Signal tanks hard.

[WalkingBread]

So I am teoubleshooting the internet in a family members house. The house is a 2900 sq ft 2 story bedroom. Staircase is in the middle of the house, router located at the top of the stairs(best results from here) the 1st floor is a kitchen, dining room(base of stairs) big living room and down. Long hallway 2 bedrooms. We have a range extender that is the same stats and the router placed in the attic at the end of the hallway, it is hardwired. In the bedrooms on the first floor, the signal just tanks randomly and speeds are not crap. Everywhere else we get 35 mbps over wifi. But in those bedrooms when its stable we get 3 to 4. Outside the house signal doesn't get too far.

 

So I swapped the main router out for my own DIR890L/R the signal in the 1st floor bedrooms is like 8-10 instead of the 120 we were getting everywhere else, except now I can get better internet across the street than in the 1st story rooms.

 

I am puzzled as to what is causing this issue, I have been unable to find any sources of interference. The wifi channels are fine and everything. I'm considering getting a even more powerful router, but I don't know if it will fix the issue

[Donut417]

17 minutes ago, WalkingBread said:

So I am teoubleshooting the internet in a family members house. The house is a 2900 sq ft 2 story bedroom. Staircase is in the middle of the house, router located at the top of the stairs(best results from here) the 1st floor is a kitchen, dining room(base of stairs) big living room and down. Long hallway 2 bedrooms. We have a range extender that is the same stats and the router placed in the attic at the end of the hallway, it is hardwired. In the bedrooms on the first floor, the signal just tanks randomly and speeds are not crap. Everywhere else we get 35 mbps over wifi. But in those bedrooms when its stable we get 3 to 4. Outside the house signal doesn't get too far.

 

So I swapped the main router out for my own DIR890L/R the signal in the 1st floor bedrooms is like 8-10 instead of the 120 we were getting everywhere else, except now I can get better internet across the street than in the 1st story rooms.

 

I am puzzled as to what is causing this issue, I have been unable to find any sources of interference. The wifi channels are fine and everything. I'm considering getting a even more powerful router, but I don't know if it will fix the issue

Firstly thats a big ass house. For larger buildings many use multiple AP's to get great coverage. You doing pretty well with just one router if you ask me. You didnt really state if your using 2.4 or 5 Ghz. Remember 2.4 is built for range but not speed, 5 Ghz is built for speed but not range. Interference can be caused by a lot of sources. Firstly other WiFi networks in the area. WiFi analyzer on Android is good place to start to check for other networks. Other things also can cause issues, Blue tooth operates on 2.4 Ghz, Cordless phones, baby monitors, and Microwave ovens are also issues you need to deal with. Weather can cause issues with WiFi as well, when a big storm would roll thru, my WiFi signal would become weaker. The biggest issue is walls, depending on building materials used, will depend on how easy they are to penetrate. Other thing to think about to is WiFi is a two way street. Buying the billy bad ass of routers might solve the issue or might not. Remember devices have to communicate back, not all devices have great antennas or strong enough antennas to do that. 

[WalkingBread]

The issue is with both 2.4 and 5 ghz. It's just odd that in that one section of the house the signal tanks the speed and drops alot, when I can go further away from the router and get better results. I've used wifi analyzer, channels are just fine. And I cant find any interference. We have the router and a ap. Is ran to the side of the house where the signal tanks, and yet when standing right on top of it, connection is spotty and slow.

[Alex Atkin UK]

My guess is its just how the house is built/laid out, something is deflecting/absorbing the signal awkwardly.  Its not that unusual to get a good line-of-sight signal outdoors as there will be less obstructions than in the house itself.

Its hard to guess without an actual plan of the house, but in that situation I'd be putting an AP in at least one of the bedrooms (if they are side by side) and possibly one in each (if they are at opposites end of the corridor), if its going to be used a lot in the bedrooms and I'm guessing they could be easily wired through the ceiling into the loft?  So a ceiling mounted Ubiquiti would be ideal.

[WalkingBread]

Yeah. The next step is to just put a wire to each room and have a access point

[Pickles von Brine]

2 hours ago, WalkingBread said:

Yeah. The next step is to just put a wire to each room and have a access point

You could also look into something like Moca. Works like a charm and performs well. I have used Moca injectors and receivers. The only issue is if a splitter is in the line you are running on is below the 1500MHz required for Moca to work it can cause them not to function. I used Moca to put a proper network into a 15000sq foot home before. Not idea but worked pretty well. 

 

BTW, if you have FIOS you can get MOCA that just connects to a coax and create an access point that way. 

 

Alternatively Powerline kits work pretty well. You can have up to 16 of them plugged in throughout the house. My preference are netgear ones. Some of them even have APs ready to go. 

 

Though the best is to have ethernet to where you need to go and have APs. 

 

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

19 hours ago, Lord Xeb said:

You could also look into something like Moca. Works like a charm and performs well. I have used Moca injectors and receivers. The only issue is if a splitter is in the line you are running on is below the 1500MHz required for Moca to work it can cause them not to function. I used Moca to put a proper network into a 15000sq foot home before. Not idea but worked pretty well. 

 

BTW, if you have FIOS you can get MOCA that just connects to a coax and create an access point that way. 

