just bumping this topic back up again but asking about broadband routers, not the wifi coverage but it kind of goes hand in hand.
As I use Plusnet for my broadband, I use the supplied Plusnet router which is “OK” but I find recently that wifi will, at times completely drop out, although the router’s still connected to broadband - which is a pain if I’m actively using the wifi. I’m not sure if it’s the router itself or whether it’s my Devolo powerline system that has wifi repeaters that is causing this - I’m tempted to think it’s the router.
any suggestions for a new router? I’m also tempted by the newer Wifi 6 routers which has much better wifi but come at some price still
Apparently the BT Smarthub router works out of the box on Plusnet (Plusnet is owned by BT) and is loads better. Can be got quite cheap on eBay, someone at work did this and I think they paid £30
I had BT before and Plusnet and i’ve not found a difference between the two (despite also using powerline extenders). In fact the BT one was dropping out much more regularly than then PN one (but maybe because it was 2 years old - don’t know if that would make a difference).
is that broadband or wifi?? my broadband connection used to be awful and would regularly drop out (with BT and PN) usually when the weather was rough so thought to be connected to overhead lines that feed my place (I think I go via about 5 junction boxes on poles to the green roadside cabinet). But in recent months it’s been pretty stable as Openreach seem to have done some work locally on overhead lines. Being more stable is why I notice the wifi outages.
I get some weird behaviour on my Plusnet router. WiFi connection to my work iPhone is often really bad, while other devices are OK, as if it has no priority if anything else is online at the same time.
Separately if I move between the house and garage the device can try to stay hooked up to the original wifi point (I have a powerline in the garage) and it will then be really slow until it realises there’s a better option available.
I have various devices linked up via Chromecast to wifi using the Google Home app - mostly for synching speakers in different rooms and various wifi points using Devolo powerline adapters for phones, tablets, Roku, PCs etc. if wifi goes down it can be a right PITA waiting for everything to get reconnected and synch. sometimes audio will keep going but can I fuck get to websites - no.
so getting a stable wifi setup is important so I don’t get so many outages on it.
We were having issues, I complained to Vodafone and their response was “haven’t you got one of our latest routers?” WELL NO OBVIOUSLY! That seemed to improve matters.
So I’d check if your provider has you using their latest hardware.
I can pick up a BT Smart Hub 2 (which is their latest model) on Fleabay for about £40 so it seems worth a go and see what happens. it’s a much higher spec than the Plusnet one
I’m not convinced ax is really necessary in the home set up, just how crowded is your radio space? I use a netgear AC1900 and it’s pretty flawless for in home set up, it comfortably streams two high bandwidth video streams from the gaming PC’s to the laptops, without any interuptions when other stuff is happening. Although only laptops and phones are on the 5GHz band, so the rest of the devices are kept away a bit.
Typical high density london street with 20 odd wireless networks around and loads of other stuff.
you’re probably right about AX so not going down that route, although it will more or less become the de facto standard when prices drop but that’s some time away.
I’ve just ordered a BT Smart Hub 2 off ebay for £45 - that supports 802.11 b/g/n/ac which should be enough to give better wifi coverage around the place.
Yes, it does. We were having frequent problems with the original BT Home Hub I had, like you mention … regular drop outs on all devices (laptops, phones, tablets, smart plugs, etc) throughout the day. That was probably 4 years or so old. I managed to obtain a Smart Hub 2, plugged it in and that was that. It’s been a revelation. No issues at all, apart from once I think, in the 6 months or so since.
I’ve a BT hub 2 & had some range issues, after some Googling I bought a BT disc and it’s been bob on. I get Wifi right to the bottom of the garden & in the garage. Apparently is a ‘mesh’ rather than an extender whatever that means.