Large house Wifi Issues

[JackDoyne]

So i'm planning out Wifi for a friends house who's having issue getting WifI on the third floor 

 

- Ground floor coverage is good 

- Second floor coverage is excellent (ISP supplied AP is on this level) 

- Third floor is poor (A powerline extender is been used however they have difficulty using a smart TV and their smart phones) signal strength to the powerline connector is poor besides the fact it is in the next room, and speeds are less than impressive. 

 

Things to bare in mind: 

- They have a VDSL circuit, not that having Fibre boosts signal strengths but poor speeds shouldn't really be a thing 

- The nearest comms cabinet is the end of the street (quite close) 

-  The house is relatively old (however i wouldn't think internal wiring would be an issue) 

- The walls are not that thick meaning connectivity isn't been blocked by thick materials 

- Both the AP and Powerline connector is using 2/.4 ghz 

 

Any ideas would be welcome 

 

Cheers 

[voyager_]

Look into ubiquiti APs. They make several different versions including a long range access point. From experience I have found that in large houses or where there are different levels it works best to have an AP on each floor. It will require running cables to the different points. With POE you'll only have to run one cable. You can either use the cloud key they sell or have a computer manage the network. This will allow the AP to hand off devices to each other.

 

[userzero]

I have had so much trouble over the years with powerlines.. probably better these days though.

 

Anyway, maybe just get 1 or 2 decent WiFi extenders and be done?

[JackDoyne]

15 minutes ago, voyager_ said:

Look into ubiquiti APs. They make several different versions including a long range access point. From experience I have found that in large houses or where there are different levels it works best to have an AP on each floor. It will require running cables to the different points. With POE you'll only have to run one cable. You can either use the cloud key they sell or have a computer manage the network. This will allow the AP to hand off devices to each other.

 

They are quite good and i like this idea, few issues though, they are quite expensive and their budget isn't overly huge, and unless i buy a decent switch POE won't be an option 

[JackDoyne]

11 minutes ago, userzero said:

I have had so much trouble over the years with powerlines.. probably better these days though.

 

Anyway, maybe just get 1 or 2 decent WiFi extenders and be done?

True, what Wifi Extenders would you recommend? budget is about £100 - £150 

[voyager_]

2 minutes ago, JackDoyne said:

They are quite good and i like this idea, few issues though, they are quite expensive and their budget isn't overly huge, and unless i buy a decent switch POE won't be an option 

You don't need a POE switch. Many of the APs come with POE injectors, this will help atleast reduce some of the cost.

[userzero]

Well what about someting like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-Nighthawk-Extender-External-EX7000-100UKS/dp/B00TV4ABZA/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1517244169&sr=1-5&keywords=wifi+extender&refinements=p_36%3A-15000%2Cp_72%3A419153031

 

or this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-RBS40-System-Tri-Band-Satellite/dp/B072M3T549/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1517244212&sr=1-2&keywords=wifi+extender&refinements=p_36%3A-15000%2Cp_72%3A419153031

[JackDoyne]

8 minutes ago, voyager_ said:

You don't need a POE switch. Many of the APs come with POE injectors, this will help atleast reduce some of the cost.

Ah, but you forget this is an ISP provided router, i'd honestly be surprised if their ISP even knows POE even means  

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, JackDoyne said:

Ah, but you forget this is an ISP provided router, i'd honestly be surprised if their ISP even knows POE even means  

The ISP would not be involved with the POE. Simply you use the injector that comes with the AP. The Ethernet from the router goes in to the injector and Ethernet from the injector goes out to the AP. If you cant run a direct wire from the AP to the router then I would look at some power line adapters for that stretch. Try to place the AP in the middle of the 3rd floor. You would then put the injector between the power line adapters and AP.