Reply With QuoteCan't you just buy a WiFi extender? Think they're only about fifteen quid
Be aware I’m clueless with this type of stuff!!
I have the BT business hub at home and would like to boost the signal as I find it’s cuts out in the back garden and in the annex.
What’s the best/cheapest route.
Plus the BT Hub is just left as it was installed would changing some setting help etc?
Can't you just buy a WiFi extender? Think they're only about fifteen quid
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Powerline adaptors? That’s what I use.
I think some sort of Mesh is best. I've got BT whole home and as it's a mesh there's no loss of speed wherever you connect.
Thanks guys
Sure this is the one I was thinking of, isn’t it a step up from the extenders and it’s basically like having numerous home hubs around the house?Originally Posted by Rodder
Mesh is definitely the best way to go, power line and extender solutions are not that reliable and make using some other tech more difficult. If you're not sure about setting things up, go for the BT option, it'll be the simplest to set up with your router.
Yeah mesh is the best bet as others have said and BT while home WiFi seems like the best option. There's also Google WiFi but the BT solution is cheaper and seems to do better in most reviews.
https://www.shop.bt.com/products/bt-...0462-B15P.html
I use these from BT. They are good but be aware they are different IDs
B
I have BT Wholehome and it works well. The app is rubbish though and doesn’t work at all now. Once set up though you don’t need the app.
Only issue we have is our Epsom printer won’t work on airprint with the wholehome.
Just my 2d worth... mesh is probably the easiest BUT mesh units have issues which may or may not effect you.
1. Mesh units are essentially repeaters so each time the signal is repeated the overall wifi (note I wifi says wifi and not internet) through put is halved. Now if this is internet access then it'll probably stand being 'halved' a few times before it starts to effect the internet speed anyway! However if you wanted the very best speed you should be using wifi anyway! ;-)
2. Mesh nodes rely on each mesh unit being able to see what it's repeating from and what's it's repeating to. So this can mean the mesh nodes have to be a bit closer together to give good speed. This may or may not matter. It depends upon the layout of the house and the route from the room where the router is located to the eventual location where you need the wifi.
tbh I'm not a fan of mesh systems but I can see how they can be a popular system for those not familiar with networking.
I had a BT powerline adapter with hotspot to reach the far end of the house - biggest pain was continually having to switch wifi networks, or realising that your phone had picked the weak one.
Moved to BT Wholehome mesh and it works a treat. Getting 42Mbps on my phone here at the furthest point away from the router. Works flawlessly, although I have the repeaters in daft places to make it work. I'd really need a 4th one to allow me to set it up properly (ie more discretely).
I'm going to take alook at this sounds good for under 200
Thanks for the tip
B
IMO
Best is to wire in access points.
Easiest/best is to use access points that form a mesh, but signal in remote parts may be no use for things like gaming (unless other mesh kit behaves differently to my Unifi stuff).
Cheapest is to buy a wireless extender, I've had little luck with these but they're only about £15 so maybe worth a try.
I use one of these. Does what it says on the box!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-WN3.../dp/B00NIUHA84
ook
I've got Google WiFi which works pretty well. Have a house across 3 floors so have one unit on each floor and its very reliable. You can get a bundle and they often appear on hotukdeals at various retailers.
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I went from using a mixture of Powerline adapters (which I still use) and Wifi extenders to the Netgear Orbi mesh system. I went with this option as I wanted a Guest network and configurable DHCP which, in Apr '17, only the Netgear offering had. It has been rock solid for 15 months or so. If you have any question regarding the Orbi system I'm happy to try to answer them.
Last edited by Skier; 21st July 2018 at 20:11.
I bought quite an expensive extender which is continuously dropping out according the the led's on the front, it doesn't however seem to affect anything. Weird.
I have the BT whole home mesh thing and it’s OK. Fairly unstable, I have to have one every
15 ft or so otherwise they dont work (I have 5 in total) and the speed reduces the further away I get from the source. I have invested loads in them so keep them despite them not being great, better than anything else I can find at the moment. I am sure there is a better solution but what I am using stretches my knowledge and it is OK so it will do.......
Also really bloody expensive!
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Actually just checked and at the 4th one I get about 60mb sat right by it, move 10 ft into the next room and it’s down to 20mb.........
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Thanks guys, the BT options does seem the most logical given my lack of expertise in this area!
