WiFi Setup Advice

[Cameronlund]

I live in Peckham and I'm seeking a bit of advice for introducing a wi-fi network that will extend properly across our property.

The plan is to have a Three 5G router plugged into a central point of our main property and then use 4 x eero Pro WiFi mesh extenders that will extend the coverage to the rest of the home (which is split across 4 floors). The router and extenders will be connected wirelessly, but if that doesn?t work effectively then we?ll connect them up with ethernet cables.

We will also have another WiFi extender based in our garden studio that is wired into the 5G router, so we can get internet there too.

The 5G router from Three has an avg. speed of 100MBps, which we hope will be sufficient for 3 people to videoconference or stream concurrently. It currently costs ?21p/m.

Is anyone with good WiFi knowledge able to help me understand if this is a suitable and cost-effective setup? If there is anything else we should consider to help improve the speed and/or effectively apply wifi coverage throughout the home I would be really grateful for any tips, or pointers to organizations that offer impartial advice on this sort of thing.

[h3+]

Hi,

A couple of things come to mind

- Try to avoid connecting the garden directly to the 5G router, connect it to the eero network. This way all your devices stay on the same network/ssid. This is the advantage of mesh; you have a single network so you can do things like control any network attached devices like wifi lights, Nest thermostats etc

- Create a guest network for visitors; you don't want other people on your main network

[dulwich2020]

Sounds good, just make sure you have good 5G signal from three, otherwise regular fibre instal would be better

I use deco m4 mesh with virgin fibre and it?s great

[redpost]

Can you not get wired broadband? ... as a Three customer myself for many years I wouldn't trust them for my home broadband

[Cameronlund]

Thanks everyone for your advice!

@Redpost do you use Three?s 5G signal? Curious to know if that?s what you?ve found to be unreliable - we?re directly underneath a 5G tower so hoping connectivity won?t be an issue on that network.

[malumbu]

Was planning to start a thread since I saw a recent article in the Grauniad about maxing your broadband.

My PC is old and may get 20megs (which is fine) rather than twice that on other devices in the house, still falling a little short of the 50 that BT say you should get. Getting fibre optic made things so much better, than the Talk Talk deal I had before, and couldn't have worked remotely on this. Work gave me a 4G box at that earlier time, but 4G on T-mobile aint great.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/jan/24/how-to-speed-up-your-broadband-internet

[alex_b]

A few additional tips: Definitely connect the mesh access points via Ethernet cable, it will make it faster and more reliable. As others have said use the same mesh extender in the garden studio too. Finally disable Wi-Fi on the Three router, that will mean you only have one Wi-Fi network that devices are trying to connect to.

Also try to get everything possible off Wi-Fi and onto hardwired connections, smart tvs, computers used at desks etc.

One other thing to consider is not just the headline bandwidth but also the contention and latency from your provider. For instance I got better real world performance from an A&A 70Mbps VDSL line than from Virgin?s 200Mbps line. I?ve now switched to A&A?s FTTP 160Mbps service and it?s brilliant. It?s twice as much as what Three are charging butI think you get what you pay for.

[lockers]

Feels like there are some experts on here so, if you dont mind, some of the points raised are something i am looking into it at the moment.

I have a 100mbs line with virgin. Speeds are always very good but when I use Zoom on my laptop for work related meetings it usually cuts out/freezes at least once for around 10 seconds or so. Not a huge amount of time but not great when i am talking to clients. I installed some software that monitors the broadband and it seems that the latency spikes typically once an hour. It doesnt happen when I switch to using my mobile phone as a personal hotspot.

I am in the loft room using the WiFi from the router directly below me in my front room (as mentioned the speeds are around the 100mb/s mark). My question is can the cut out of zoom be due to latency? Would i solve this issue using a mesh network with a mesh box in my office room to make a signal effectively closer? Could it be the way my wifi is set up? Or do i need to change provider? Will this issue go away if i increase the speed (assuming the same latency) to say 200mbs with virgin?

Thanks so much! Not very accessible topic!

[JohnL]

Ooh is it the Virgin network or your Wi-Fi that's the issue.

I'd try to find that out first.

[diable rouge]

Have you done a speedtest on your wifi connection?

I only ask because if you look at Virgin's smallprint, the 100mb is for an ethernet cable connection, not wifi.

I've done tests on my wifi and at times have got as little as 20mb...

[lockers]

Hi yes I have done speed tests. As mentioned they are always pretty high but the zoom connection still cuts out. It appears to be the latency but just wondering if anyone knows if that causes screen freezes and also how to stop (if that?s possible) spikes in the latency. Ie can i buy a mesh network to improve things, increase the speed (which i guess wouldnt stop the occasional increase in latency) or do i need to change provider. Thanks a lot you computer whizzes!

[alex_b]

The first thing I?d try is to get a really long Ethernet cable and see if the issue continues to occur on a wired connection. If so it?s a fault with Virgin (good luck with that?), if not then it?s a Wi-Fi issue which might be fixable with a mesh setup. Again if you?re going for mesh I?d really recommend hard wiring the access points.