Router advice please

[#1]

We have been advised by plusnet to buy a new router, but there is a bewildering array of choices and we don't know where to start.

We currently have a plusnet hub one router and live in a typical Sheffield semi with solid walls. We have a wifi signal in every room of the house, however our neighbours are now on sky, their signal interferes with ours and their new router constantly switches channels, sometimes using 1 6 and 11 at the same time. When this happens we struggle to get the internet to work at all.

Our line is fine, but switching to fibre didn't make much difference to our internet. We don't do gaming, but do like to stream films and would like to be able to reliably download (spreadsheet & word) files when working from home.

Can anyone recommend a reliable router/signal booster that would help us to improve our internet please.

[#2]

Thanks for getting in touch @Jezhelen

I'm sorry to hear that you've been having issues with the wireless side of your connection.

Before trying another router it may be worth trying de-syncing the wireless bands to see if the issue is just occurring on one.

I've included instructions on how to do this below and I'll also send an image to go along with this so you know what you're looking for.

1) In your browser go to 192.168.1.254.
2) Hit Advanced Settings and enter your Hub admin password when prompted (unless you've changed it, you'll find the default password on the settings card)
3) Continue to Advanced Settings.
4) Tap on Wireless.
5) Choose 5GHz tab.
6) Change 'Sync with 2.4Ghz' to No.
7) Change the name of the 'Wireless SSID'
8) Save the changes.

Let us know how you get on

[#3]

Does making this change mean that we will now need to choose whether to use 2.4 or 5 GHz on devices that can use both? Or will the devices still be able to choose whatever works best for them if they retain both passwords? I know that our laptop (and possibly my husband's iPhone) often use the 5GHz and just want to know what to expect.

(I can monitor the 2.4GHz wifi on my phone, but my phone doesn't work with 5GHz and I haven't managed to find a good free wifi analyser app on ios.)

[#4]

Hey @Jezhelen,

That is correct, when you split the channels as Matt demonstrated above, it should allow you to change the name of the wireless network so as not t get confused with them. You can then chose which devices to connect them to, you can also change the channels should you wish to.

Please let us know how you get on,

Thanks.

[#5]

@Jezhelen 

Can you run an Ethernet cable from your router to where you need fast reliable download speed? If so this would completely cure your problem with respect to these devices. If your aren't good at wiring then you can buy terminated lengths of just about any distance you would need in a typical home, ready to be just plugged in.

[#6]

Thanks for the suggestion. It might work for when my husband is working from home if we can work out where to put the cables (our router is on the landing to maximize the signal throughout the house and minimise light pollution), but we really need to do something to improve our wifi and relying on cables to our wireless devices feels like a backwards step. On bad days videos buffer and we struggle to carry out simple things such as internet banking, and we could not use cables with our phones.

[#7]

@Jezhelen 

Getting decent wireless reception throughout a house can be a challenge. Using an Ethernet cable connected to equipment that has an Ethernet port is always going to give the best results.

However is you want the best possible solution I would suggest that if you want to use a Hub One and the light annoys you then stick some tape over the front. You should then locate this in the best location for receiving the fastest broadband speed, that is, next to the BT Master Socket. From here check what your wireless signal is like around your house. Once you have located any dead area in your house run an Ethernet cable to the centre of this area and connect it to a Wireless Access Point (WAP) such as one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-TL-WA901ND-Wireless-Access-Point/dp/B013HCO332?ref_=Oct_s9_apbd_oto... If you have an old router around then this might also be reconfigurable as a WAP.

[#8]

Thank you so much for trying to help us sort out our wifi.

The router is already plugged into the master socket. We can get wifi in every room of the house. According to the wifi analyser app on my phone it varies from 50% to 70%. Even standing beside the router I've never seen better than 40%.

The problem is that next door's wifi signal is sometimes higher than ours, particularly when it moves onto the same channel as ours and seems to weaken our signal. They have 3 signals for their wifi, which move around randomly making it impossible for us to select the best channel.

Does this mean that an ethernet cable to the room where their wifi signal is strongest and our old hub zero router as a WAP is likely to resolve the problem?

[#9]

It might do, it's worth a try. I will try to give instructions on how to set this up tomorrow. In the meantime have you split the bands? If so you may do better on 5GHz capable devices by going into the available wireless networks and selecting the 5GHz band.

[#10]

Yes I have split the bands - but I'm not expecting huge changes. The laptop was already choosing 5GHz most of the time before the changes and it doesn't seem to perform much better than everything else. I need to go through all our devices to see whether they can see both networks or not later today.

[#11]

@Jezhelen 

Before going any further with this can we take a step back?

In an earlier post you said that your line is fine but you didn't get much improvement with fibre.

What speed do you get if you connect a computer to your router by an Ethernet cable? Is this stable? 

I would not expect your neighbour's 5GHz signal would be an issue if you have your laptop close to your router, which makes me wonder whether we are chasing a red herring.

[#12]

I have run the speed test a few times. I ran it on wifi in our front room using both networks (although I forgot to do 2.4GHz the first time). Then plugged into ethernet on the router and switched wifi off and ran it again:

Time	Wifi 2.4 GHz	Wifi 5 GHz	Ethernet
13:30 Download Upload Ping	Forgot	30.9 7.8 12	32.5 7.2 12
14:15 Download Upload Ping	15.62 4.33 27	18.95 0 13	33.67 7.24 14
14:30 Download Upload Ping	33.08 6.59 13	6.67 6.34 29	34.32 0 13

(I did run it a few times inbetween 13.30 and 14.15 too but I forgot to switch off the wifi when I plugged into the ethernet and I think the laptop carried on using wifi when I didn't want it to so I didn't bother to send you those numbers.)

I did further speed checks with plusnet and had the line tested a few times a while ago, and they concluded that the line was fine and it was a wifi issue. You can see from the readings above that the speed of our wifi is pretty random.

I think at least 2 of next doors signals come from their back room, probably near the adjoining wall, as that is where their TV is. When my husband uses the laptop it is usually in the back room, so it wouldn't surprise me if their signal did interfere with ours as their router is probably closer than ours (on the landing).

[#13]

@Jezhelen 

I have now written up how to use your spare Hub Zero as an Access Point. You will find it here  https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Turning-a-Hub-Zero-into-an-Access-Point/m-p/1687008#M14870

Sorry it took longer to sort. Other commitments got in the way!

[#14]

Brilliant

Thank you so much for helping me out with this. You have provided me with excellent advice on cost effective solutions in exactly the way that I had hoped that the Plusnet support team would.

Fingers crossed once we buy a long ethernet cable and follow your instructions our longstanding internet problems will be resolved.