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Poor Wifi signal

trishah
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎08-03-2011

Poor Wifi signal

My router is a Thomson tg585v8 I have a desktop PC connected to it by ethernet as it doesn't have wireless, the router is next to it in a back room, I have now got a laptop and an iPad2 which I want to use in a room at the front of the house, the laptop connects on about 2 bars in the front room but often drops connection, the ipad struggles to connect unless it is near to the router in the back room, would it help to update the firmware although I am not too happy to do it myself ? do I need another router, the one I am using I got from Plusnet when I joined ?
Thank you
Trishah
15 REPLIES 15
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Poor Wifi signal

Where is the master socket and is the router plugged in to it?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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trishah
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎08-03-2011

Re: Poor Wifi signal

The master socket is in the hall and the router is wired into it , we live in a bungalow so all the rooms are leading off the hall.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Poor Wifi signal

If the router was in the hall would that give you a better signal in the room where you want to use the laptop and ipad (is there a power socket to do that)? Could you have it like that if you used a long ethernet cable to reach the PC (or used homeplugs)?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
trishah
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎08-03-2011

Re: Poor Wifi signal

There is a power socket in the hall, but no room for the router as it is quite narrow,  we just have a small stand with the telephone on it, what exactly are home plugs ?
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Poor Wifi signal

These: http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-PA211KIT-200Mbps-Powerline-Ethernet/dp/B004INVKP4
You connect one to your router with a short ethernet cable and one to your PC with another ethernet cable. It carries the network over the ring main with speeds of up to 200mbps. You don't have to make any changes to your router or PC configuration.
Have you thought of wall mounting the router with it fixed vertically?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
trishah
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎08-03-2011

Re: Poor Wifi signal

The trouble is,the leads from the hall go underneath the floor and come up into the back room through a hole in the floor, hubby doesn't understand computers or wiring them and doesn't want to crawl under the floor again on his stomach to disturb them, so it looks like I don't have a solution, thanks anyway 🙂
jelv
Seasoned Hero
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Poor Wifi signal

If you have a longer than normal wire between the telephone socket and the router it could be reducing your speeds - telephone extension leads often cause issues.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
w23
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Registered: ‎08-01-2008

Re: Poor Wifi signal

If you know how to access the wi-fi settings in the router it may well be worth trying different channels just in case a neighbour's router is interfering, normally the best ones to try are 1, 6 and 11.
Another odd thing to try is to switch off the 'n' mode on this particular router, it uses a mode that is sometimes called 'n-lite' which can cause compatibility issues (and only has a theoretical speed of 65Mb/s compared to standard 'g' mode at 54Mb/s so not much aditional speed compared to the problems it can cause), I think there's a menu where you can select 'b/g' instead of 'b/g/n'.
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trishah
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎08-03-2011

Re: Poor Wifi signal

I have been into the settings and changed the  from auto  to 6 as all the neighbours were on1 which was what was selected by the auto setting, maybe I will try 11 and see if that is better, I will have a look at the other setting you mentioned as well.
Thank yoiu
VileReynard
Hero
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Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: Poor Wifi signal

Placing the router higher up (on a shelf) can help.

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AlaricAdair
Champion
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Registered: ‎21-03-2011

Re: Poor Wifi signal

Is the path of the wireless waves from your existing router to the other room blocked by anything metallic like a large metal filing cabinet or a heating radiator?
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shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
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Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Poor Wifi signal

Put a small nail in the wall, about 6feet off the ground, ( or to the length of the power supply lead) and hang the router from that, make sure the little black wireless aerial is vertical. ... You don`t need a lot of room to mount the router on the wall ! ! ...
shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
Thanks: 3,769
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Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Poor Wifi signal

You could also try putting a "reflector" on the router aerial ....  as in this video....


Or just put a 6 inch square of baco foil on the wall behind the aerial... ( might work ... cost nothing... tech expertise.... nil ! )...
VileReynard
Hero
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Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: Poor Wifi signal

Consider paying for ethernet over power cables - if your mains wiring is of reasonable vintage.

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