Router Recommendations + Help

[Storm_Prince]

Hello everyone, 

Would it be possible to get some reassurance, my girlfriends parents WiFi has terrible signal as if its line of sight only. It's a eero router.

It's a cottage thin interior walls around 20mx20m dimensions one floor.
We tried to get a replacement but TalkTalk was utterly useless so we're thinking of buying a router between £40 and £70.

 

After a bit of research I found this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Dual-Core-Cybersecurity-Archer-AX18/dp/B0CTD1CTHM/ref=sr_1_1?s=amazon-devices&sr=1-1

 

Any other suggestions or problems I should consider such as setup issues? Thanks

[Thomas53]

Try a range extender, they're a lot less expensive and setup is extremely easy.

[Donut417]

6 hours ago, Storm_Prince said:

Any other suggestions or problems I should consider such as setup issues? Thanks

20m x 20m is over 4000 sq feet in freedom units. Thats a fairly large house, to put it in perspective our house between basement, and the two other floors is just under 1300 sq feet. One router might have issues with covering that space. 

 

You really in my opinion have 3 good options. 

 

1) You can do what was suggested above and try a range extender. I will caution you they will cut your bandwidth in half. So anything connected to the range extender will have crappier speeds, but it can extend your WiFI signal. 

 

2) You can install a second router or a wireless access point, but you will need to run a cable from the main router to the router/AP. Roaming between AP's / routers can be tricky. As there are multiple different ways to do it both within the WIFi standard and proprietary. So your milage will vary. 

 

3) WiFi mesh system. It's kinda like the extender but doesnt suck. WiFi mesh systems have a main router that plugs in to your modem and the extra nodes connect via WiFi back to the main router. Generally they have dedicated radio(s) for the node to node communication. So while you might loose some speed because its still WiFi, it shouldn't cut it by half. 

 

 

A few other things I would also check. If you have an Android device you can download WiFi analyzer. It will allow you to check both the signal strength of the WIFi signal and as well as the airwaves at large. Remember all other WIFI routers in the area can interfere with every other WiF router. Not to mention the other non WiFi related things that use the same spectrum. The other thing is most people tuck their router away and out of sight. Routers need to be in an open area, preferable higher up if you can. This way it can throw the WiFi signal further. Thats why many suggest putting the router in the center of your home for the best signal. I know thats now always practical, which is why dedicated APs and Mesh networking are great things to have now days. 

6 hours ago, Storm_Prince said:

After a bit of research I found this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Dual-Core-Cybersecurity-Archer-AX18/dp/B0CTD1CTHM/ref=sr_1_1?s=amazon-devices&sr=1-1

I cant speak for the router itself. But I have deployed at least one TPLink unit in my time. It seemed to work well when it was in use.