How to Fix and Upgrade a Weak WiFi Signal | Ask This Old House
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ธ.ค. 2021
- In this video, Ask This Old House home technology expert Ross Trethewey helps a homeowner get stronger WiFi coverage throughout his house by extending the service.
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Ross Trethewey helps a homeowner fix his slow WiFi. The family has had problems with their WiFi since they moved in. They cannot stream movies on their television in the basement, and sometimes even emails are slow to send.
Ross sees a ton of similar complaints from other homeowners. Finding the issue can be tricky since you can't see a Wi-Fi network's physical problem. Ross demonstrates a step-by-step approach to diagnose a WiFi problem and determine how to fix it. After checking the wiring and the modem location, Ross shows how to check the Internet speed.
He finds that the WiFi signal gets weak in the basement and top floor, but he has a solution. Ross introduces the homeowner to a mesh network, a distributed router system where you place WiFi routers strategically around your house to strengthen the WiFi connectivity and increase coverage. Afterward, the family has a strong WiFi signal throughout their home, allowing them to send emails and stream their favorite home improvement show.
Skill: 1/5
Cost: Mesh router costs $200-$500
Time: 1 hour
Shopping list:
Internet provider bill
Ethernet cable [amzn.to/3H3dqUH]
Uninterruptible power supply [amzn.to/3H1ywD1] (UPS)-battery backup power stip
You will need a laptop.
Where to find it?
Ross installed a mesh network to extend the homeowner's WIFI coverage. The mesh network doesn't create a new network. Instead, it works to strengthen the network you have. The technology uses multiple devices to enhance WiFi connectivity and increase coverage. The tri-band mesh network used was eero Pro 6, eero [eero.com/] is an Amazon company.
Before installing the eero system, Ross explains the benefits of using a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). This battery backup strip provides up to 6 hours of power and surge protection. Ross chose to use a APC Back-UPS BE600M1 [amzn.to/3H1ywD1], which APC manufactures by Schneider Electric-APC USA [www.apc.com/us/en/]
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How to Fix and Upgrade a Weak WiFi Signal | Ask This Old House
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I think he missed one important point with the mesh network. Once you install a mesh system and connect to your existing modem/router it’s very important to disable the wireless function on the modem/router so that you don’t have WiFi signals fighting each other.
i think he did that. they do a lotta things of camera.
@@miles5600 I would assume he did but I think he should have at mentioned it as I’m sure there are people out there that might not even know to do it.
@@miles5600 thanks answering. And yup you’re correct. We turned off the WiFi antennas of the existing combination modem and router. As you mentioned there are a lot of things that are done but don’t make the final cut due to timing . This segment would have been over an hour long if we explained everything little step.
@Ross Trethewey I am trying to figure out how the max at the modem was 170 but after you had over 250 with mesh, and he only pays for 200???
@@EMTDawg that's possible when the service provider gives a free internet speed boost.
mostly happens after they've upgraded their infrastructure.
It’s why I ran CAT6 cables for all my streaming devices. I prefer hardwired option because it’s more reliable.
wireless is never miss-free.
It's preferable but many people would be too intimidated to do such a thing.
finally finishing this project i started years ago
It’s laziness not intimidation.
@@kalijasin Intimidation creates laziness so yes it is.
I liked the methodology he laid out, it's so important to remove the unknown and design your experiments to isolate each component to test.
I would argue that a single quality WAP, centrally located and ideally on the top floor’s ceiling, is perfectly adequate for 90% of suburban homes. Usually running ethernet cable from the modem to the attic is a lot easier than people seem to think and worth the effort.
Agreed, and I’d even say it would be around 99% for ppl. The ppl who have servers, multiple SSIDs, VMs, Intra/Inter NETs, etc…..running in there homes cover about 1% of ppl IMO, and they also using gigabit or fiber networking. Most run 100-200 Gbps from there ISP and what you said in comment…..would be just fine 👍🏻👍🏻
Cheers✌🏻
Getting to the attic in this house would have been challenging. But definitely considered it. There is no better connection than a hardwired one!
