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Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

TimandEdith
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Registered: ‎27-07-2019

Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

Hello, we've recently (just over a week) switched from BT to Plusnet. We're having issues with the wifi connection dropping (sometimes broadband going down but other times due to signal strength). I downloaded a wifi analyzer app (Dr Wifi by Trend Micro) to my phone (Samsung S9) to test the router signal strength (-dBm). Here's what I found:
Putting the phone directly in front of the router: -24 dBm
6 metres away: -40 dBm
Top of the stairs: -64 dBm
Bedroom directly above router: -52 dBm
Bedroom on opposite side of hallway: -72dBm
Back bedroom: -84 dBm.

We live in a terraced house. We can barely download a webpage when we're at the back of the house. We didn't have problems streaming TV at the back of the house with our old BT router.

Question is, should we go to the expense of buying a decent router or can we get this Hub One to work better?

PS I should add that the wifi analyzer shows a download speed of 33mb download speed, no problems there, it's adequate for us.
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Mav
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

Moderator's Note(s)

Thread moved from Fiber Broadband to My Router.

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Mav
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

If you've still got the BT router you could try configuring that to use with the Plusnet connection. The required settings can be found here.

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TimandEdith
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

Thank you for the suggestion and link, Mav.
Baldrick1
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

@TimandEdith 

This might help you set up your BT router. https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Using-the-BT-Smarthub-6-on-a-Plusnet-Account/m-p/1587673#M85... or https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Use-a-BT-Hub-2-3-4-or-5-on-a-Plusnet-connection/m-p/1192234#... depending on which model you have.

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TimandEdith
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

Hi Baldrick, many thanks for the links. They will hopefully come in handy when I get a new router (am thinking of investing in a TP Link but still a bit miffed at having to fork out for it!), if the same procedure applies. We no longer have the BT router, it was binned as soon as the PlusNet broadband went active. Thanks again.
Baldrick1
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

@TimandEdith 

Before you spend money try separating the 2.4 and 5GHz bands, see. https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/2-4ghz-and-or-5ghz-best-practice/m-p/1351966#M840 Try each band and use the best.

If you decide to buy one I would still consider a Smarthub 6. They go for about £20 on Ebay. If instead you buy a third party router you need the setting instructions from here. https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/broadband-connection-settings/

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TimandEdith
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

Hello Baldrick1, many thanks for your suggestions.

I've done the first but it has made no difference to the signal strength. Still getting no internet access in the back half of the house (the router being alone on a bookshelf in a front room).

I've followed your second suggestion and bought a secondhand Smart Hub 6 off Ebay for just £15 including 2nd class postage. If our old BT router was anything to go by it should do the trick.

Many thanks again
Baldrick1
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

@TimandEdith 

Fingers crossed. Follow the setting up instructions here noting especially the stage at which you plug the DSL cable in. https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Using-the-BT-Smarthub-6-on-a-Plusnet-Account/m-p/1587673#M85...

Let us know how you get on.

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Mads
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

Hey @TimandEdith,

 

Please do let us know how you get on with the suggestions in this thread.

 

Thanks.

TimandEdith
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

Hello Mads, apologies for not replying sooner, I took the above advice and bought a secondhand BT hub on Ebay. It didn't make as much difference as I'd hoped so I bought a range extender. It's not great but at leadt now we can connect to the internet in all rooms.
TimandEdith
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

Hi Baldrick, many thanks, the instructions are great. Smiley
TimandEdith
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

Hi again, Baldrick. Many thanks and apologies for not replying sooner. I took your advice and bought a BT Hub from Ebay. It didn't make as much difference as I'd hoped, which left me a bit baffled, but I'm glad I didn't buy an expensive brand new router. And the BT Hub doesn't have the really bright blue light that tge PlusNet has, which is a bonus! I got a range extender and plugged it into the socket at the top of the stairs and we can now connect to the internet at the back of the house too. Many thanks again.
Baldrick1
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

@TimandEdith 

Thanks for coming back with an update. I'm sorry that this didn't fix your issue but as you say, it did save an even bigger expenditure and you now have a spare router should you have problems in the future. I assume that you are aware that you can turn the brightness of the blue light down or off altogether in the router settings.

I had problems for years with wireless signals. After trying wireless extenders and powerline devices I gave up and installed Ethernet cabling to the areas where I need decent bandwidth. This was quite cheap and totally solved buffering problems.

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Beyhive
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Re: Very poor wifi signal with Hub One

Hi TimandEdith,

I'm sorry to hear that a second router has not made much of a difference but good to know that you can now received a signal at the back of the house with the help of a wifi extender.

 

I've done the same as @Baldrick1, my main and most used devices are on Etherent cables and the rest are on wireless.

 

Let us know if you have any further queries please.

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 Faris
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