 said:

Do u think a good  router will solve the problem?

A better router typically doesn't improve signal strength. Most routers operate at the maximum transmission power the FCC allows. A better router may give you faster speeds and a more reliable connection in areas you already have signal. The best way to get signal somewhere it isn't, is with access points. You can either hardwire access points or use a mesh system. The downfall to the mesh system is that it can put a strain on an already crowded wifi environment and may drop out from time to time. Mesh systems will also add some latency. 

[charbel1011]

13 minutes ago, crashahotrod said:

A better router typically doesn't improve signal strength. Most routers operate at the maximum transmission power the FCC allows. A better router may give you faster speeds and a more reliable connection in areas you already have signal. The best way to get signal somewhere it isn't, is with access points. You can either hardwire access points or use a mesh system. The downfall to the mesh system is that it can put a strain on an already crowded wifi environment and may drop out from time to time. Mesh systems will also add some latency. 

So basically what your saying is there's no solution? My router right now has intergrated antenas so i figured something with showing antenas will be better?

[jared404]

1 minute ago, charbel1011 said:

So basically what your saying is there's no solution? My router right now has intergrated antenas so i figured something with showing antenas will be better?

Look into mesh wifi systems, this would replace your current router and provide the coverage you need at an affordable price. https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Electronics-Whole-Home-Mesh-Wi-Fi-Systems/zgbs/electronics/17935294011

[mynameisjuan]

1 hour ago, crashahotrod said:

A better router typically doesn't improve signal strength. Most routers operate at the maximum transmission power the FCC allows. A better router may give you faster speeds and a more reliable connection in areas you already have signal. The best way to get signal somewhere it isn't, is with access points. You can either hardwire access points or use a mesh system. The downfall to the mesh system is that it can put a strain on an already crowded wifi environment and may drop out from time to time. Mesh systems will also add some latency. 

The best way I explain this to people is wireless is like two people shouting (which is really not far from reality). Sure if they cant really hear each other very well you can give one guy a loud speaker but the other guy is still barely heard.

 

Its always better to buy APs than it is to buy a "better router". Ubiquiti or Mikrotik mesh, even the new google router mesh is a much better solution.

 

 

[Arkanthos]

This is a situation I have seen time and time again with home WiFi setups, and especially the terrible router/modem units that ISP's give to customers (Netgear 7550 I'm looking at you...)

 

So there are a lot of options and this is where things get messy.

 

The cheapest option is to run CAT5 cable where you need it. If you are living in California at least, please make sure you get cable that is "Plenum" so that I'm not accused of letting you literally die in a fire (kidding, but it's a good idea). If you have drywall and 2x4 walls, and an exposed attic... you're golden. Takes a weekend and it's easy to remove.

 

For a minimally invasive option, with nothing more than just finding electrical outlets to plug things in... a mesh wifi network makes a ton of sense. Something like a Ubiquity AmpliFi HD works great. We use this for some of our branch offices and they have proven reliable and useful, if on the pricy end of the spectrum. Be aware though, that with increased range... comes decreased backhaul bandwidth. However, these systems allow for the installation of multiple mesh nodes, and if they are truly smart, they map their neighbors and optimize the coverage and speeds.

 

If you want to stay wireless, the best option really is to run ethernet to POE access points. This would necessitate either POE injectors, or a POE switch hanging off your router to connect these to. 

 

Given the options, and the considerations you have, a mesh system looks to be the best path forward. Hit us back on this, I would love to hear what you end up with. Also, if you get the Ubiquity system, there are some configuration settings that can really help to dial things in.

[homeap5]

8 hours ago, charbel1011 said:

What do you mean by few routers? And act by switches part? How can u connect a router without connecting it to the modem?

If you connected second router to your first router by lan port (lan to lan, not to wan), your second router will act like switch, but with its own wireless.

You must set internal IP of second router so you can manage it and that IP must have address from your main address range.

For example - if router has 192.168.0.1 gateway and address range 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.200 with subnet mask 255.255.255.0, then your second router should have address 192.168.0.201 (so you can manage it's configuration - like wireless password). Of course you should disable DHCP on second router.

And then you can plug third router to your second router (or first) LAN to LAN with address 192.168.0.202 and repeat whole procedure.

This is cheap way if you have some old routers. If not - check "wifi repeater" on google.

[AbsoluteFool]

14 hours ago, charbel1011 said:

So im gonna move the modem tomorrow from the living room to my bedroom so i can finally get ethernet on my gaming pc so i can have a decent internet without interaption from the wifi. But the problem im having right now. Our house is big. And my basement is huge. So of course im gonna be lacking of coverage in the basement and elsewhere. I have a shitty netgear router connected to the comcast modem with no antennas on it. I live in my uncle's house otherwise i dont care about other room lacking coverage. But my uncle watch and stream movies downstairs so i need to have coverage in these areas. Money aint a problem right now. So what do you guys advice? Range extenders? Or new router? But like the new router gonna be connected to the modem and the modem gonna be in my room. So it's like im stuck.

Pull down an access point for him. Should be more than enough if he just use WiFi.

[charbel1011]

33 minutes ago, AbsoluteFool said:

Pull down an access point for him. Should be more than enough if he just use WiFi.

How can i do that?

[AbsoluteFool]

23 hours ago, charbel1011 said:

How can i do that?

An access point is kinda a "router" that just gives out wireless signals. If you move the modem to your room i'd assume you'll also bring up the router and do cable from router to your PC. Pull another cable from the router to the middle of the house somewhere (or basement) and put up the access point. You can also use serval access points if you prefer that. Onther option is as people have suggested wifi mesh systems. But they will be more pricey.

 

The reason why i say access points instead of extenders or new router is because that can only improve "so much" because it's just a waste of money. It's alot better to spend a tiny bit more and do it properly at the start.

 

If running cables isn't the best solution for you. You can also use powerline adapters to the access points. But this will of course be slower. And i'd recomend testing this because actually using it. As it depends alot from use case to use case.

[charbel1011]

3 hours ago, AbsoluteFool said:

An access point is kinda a "router" that just gives out wireless signals. If you move the modem to your room i'd assume you'll also bring up the router and do cable from router to your PC. Pull another cable from the router to the middle of the house somewhere (or basement) and put up the access point. You can also use serval access points if you prefer that. Onther option is as people have suggested wifi mesh systems. But they will be more pricey.

 

The reason why i say access points instead of extenders or new router is because that can only improve "so much" because it's just a waste of money. It's alot better to spend a tiny bit more and do it properly at the start.

 

If running cables isn't the best solution for you. You can also use powerline adapters to the access points. But this will of course be slower. And i'd recomend testing this because actually using it. As it depends alot from use case to use case.

I got the netgear orbi 300$ from bestbuy man that shit rocks. It's solid with the wifi. I have wifi now all over the house.

[AbsoluteFool]

23 minutes ago, charbel1011 said:

I got the netgear orbi 300$ from bestbuy man that shit rocks. It's solid with the wifi. I have wifi now all over the house.

Well that is great then if that worked