Depends on the size of the house and construction. I'm in a 1,250sq ft house, and with the router nearly in the middle of the house, by the time I get to the outer edges, I've lost 60% of the signal. Anywhere outside of the house, the loss is at 90%. Our house is lath and plaster, so somewhat of a faraday cage. My office is out in our garage, no more than 20 feet (line of sight) from the modem, but without a wired or wireless booster, the signal is unusable. This type of construction is very prevalent the older Southern California neighborhoods.
A wap ayy?
I did this exact thing, running a ceiling mounted EnGenius EWS357AP WiFi 6 WAP in the middle of my house and it reaches every corner of my house with 300 Mbps, the max my service will run. Cost $100 and is very unobtrusive.
Thank you, thank you for this simple short video that answers questions simply! Thank you so much!
I’ve been running a mesh network for 6 years. It’s fantastic. Streaming 4K in places I had no signal. I bought my own modem. Don’t rent a box. In one year it pays for itself. I’m also a gamer. No issues at all. I don’t have the battery back up. Think I’ll look into that
*Modem or router dies*
Internet Service Provider: Not my problem
*Rents modem or router*
*modem dies
ISP: we will send out someone within an hour.
@@isaiah4478lol good luck getting Spectrum out to the house within the same week
What brand is the best?
Just what I needed to see. I love your program.
Nothing beats hardwired. The mesh system will improve service but like the extender is still relying on the main unit. The modem will always fluctuate.
excellent i have been searching for this advice on the internet for some time and now i find thanks
Lol the way he talks and walks I see carbon copy of dad . Keep up this wonderful channel, we all need to support this great channel.
Excellent video I have a problem with my network. Will try this and see if it works.
When I remodeled my home, I ran Ethernet to every room in the house. I ran all the Ethernet to a central location in a closet with all my gear including a patch panel. Any dead spots, which was really only my backyard for my pellet smoker, made it easy to add an access point to extend range.
Did same thing. Hard wire Cat 6 in every room in 2 story house. Never an issue. Used a couple of 10 yr old wireless routers - Ethernet to the back and setup another secondary wireless router. Still get 60-75mbs through old wireless Linksys router, with 3 more hard connect ports (if needed)
@@avflyguy yeah prefer wired connection when I can use it.
I love this old house and have for 20 years❤
Thanks for this! Really helped!!
Great, now I can just copy and paste this video to friends and family who keep calling about wifi problems!
This is the first video I’ve seen from this channel and it explained this concept absolutely perfectly for me. I really appreciate this learning style and I liked and subscribed!
Trust me he is giving half truths at best, it's honestly painful to hear his answers.
One thing to remember on wifi, all clients devices share that connection per SSID (non overlapping) channel. Great for mobile devices but best to hard wire stationary devices when can to just prevent overcrowding that spectrum. Also the further away, less signal the radios negotiate a slower speed but still can be too weak and have drops, exponentially increases fro each wireless dive being used. Best for long distance, going through objects, other interference putting more AP's in the house, these are static non routing APs operating on different non over lapped channels and can use same SSID Name or different if want to keep seperated
what is ap?
@@kad8956 AP equals Access Point as in a wifi access point.
Thanks for the $700 answer, Hard wire the basement and attic. Move the router to a higher point on the first floor...
I like how he enters the house and leaves the door open wide 😂
Hey this old house. Long time fan since the 80's when my dad would watch you on the antenna.
I'm now a licensed electrician, and former isp/low voltage data installer from years ago.
I always love the trethuey segments and am glad that Ross is a recurring segment of the show.
This video on extending the WiFi signal made me want to comment that power line networking devices (gigabit) and moca devices (2.5 gigabit) exist and can work great.
I myself have used power line adapters for 6 years and they work flawlessly.
They do have s negative connotation from early adopters in the early 2000's when the speed and connectivity wasn't as good.
They also suffer from connection issues in north America where the vast majority of residential wiring uses a split phase (often called single phase) wiring system.
The manufacturer instructions tell you to be in the same circuit as the other adapter which is rarely possible, the reason that they say that without getting too technical is because in a split phase electrical system, the utility transformer has one utility phase that makes a line 1 phase of 120 volts anda line 2 phase which makes 120 volts. If you put A multimeter across line 1, & line 2 you get 240 volts.
