BT Business Smart Hub Wifi range?

[#1]

I finally took the plunge and change my old but working TGN582n router for a BT Business Smart Hub 6 a few months ago.

Observations are that it works really well in terms of speed and stability, but the Wifi coverage is poor.  I've tried putting it in different rooms and pointing it in different directions.

For example when I check using a signal strength app when I am in the room directly above it, may be no more than 2m vertical separation from the router, and only a standard suspended floor between, signal has dropped to below 50%. 

Not what I expected and it certainly doesn't reach the extremities of a 1970s brick build 4 bed house.  Note the router is centrally located in the house and mounted high on a shelf.

Have I bought a faulty unit?

[#2]

It certainly sounds like it. Have you tried separating the 2.4 and 5GHz bands? In the advanced wifi settings change the 5GHz from sync with 2.4GHz to No then add -5 after the SSID.

[#3]

That does sound a bit odd and my suggestion would be on par with @Baldrick1's comment above in separating the 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi frequencies.

[#4]

Thanks @Gandalf and @Baldrick1.  I have now separated the bands and performance is no different.  All devices are now connecting via 2.4GHz

The channel selection is set to smart - any benefit in picking and channel and setting it manually?

[#5]

Quite possibly, it's best to use a free wifi sniffer app (I use Wifi Analyser on an Android phone) to look at local transmissions. Check at all locations where you use your mobile devices and select the best channel manually.

The only downside is that sniffer apps only detect wifi broadband channels and don't detect transmitted junk from the likes of toys, baby monitors etc. which can cause issues, but it helps.

[#6]

@Tarik, 

Yes, I'd definitely try manual channel selection, it's usually the best way to find the best available channel as opposed to using auto-selection. 

I second WiFi analyser as being a really useful tool for helping make the best choice for that. 

[#7]

Tried channels 1, 6 and 11 and none work any better than the other. Analyser shows that all bands are equally populated by weak signals.

I have given up and ordered a Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO access point.  Hopefully this will be better.