I’ve been using my carrier’s router for a while now but I’ve been having some issues. Though speed tests show nice speed, the consistency of the signal is very bad. I work from home in an office with my SO and when we’re both using the internet the signal can become really bad. Currently getting 20% signal strength and having a hard time keeping my teams call up.
The router is not that far, like 10-15m away but does go through a wall. Ethernet cables are unfortunately not a possibility and since we both have desktop computers we’d rather not move.
Looking for a router around 100 euros, preferably available on Amazon Spain so I can return it if it doesn’t solve my problem. The goal is to shut down the carrier router’s wi-fi and just use the new router for all the networking.
I don’t having any special requisites. Wi-fi 6E would be a nice to have but honestly wi-fi 6 is good enough. Solid connection is the most important thing for me.
Thanks!
OK first off, check out what WiFi band is getting through. You can get some mileage by enforcing the router and clients to connect on a specific band - they are supposed to auto select based off the best/least congested band, but these days nearly everything is squawking away there. You could try relocating your router/AP and testing - if there’s a duct or a bunch of pipes in the way they may be interfering or opaque to the radio band, so moving the router might honestly result in better performance. Tape it to the ceiling if you have to (3M command strips work pretty well)
2.4Ghz gets far greater wall penetration than the modern high bandwidth 5Ghz band solutions, but it’ll be limited to 54mbps or slower.
Not all WiFi access points are created equal. The antenna on a Linksys Router/AP ($??) vs. the antenna on an Ruckus AP ($500+) is a totally different animal, and it shows.
Effectively trying to coax a good signal out of radio equipment without a proper survey is more akin to dowsing or engaging in a magical ritual than anything really technical though…
Just to make things a little more clear, here are some definitions for what things are called:
Router - a piece of hardware that runs router software. It determines where internet packets go, gives devices IP addresses using DHCP, and whole host of other cool stuff. A router can have physical connections only (ethernet, for example), or they are sold as combo units with WiFi, too.
Access Point - A WiFi access point broadcasts and receives wifi signals, but still needs a router to handle the who, what, where, and when.
I suggest keeping your current router (combo) if you’re happy with the management of things. To get better WiFi, you can add additional Access Points. They should be wired directly to your router. You can leave the WiFi on on your current combo-router, and just add extra WiFi as close to your devices as possible.
If you have access to Unifi products, they are pretty solid, but you’ll need to boot up their controller software on a computer to get things set up.
Grandstream makes good hardware, too, and you can get them set up by accessing them directly over your network (controller software built in).
Mikrotik is a great brand and they have inexpensive Access Points, and also Router/WiFi combos (I think the combos are called “hAP”). They are enthusiast level type stuff, and not really user friendly. They do have a default configuration that will get you up and running, though. Their WiFi products are slightly behind the times (WiFi 6 is about as far along as they’ve come at this point, but hey, I’m still on WiFi 5 and doing fine).
I really like Mikrotik, but you have to be their target audience to enjoy using them, I think. Just throwing that out there.
Also consider using an Ethernet powerline adapter. This allows you to use the in-wall power cables to carry the network data. As long as the power outlets near the router and the area you want to use the service are on the same circuit, this should work.
I can’t believe I never thought of this. Is there any model in particular that you recommend?
For what it’s worth, I’ve heard a lot of complaints about powerline adapters. I’ve always seen it as sort of hacky and unreliable. Only as a last resort.
I’m using Netgear adapters between my router and a dumb AP. They’ve been very reliable outside of occasionally not coming back online by themselves after a power failure.
I don’t know much about Spain, but if you’re interested at all in higher end networking in the future, you could look into a dedicated AP. If you can manage to run Ethernet cable to a central point, you can install it in a ceiling like they do at businesses and universities instead of having it in one of your rooms (probably at the edge of your residence).
I personally use a Ubiquiti AP (U6 Lite I think?), but I haven’t run cable so it sits at one corner of my house (about 1200 sq ft per floor) and I get good signal throughout, except at the very edges (something like 20m I guess in the longer direction). If I moved it to be more central, no corner of my house would be more than 15m away, and probably no further than 10m (haven’t measured).
So even if you can’t run the cable to make one of those ceiling units work, you will probably see an improvement by getting entry-level enterprise gear. There are a number of options, just stay away from the mass market routers w/ wi-fi included if you want optimal wireless quality.
If you can manage to run Ethernet cable to a central point,
Unfortunately running Ethernet cables across 2 divisions is not an option :/
You’d run through the ceiling. If you’re renting, it’s definitely a no-go, but if you own, you may have options, especially since it doesn’t need to drop in the walll, only a small hole in the ceiling.
- GL.iNet GL-MT6000(Flint 2): https://www.amazon.es/-/en/dp/B0CP7S3117
- GL.iNet GL-AX1800: https://www.amazon.es/-/en/dp/B09HBW45ZJ
How many square feet and we talking? (Or square meters since you are in Spain)
The office room is 16.55 square meters, the entire house is around 100 square meters.
In that case a single AP is probably enough.
Here is a list of WiFi 6 devices supported by OpenWRT.
https://openwrt.org/toh/views/toh_available_16128_ax-wifi
My guess is your current device is simply a older cheap device. If a single devices doesn’t work for you the other option is to setup multiple APs. The good news is that OpenWRT has out of the box support for 802.11r fast transition. For multiple APs you just need either to run Ethernet or to setup a mesh backbone for the network.