Alex, you mention costs etc but looking at the BT one it looks to be one of the cheapest mesh system at £200 for the 3 discs? Also am I right in thinking I’d then have 4 WiFi points in the house (original BT huh and the 3 discs placed about the house)
Also is the BT one just plug and play type set-up?!
Thanks in advance.
I think the costs have added up because I had to get 5 and they were a lot more than £200 for 3 when I bought them. They are basically plug and play and really easy to set up, will be a bit of faffing with what placement works best etc. It will create a second WiFi network and you should be able to access it everywhere. It was the only solution that worked for me but like I say far from perfect!
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I have BT fibre to the premises then use a Netgear booster in the conservatory to boost the signal into the garden. Works for surfing but sometimes drops out when the kids are both streaming videos. Cost £15 so not exactly the end of the world if it doesn't work.
Another Q if I add the BT system and it states you change your devices to the new network and forget the original routers Wi-Fi, am I right in thinking I can do that for my phone and iPad etc but my systems like Arlo, Hue and Nest which all direct connect into the original router will all be ok left on that system or will that cause a problem?!
Your original network ssid is still there OK and you can connect to the main router as usual. The whole home ssid is a second network.
Pretty sure it’s recommended to turn off the wi-fi on the router as it can cause issues. My nest etc. is now connected to wholehome wi-fi network.
If I move everything over to the new mesh WiFi then are the connected devices still ok connected to the ports in the original router (hope that makes sense)
Yes, they'll be fine.
+1 on that.. Exactly what I've done. All WiFi is on the mesh and I've still got all the lan cabled devices into the main hub/router. Have a 8 port switch off that too, for extra connections.
Last edited by JohnnyE; 22nd July 2018 at 19:38.
As another poster has mentioned, the Google wifi may be a good option for the non-tech-savvy. I'm planning on buying that for the new house.
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/google-wifi
Since you brought up the subject, I've been having another look at what's available, so that I can upgrade mine. I'm going for the TP Link Deco system, which consistently gets the best reviews, I've used TP Link network kit before and it's good, even if you might not have heard of it.
I pick up the BT system with 3 disc and have one in the lounge, one the the utility room and the last in the main bedroom and now get 70mbps throughout the house and in the garden :)
The step by step setup via the app was easy and a great buy for myself and I’m not really that techie with this stuff!
Oddly though when I did the placement test for the 2nd/3rd discs I could never get ‘excellent’ and only ‘good’ in any location including next to 1st disc which I found odd!
Exactly the same here for me. Disc 1 = Excellent and the next 2 are "good". No complaints on overall performance here though. Its flawless.
Yep snap!
But WiFi speed is consistent throughout the house now so a very worthwhile £200 IMO
The BT homehub system is quite quirky, disc 2 which is closer to the hub has a good connection but disc 3 which is quite a bit further away has excellent connection.
No matter what the system works well as previously I had a few blackspots and now there are none.
I use a BT home hub and one of these upstairs with an 8 way gigabit switch to connect office hi-fi and if i need wired internet for work.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-TL-...tp+link+wr802n
I found that my dell xps would fall off the network every few days when i first got the bt hub but a bit of a google around splitting 2.4 and 5ghz networks fixed that.
The only time I have to reset anything is if there are external line issues or a power cut. even then it would probably come back on it's own i'm just being impatient.
don't laugh - I've tried this and it does help a bit in a straight line.... you would need a wifi extender for more complex situations or use access points running off ethernet over power - or similar:
School boy Q
But now I’ve got the BT home system up and running I’ve seen it advised to turn off the old WiFi, how do I actually do that?!
Goto bthomehub.home in your Web browser. That'll bring you to your routers settings. It's in there (somewhere).
I believe you need to log into your router and switch it to modem mode
Dont do this, you'll bring your system down; the Smart Hub still needs to act as the router.
Access the BT Home/Smart Hub GUI by typing 192.168.1.254 in the address bar of a browser.
Enter the Username and Password when prompted.
Select Advanced Settings
Select Wireless
Select wireless to 'Off.'
Click 'Save.'
That's it.
Thank you
We install these in pretty much all of our customers offices.
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap/
The long range one can go up to 600ft. I have one in my loft and it reaches all over the house and to the bottom of my garden, in my garage etc.
If you have thick walls, or need more coverage, you can add more of them and they work as one wifi network, so you wander about and your device jumps from one to the other without you even realising.
You can get them from Ebay / Amazon.
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