cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Unsatisfactory wifi performace.

geoffb22
Hooked
Posts: 5
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎25-03-2020

Unsatisfactory wifi performace.

 

I was with BT for a number of years before I changed to Plusnet in 2018.  I am reasonably IT literate and so I know Plusnet use BT as their provider plus I am wise enough to know that WiFi signal strength and quality will diminish with distance and is impacted by structures.

I think it's fair to say that the broadband and phone have been fine, other than an odd issue at the exchange, but not so with the WiFi. Also, I have 3 Open Reach cabinets right outside my house.

I have raised this wifi issue a number of times with Customer Services which eventually did provide a new router in attempt to resolve the problem. Which it didn't. So then more recently they suggested I get a powerline adapter or a BETTER router. 

We have two windows laptops, an iphone 7, almost new ipad and a Galaxy S7 phone.The Wifi in general works ok, not great just ok, but not so with my wife's Apple devices. I can be sitting next to her with my S7 and she will struggle to get a Speedtest connection yet I can get a reading of say 20mbs. If we are in the same room as the router I can get 60+mbs on my laptop but she will only get 30+ mbs on her ipad

I have turned off the 5G frequency on the router plus I reboot the router when we are having problems. Sometimes it helps but most times it doesn't.

I believe the issue is interoperability.

The amount of aggravation, stress, upset, frustration and dissatisfaction with the situation has lead me to here.

Help please.

 

5 REPLIES 5
Baldrick1
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11,625
Thanks: 5,166
Fixes: 415
Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: Unsatisfactory wifi performace.

@geoffb22  Welcome to the forum.

If your WiFi was previously fine with BT then do you still have your BT modem/router? These can be set to work with Plusnet. Many of us use a BT Smarthub 6. These work on both ADSL and fibre.

Setting instructions are here. https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Using-the-BT-Smarthub-6-on-a-Plusnet-Account/m-p/1587673#M85...

These can be picked up very cheaply from auction sites such as EBay.

Moderator and Customer
If this helped - select the Thumb
If it fixed it,  help others - select 'This Fixed My Problem'

geoffb22
Hooked
Posts: 5
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎25-03-2020

Re: Unsatisfactory wifi performace.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

The BT wifi was uniform, but uniformly bad. At or near the router it would run at say 50+mpbs but if you went maybe 20ft away into the lounge you got about 2mb or less. That was one of the main reasons why I switched.

While the Plusnet signal strength can be much better its all over the place. I did some tests in our bedroom which is directly above the room with the router. Now it very often runs at 50+ but just look at the differences in speed tests done literally 1 min apart.

 

Given the disparity in the speeds I think you can see that it would be useless.

 

 

 

Baldrick1
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11,625
Thanks: 5,166
Fixes: 415
Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: Unsatisfactory wifi performace.

@geoffb22 

Have you used a WiFi sniffer app to see if the problem is being caused by a neighbour using the same channel? I use WiFi Analyzer on an Android phone but also inSSIDer on a Windows laptop is recommended. You should check both at the router location and where you use your devices. If necessary you can then switch auto channel selection off and select the quietest channel in the router wireless settings.

Moderator and Customer
If this helped - select the Thumb
If it fixed it,  help others - select 'This Fixed My Problem'

WolfBaginski
Hooked
Posts: 8
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-09-2014

Re: Unsatisfactory wifi performace.

There is a set of advice on getting the best from WiFi put out by OfCom, since so many people are working from home. It's worth checking.

They miss one or two things.

1: Microwave ovens, Bluetooth, other sorts of Wireless keyboards that need their own dongles, doorbells, colour-changing lights, a huge amount of such stuff, all use the 2.4GHz band.

2: The base station channel thing. Just about everything defaults to Channel 6 on the 2.4GHz band.

But since it's the specific Apple devices I doubt it'll help much. They're worth a check with an analyzer. Problem 1 will give you worse SNR figures, and knowing the base station channel could be useful.

What comes to mind is whether the Apple gear is set to the correct country. There are a couple of channels used in the UK which are not used in North America, so if the iPad is set to the US standard and the base station is set near the top of the range, that could be it. (The bands are numbered, and what you set is the middle band of a group, with the signals hopping between different bands of the group.)

Since 5GHz doesn't penetrate walls so well, it may not work so well for you, but it also means you'll get less interference from nearby WiFi, It's a trade-off

geoffb22
Hooked
Posts: 5
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎25-03-2020

Re: Unsatisfactory wifi performace.

Thanks for the reply but unfortunately it's not just an Apple issue. 

The two screen shots I attached above where taken on my Samsung S7 phone. So why could they or should they be so different. I have a wifi analyzer on my phone which I do use from time to time and this shows only the items we know of in the house are using the wifi.

Furthermore, I live in a detached property with elderly neighbours next door with no broadband, a house at the back of me about 40 ft away,  and another house opposite them about 100 ft away. When I check local wifi spots it only comes up with 1 extra wifi signal which is very weak.

I am fully aware of "interference" can affect a wif signal but when you are within about 8 ft of the route that wouldn't/shouldn't be an issue. Oh and the 5G frequency is off.

 

The router normally uses channel 1 which, when I check with the analyser is normally the best option.

I haven't checked the settings on my wifes ipad and phone but I doubt that it will throw up anything unusual.

 

It is very very frustrating and as I can't get Virgin here I'm stuck with a BT service. But unless Plusnet do something positive, rather than fobbing me off, I will be gone when my contract finishes.

 

And as an aside my son works in the QA department of a major telephone/ISP so I know first hand that some of the "help" offered by Plusnet Customer Servcie is xxxx.