Home WiFi Help

[Saucetradamus]

Look for advice on how to handle this:

 

99% of the internet used in my house is WiFi. The house is a little older with no ethernet ports running through it, so im limited to the ports directly at my modem. I have fairly fast internet (150 mbps down/ 20mbps up) however, this is mostly limited to the 5ghz band, and most of the locations around the house that require faster internet (such as my gaming pc) are only able to get on the slower 2.5ghz band. I've tried using extenders, but haven't gotten any satisfaction from them. What can I do? Is there anything I can do?

 

-Thanks

[Saucetradamus]

What about mesh products like Google WiFi?

[Saucetradamus]

5 minutes ago, Pangea2017 said:

They are just a repeater a bit different and should work as fine as good "normal" repeater. 

If you want full 150 mbit wifi is not ideal for distance.+

Is this possible?

I rent.....So drilling holes and running cables everywhere isn't an option unfortunately

[XzunderX]

So the responses you have gotten so far are not "real" solutions.

 

If you don't have the money for something like what I'm going to suggest. A couple good extenders can also help.

 

First a couple of questions.

1. Where in your house is your router and how close to the middle is that?

2. What is your budget? This will determine a lot about what solution is best.

3.How big is your house?

4.What are the walls made of?

[Saucetradamus]

1: The router is on the 1st floor (2 story house) sort of in the middle.

 

2: Not looking to pay much more than 300-400$ CND

 

3: 3000 sq ft

 

4: Gyprock/wood frames

[WiViW]

14 minutes ago, Saucetradamus said:

I rent.....So drilling holes and running cables everywhere isn't an option unfortunately

Wait can you not run a flat Ethernet cable around? Because if you just want to get it to your PC then you could run it under some carpets if it ruins how you want the house to look. However if it is cost then maybe you could consider moving your wifi router to a more central place

[WiViW]

Also you could try the power line adapters and if you can get a good connection between them then you can get good speeds

[Saucetradamus]

I have already tired them as i stated and I am not getting good results. It could be the type that i am using, but non the less, it didnt really work.

[Saucetradamus]

4 minutes ago, WiViW said:

Wait can you not run a flat Ethernet cable around? Because if you just want to get it to your PC then you could run it under some carpets if it ruins how you want the house to look. However if it is cost then maybe you could consider moving your wifi router to a more central place

and yes i can run a cable 30 feet across my house to my pc, but the wife wouldnt really like it that much. and i cant move the modem, as it only has one point of connection to the internet.

[WiViW]

If you do go for powerline I would recommend trying to get it on the same floor since when I tried powerline it had massive speed decrease and unreliability from having it on two different floors so for example running a cable up the stairs if you can run It hidden

[Saucetradamus]

unfortunately running cables (even hiding them as best as possible) isn't really and option for me. Strictly looking for a way to get the maximum range and strength out of what I have. I would love to get access to the 5 ghz band, but even with using extenders in the past, the 5ghz band was still choppy. If anyone has a recommendations for a good extender or something similar that would be great. Also where would be the best location to set it up? Modem is on first floor. PC is on the second floor

[knightslugger]

The only solution i can see here is to run ethernet to where you want signal and install an AP. Barring that, Powerline adapters (which are not repleaters by any stretch of the imagination) would be the easiest solution if chasing a wire behind a wall isn't exactly your idea of fun.

[XzunderX]

I would probably order 2 of these https://www.amazon.ca/Ubiquiti-Unifi-Ap-AC-Lite-UAPACLITEUS/dp/B015PR20GY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516993754&sr=8-1&keywords=ubiquiti+access+point

 

And a cable like this https://www.amazon.ca/Fosmon-Network-Ethernet-Router-Printer/dp/B00K3202Y4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1516993954&sr=8-4&keywords=cat+6+cable+100ft

 

Put each one in the most populated areas of your house. But make sure one is upstairs and one is down.

Then plug them into your router. You'll want to disable the wireless antennas on your router by logging into it. They are POE APs so use the included POE injector and you only have to have one wire running to each one.

 

Edit:

Just saw that you don't want to run cables. But if you use small panduit that can be attached to your wall and paint it the same color it would look pretty good.

[knightslugger]

2 minutes ago, Saucetradamus said:

unfortunately running cables (even hiding them as best as possible) isn't really and option for me. Strictly looking for a way to get the maximum range and strength out of what I have. I would love to get access to the 5 ghz band, but even with using extenders in the past, the 5ghz band was still choppy. If anyone has a recommendations for a good extender or something similar that would be great. Also where would be the best location to set it up? Modem is on first floor. PC is on the second floor

http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/details/cat-5509_TL-PA8010-KIT.html + a Managed Wirelss AP of your choice (I'm a big fan of Ubiquiti)

or

http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/details/cat-5509_TL-WPA8630-KIT.html <- straight up gets you wifi where you need it.

 

[Saucetradamus]

okay i think this is more on the track that im looking for thanks!. But just to clarify both @XzunderX & @knightslugger.  Will any cable(s) have to be ran from my modem (which is on the first floor of my house), anywhere else (ex: to the ubiquiti AP's or powerline adaptors? 

[mthoward]

https://www.amazon.com/RT-AC3200-Tri-Band-Wireless-Gigabit-AiProtection/dp/B00XJKH67I/ref=sr_1_13?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1516994286&sr=1-13&refinements=p_89%3AAsus

 

And

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RNX-AC1900PCE-802-11AC-Express-Wireless/dp/B0159222VS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1516994365&sr=8-3&keywords=pci+express+wireless+ac

 

These 2 items will allow you to get much closer to the speed you pay for. I had a similar problem in my 5000 sqft house and this router was the solution. The PCI-E adapter is so you can take advantage of the AC standard.

 

What type of router do you currently have? Are you using the modem/router combo your ISP provides?

[Saucetradamus]

I am only using an Arris modem that my ISP provided........nothing else

[knightslugger]

5 minutes ago, Saucetradamus said:

okay i think this is more on the track that im looking for thanks!. But just to clarify both @XzunderX & @knightslugger.  Will any cable(s) have to be ran from my modem (which is on the first floor of my house), anywhere else (ex: to the ubiquiti AP's or powerline adaptors? 

the only cable you will need is the one from the gateway 3-in-1 (router) to the first powerline adapter which should be right next to the gateway. The other one will be located on a wall power socket where you want wifi signal.

 

The Ubiquiti AP is a hardline option and would require you to run Cat5e across your house... which is not what you want. The Powerline adapters i linked would be your best bet. They might have to jump breakers so don't expect gigabit speeds out of this setup, but you should get 150Mbps no problem.

[Saucetradamus]

ok perfect!!! And you linked two. Is there one better than the other? And should this allow me to access the 5ghz band a greater distance away. And where should the second powerline adaptor be positioned? 

[knightslugger]

well one had built-in wifi (the $100+ one) whereas the other was just a ethernet to ethernet pair (which you'd connect to an AP or a computer, or TV, or whatever had an ethernet plug).

[Saucetradamus]

Gotcha!! Perfect well thanks for all the help everyone!!! 

[WiViW]

Yeah also for troubleshooting the powerline adapters after you have them I would try plugging them in to the same Floor so you can test if they aren't dead.