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Plusnet fibre with airport extreme. Advice please.

floponk
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎01-09-2013

Plusnet fibre with airport extreme. Advice please.

I am currently running plusnet unlimited broadband with an airport extreme router, but my download speeds seem to be getting slower and slower. I am unsure as to how much of this may be due to the fact that this is a 4 storey house with the master phone socket in the basement and the main computer in the attic. I have attempted to install an additional airport on the ground floor to boost the signal, but it seemed to cause the signal to drop out.
Apart from poor speed (especially in the evenings), I do have consistent wifi in the attic, but find that my wifi-connected printer usually fails to connect in the evenings.
I am considering the unlimited fibre package, but would like advice on whether it is best to stay with the technicolour router provided, to continue with the airport extreme or to use a combination of the two. Any suggestions as to the best way to boost the signal overall would be much appreciated; this is an old Georgian house with thick walls and the front rooms seem to be shielded from wifi signal more than the back.
We run an IMAC, 3 macbooks and 2 ipads, so are otherwise very apple-orientated (and not very technically inclined!).
Thanks.
8 REPLIES 8
bill888
Champion
Posts: 1,254
Thanks: 263
Fixes: 38
Registered: ‎18-10-2008

Re: Plusnet fibre with airport extreme. Advice please.

If you are unable to run ethernet cables between floors, have you considered using powerline adapters if your mains wiring is up to the job?
I presume your Airport Extreme is currently connected to the ADSL version of the Plusnet Technicolor router, and both are located in the basement.

I would leave the Plusnet router in the basement and plug it into one powerline adapter.  Then relocate your Extreme to a higher floor and plug the 2nd powerline adapter into it.  This should hopefully improve wifi coverage.
The 2nd Airport can be left in extender/repeater mode, or you could later consider using it with a 3rd powerline adapter.

Powerline adapters are only as good as the mains electrical wiring in the property.  If you later upgrade to fibre, you may not necessarily be able to get full fibre speeds across your powerline network.  

If you order fibre, I believe you can specify a 'data extension kit', whereby the engineer will install a new cable from the existing master socket to another room in your property for their fibre modem to be located.

(The ADSL version of the Technicolor router cannot be used on fibre.)
ex-Plusnet (ADSL, FTTC) 2008-2023. now BT (FTTP) 2023-
floponk
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎01-09-2013

Re: Plusnet fibre with airport extreme. Advice please.

Many thanks for your reply. That's very helpful. I hadn't heard of a powerline adapter before, but it certainly sounds like a good solution. I have the old plusnet Thompson router in the basement plugged into the airport extreme, so was wondering if this was now playing up as well.
If I go for the fibre option, would the powerline adapters be a bad idea with regards to boosting my signal? I will definitely ask for the extension and get the master socket resited one floor up, but that still leaves two floors to go!
bill888
Champion
Posts: 1,254
Thanks: 263
Fixes: 38
Registered: ‎18-10-2008

Re: Plusnet fibre with airport extreme. Advice please.

The performance of powerline adapters are determined by the quality of the mains electrical wiring and layout.  They are just a simple and convenient alternative to installing ethernet cables around the house.  They generally work well for most users.
AV500 adapters are rated at 'upto' 250 mbps in both directions between the adapters.  In reality, they may not even deliver 40 mbps between any 2 ring mains (eg. storeys), and perhaps considerably less.   If you were able to receive the full 76 mbps fibre service, you may therefore feel short changed by the powerline adapters not being able to deliver the full 76 mbps.

With regards to your comment about 'boosting the signal', the wifi coverage is really determined by where you place your Airports and the number required to deal with the thick walls and floors.  You may even want to consider alternative products but I appreciate you may wish to stick with Apple.  If your basement is not a normal living space, then you should look at moving the Extreme out of the basement to try and improve wifi coverage.

Edit: As pointed out by dvorak in the following post, the Airport Extreme can be connected direct to the fibre modem too.  You would not require a Technicolor fibre router.



.
ex-Plusnet (ADSL, FTTC) 2008-2023. now BT (FTTP) 2023-
dvorak
Moderator
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Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: Plusnet fibre with airport extreme. Advice please.

i use an airport extreme with fibre and found it to be much better than the supplier router.
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floponk
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎01-09-2013

Re: Plusnet fibre with airport extreme. Advice please.

I hadn't realised that I will not need the supplied router with fibre. With regards to different products, I am not adverse to using something else as long as it works and is easy to use (I find that apple products are generally up and running quickly with few glitches). What do you recommend? Should I put an extreme or similar on each floor? Will they interfere with each other? Thanks.
1000Cutts
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎14-03-2013

Re: Plusnet fibre with airport extreme. Advice please.

Hello Forum,
I bought a brand new Airport Extreme Time Capsule to replace the Technicolour thingy (yes you've guessed it - I am not a techie). I was told it was plug and play and oh so simple. ...but I have not got it working at all and the airport is blinking amber which means no connection.  Does anyone has a step by step link to how you set it up. I saw that there were things on web related to BT set up but I would really appreciate a plusnet based guide i.e. with ID and password to use etc. 
Thanks chaps..
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: Plusnet fibre with airport extreme. Advice please.

Hi there,
There's no specific setup guide for the airport I'm afraid, but we have a generic guide with the settings you need to put into the router here: http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/hardware/broadband-connection-settings.shtml#fibreConnectionSe...
Hope that helps, the link to the install guide on that page should give you a bit more information should you need it. As it's Fibre though it should just be a matter of plugging the modem into the airport and setting the username and password as per the link above.
Hope that helps.
bill888
Champion
Posts: 1,254
Thanks: 263
Fixes: 38
Registered: ‎18-10-2008

Re: Plusnet fibre with airport extreme. Advice please.

If you have Plusnet fibre, this old thread on same subject should help:
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,107401.0.html/
For completing the Account Name and Password boxes in the Airport utility, enter your full Plusnet Username and corresponding Password which you normally use to log into Plusnet website
https://portal.plus.net/index_nlp.html
Your Plusnet username is the same one you registered with Plusnet, and is also used to log into the Member Centre on Plusnet's website.  Don't forget to add @plusdsl.net to the end of your Plusnet username.  eg. myusername@plusdsl.net

ex-Plusnet (ADSL, FTTC) 2008-2023. now BT (FTTP) 2023-