zyxel vmg8924-b10a or hub one?

[#1]

Which one is better speed wise and range wise as can't connect with hub one in one of the bedrooms. If I changed to zyxel how hard is it for a novice? *comparing with zyxel as I already have one

[#2]

What did you use before the Hub One to give you wifi coverage to this one bedroom?

Is the Hub One at front of house and bedroom in question at other end, with more than one solid internal walls in between?

fwiw, if you cannot get a reliable wifi connection with Hub One in the bedroom in question, then a different wifi router may not be significantly any better.  You may get a connection but the speeds may be disappointingly slow.

Zyxel vmg8924-b10a seems to be another cheap n cheerful router often supplied by ISPs.   2016+ BT Smart Hub 1 is probably still best of bad bunch of free ISP routers imho.  See @Baldrick1  pinned threads in this forum.

You may want to investigate other ways of improving coverage if it is a large house with solid internal walls.  eg. ethernet wired wireless access points (installing one in dead centre of house to serve all wifi may solve your problems), or look at mesh wifi solutions.  There are also powerline products, though I admit I'm not a fan of them.

[#3]

Cheers for reply,

Its bang in the middle of the bungalow, only about 5 metres and a fire door in between router and room, how far can you expect these things to go? Certainly cant pick it up in the garden but that might be expected. Ive only just moved in so not sure setup before

[#4]

If you have the Zyxel, which ISP was it previously used with, and was it for superfast fibre?

It may be as simple as just putting your Plusnet account name into the PPP username (eg. myname@plusdsl.net) and password boxes.

from page 51 of user manual

https://www.zyxel.com/za/en/uploads/images/VMG8924-B30A_V1.00-UG.pdf 

[#5]

Yeah for superfast, supplied by John Lewis, is it worth changing or would you stay with the hub one? If there isnt that much in it i'm not that fussed tbh

[#6]

As you have one, no harm in trying the ex John Lewis Zyxel to see if it make any difference.

How thick is the (solid?) wall between the two rooms?

If there is no significant improvement, then you know you have to spend money if you wish to resolve the problem.

[#7]

@Anonymous  I recommend you ditch the Hub 1 and use the Zyxel, it is a good device and the wi-fi will almost certainly be better than the hub 1. However the only way to know is to give it  a try.😀

[#8]

Thanks guys, reviews for the Zyxel vmg8924-b10a certainly look better, its only a fire door so shouldn't be too much of an issue

[#9]

Thanks for your help, literally just a fire door

[#10]

And one last question, if i wanted to get wifi in an outbuilding is the best way to run an ethernet cable then I could use the hub one in the outbuilding for wifi? And how many devices can I add over the whole system if say 4 people were using it in the house and 2 in the outbuilding?

[#11]

Yes, you would indeed run ethernet cable to the outbuilding.  It will need to be exterior grade.  UV resistant and optionally gel-filled if you plan to bury the cable under the lawn!

If you want to do it properly, for 50m, it's about £35 for CAT6 gel-filled pure-copper cable (Stay clear of CCA cables).   Many sellers. One example I randomly found: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50m-CAT6-Outdoor-Network-Cable-Reel-Drum-Copper-External-Ethernet-LAN-UTP... 

Add cost of wall sockets, cable punch down tool and electronic cable tester say another £25 at most if going DIY.  https://youtu.be/KPsmSDVG4J8 

You can buy 'cheap n cheerful' long external grade cables in fixed lengths with ethernet plugs already fitted to the ends, but you'll need to drill a 'bigger' hole to get the fragile plug through the brick wall with risk of damaging it!

I would not recommend using hub one as a wifi access point as I've seen issues with the hub after a few days continuous use.  It expects to use a broadband connection, and when it doesn't find one because it is not connected to phone line, it can do weird things after a few days based on my observations a few years ago.   Buy a proper wireless access point, or a wifi router that offers wireless access point mode.

If you don't require gigabit speeds, the TPlink TL-WR841n N300 wireless router apparently offers wireless access point mode.  £15  single band 2.4 GHz.  upto 36 mbps wifi speeds to phones. 

TPlink Archer C50 dual band AC1200 wifi router £32 offers wireless access point mode.  £33.

There is an offer for Huawei WS5200 v2 gigabit AC1200 wifi router with access point mode for £28.  Free Returns.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/huawei-ws5200-ac1200-gigabit-wireless-router-ps2749-delivered-using... 

[#12]

Cool!!
That's cleared it all up! Thank you for your help!