 

Alternatively Powerline kits work pretty well. You can have up to 16 of them plugged in throughout the house. My preference are netgear ones. Some of them even have APs ready to go. 

 

Though the best is to have ethernet to where you need to go and have APs. 

 

 

I don't think any of those technologies are a good answer here as we already know the router is in the loft so running a couple of ethernet cables down into the ceilings of the bedrooms for APs should be relatively easy and by far the most reliable option.

 

Even putting an Access Point IN the loft directly above/between both bedrooms could help.

[Pickles von Brine]

14 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I don't think any of those technologies are a good answer here as we already know the router is in the loft so running a couple of ethernet cables down into the ceilings of the bedrooms for APs should be relatively easy and by far the most reliable option.

 

Even putting an Access Point IN the loft directly above/between both bedrooms could help.

Or you could try using existing coax lines via moca. Usually if you have cable TV you can use moca if you swap out the splitters. 

https://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-Bonded-Ethernet-Adapter-ECB6200K02/dp/B013J7O3X0/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

 

I used this method for a 15000 sq foot home that had no ethernet runs but had coax home runs to almost every room. I setup 7 routers in bridged mode with an 8th in the basement setup normally. Worked great but required sounding out a lot of coax lines, making sure proper splitters were used and making sure the moca injectors were working right. 

 

I have used this one if FIOS was in the home. 

https://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-Dual-Band-Wireless-Extender-Ethernet/dp/B00FKTMWDE/ref=pd_sbs_147_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00FKTMWDE&pd_rd_r=afec01a5-cb4d-11e8-95be-b5014c042b97&pd_rd_w=o1oCt&pd_rd_wg=RxNRB&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=7d5d9c3c-5e01-44ac-97fd-261afd40b865&pf_rd_r=V238Y8BCDW0XQ0Q71DNJ&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=V238Y8BCDW0XQ0Q71DNJ

 

Alternatively it is possible to use powerline kits. They use the electrical lines in your walls to transmit data. Pretty cool but can sometimes be finicky and may not always be reliable. 

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-PowerLINE-1000-802-11ac-Gigabit/dp/B01929V7ZG?crid=3KKXH0A2AV03O&keywords=netgear+powerline&qid=1539039388&s=Electronics&sprefix=netgear+powerline%2Celectronics%2C173&sr=1-2&ref=sr_1_2

 

You can have up to 16 of these plugged in and it will create a network using your existing electrical. Personally have done this for clients. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

2 minutes ago, Lord Xeb said:

Or you could try using existing coax lines via moca. Usually if you have cable TV you can use moca if you swap out the splitters. 

 

Alternatively it is possible to use powerline kits. They use the electrical lines in your walls to transmit data. Pretty cool but can sometimes be finicky and may not always be reliable. 

Those are solutions you should only use IF you can't use proper ethernet!  Clearly here we can as those rooms are directly underneath where the router is.  It might be more work, but its a reliable permanent solution that is "guaranteed" to work properly, neither of the above are.

MoCA is limited by whatever version of DOCSIS you are using which means if your cable company upgrades to a higher version than the kit you have, you then have to replace it.  Typically MoCA kit lags behind the current top-end version of DOCSIS so potentially you are left with useless kit and nothing to replace it with.  I also see no mention of them even having cable in the first place, so why would you even suggest that as an option?

 

Powerline relies on good mains cabling, absolutely no guarantees on how it will perform.  Its also very similar to WiFi so you are stacking one interference prone shared service on top of another one.  At the very least it will have vastly inferior latency to pure ethernet, at worst it will be vastly slower and practically unusable.  Why risk that when there is a better way?

[Pickles von Brine]

12 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Those are solutions you should only use IF you can't use proper ethernet!  Clearly here we can as those rooms are directly underneath where the router is.  It might be more work, but its a reliable permanent solution that is "guaranteed" to work properly, neither of the above are.

MoCA is limited by whatever version of DOCSIS you are using which means if your cable company upgrades to a higher version than the kit you have, you then have to replace it.  Typically MoCA kit lags behind the current top-end version of DOCSIS so potentially you are left with useless kit and nothing to replace it with.  I also see no mention of them even having cable in the first place, so why would you even suggest that as an option?

 

Powerline relies on good mains cabling, absolutely no guarantees on how it will perform.  Its also very similar to WiFi so you are stacking one interference prone shared service on top of another one.  At the very least it will have vastly inferior latency to pure ethernet, at worst it will be vastly slower and practically unusable.  Why risk that when there is a better way?

Hey there, slow down. I was mainly giving good suggestions here. Yes, running cables is the best case but not everyone is willing to do so (either for themselves or pay to have someone else do it). Giving suggestions and leaving solutions (even if not ideal) is not a bad thing and gives someone options. I have done many cabling jobs for clients and been to many others that just want to make things work with what they have. 

 

Plus, sometimes there is no "better way" because of either money, the home is SUPER old or it is a clients choice. Sometimes you have to make due with what is available and other times get creative. I am simply giving options to allow for a possible creative solution if running hard lines is not an option. 

 

Ultimately it is up to the OP as to what he/she wants to do. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

It was the fact you responded to my post saying your suggestions were not ideal by repeating them that made me reply like I did.

It came across that you were suggesting they were better options, while also not explaining their drawbacks.