This is the typical residential single family home wiring system. Duplex, triplex, multifamily homes or apartment complexes can have true 3 phase voltage systems of 208/120 volts.... 208 being line to line and 120 volts being line 1,2, or line 3 to neutral.
In any event the power line Network adapters can have trouble communicating across different phases or lines/legs.
... It's so convoluted of an explanation that the manufacturers just say keep it on the same circuit.....
When in reality it's just that there isn't a connection between the phases.
Here's the playoff
To remedy this all that you need is additional adapters to bridge across.
A typical home will be single phase and every other circuit breaker in an electrical panel will be opposite phases. So a normal single phase electrical panel will have 1 through 20, or 38, or 42... etc.
1, and, 2 will be horizontal and just below will be circuit breakers 3, and 4.
Circuits 1, and 2 will be on the same phase. Circuits 3, and 4 will be in the opposite phase of circuits 1, and 2. This continues in the same repeating order on down the panel every other row is opposite.
So the way to get communication between both phases, and throughout a typical North American home is to put one of the adapters on the first phase and another one on the second phase and run a cat 5 or cat 6 in between them.
Now on to moca adapters.
They can work by running a network signal between two adapters each being connected to a coaxial cable I believe RG6 provides the best connection I am unsure of rg59 the old standard is capable of providing the full 2.5 gigabit connection if the home comes pre-wired with coaxial cable it is often faster than a category 6 cable or Wi-Fi or powerline networking.
There are definitely options available and Wi-Fi is the slowest of all of them and can suffer from interference
As a Cisco Certified Network Engineer with over 20 years in the field, although he said he didnt need a new router, that is exactly what the Eeros is......
I have Tplink mesh network and they are solid as should be, mesh solution is highly recommended for each house!
Great video. I need to do the exact same thing
Best video simple clear and efficient thank you
Like all good wireless systems...
You improve it by adding lots more wires.
Useful, thanks.
Great video
I have multiple streams working on only 30 mps. Step one should have been to just buy a standalone modem. The combo units from the internet service provider are known to be terrible. Most providers also charge you to rent them so if you just buy one you end up saving money in the long run. Got my Asus for 50. Saved a rental fee of 15 per month.
I have dsl copper 24Mbs down, Ubiquiti Amplifi and I have no issues. Anywhere I can, I wire (wall fishes). 3 HD streams from TH-cam TV, Fortnite on two xBoxes, 4 IP security cameras, and other devices with activity.
The existing modem/router was owner by the homeowner, so we wanted to reuse it if we could. And we turned the system into bridge mode and turned off it’s WiFi antennas to minimize additional interference.
Something to keep in mind is using the ISP supplied unit affords you the luxury of not having to triage issues yourself. This is a no brainer if you know what you’re doing, if you don’t it’s considered insurance.
Additionally this also covers you in the event the service is impacted preventing service reps from placing the blame on “customer equipment”. I agree the money spent renting the unit is better used somewhere else, however the reality is this is not something the majority can deal with on their own. It’ll always be easier to have the option to call up your ISP and have them fix your issues than getting frustrated dealing with it yourself.
One other thing, as tech progresses the devices we purchase to shed off the rental fee begin to age where we need to purchase newer equipment, this may be anywhere from 3-7 years , still there is money to be saved but again, if you’re renting you aren’t having to worry about purchasing a replacement and hoping you purchased the correct one to work with your service provider.
Well done, I have seen many „fix“ videos, but mostly nothing was explained correctly, but not so here 👍👍
Can you do a hardwired mesh with a network cabinet install in the basement next?
Would be a breeze to see wifi be done even more properly 🙂
Keep up this good research upfront as you did here and deliver more good quality content!!
I have an entire network rack in my basement with the router, modem, gateway and switch for all my security cameras and hardwired WAP's through out the house, I also have all my audio devices for the whole house sound system, as well as home automation system all mounted on the rack. It is not a cheap setup but definitely something I wanted when I built my house.
The first thing I did is buy my own cable modem without wifi built into the modem, I have a consistent speed reading and do not not pay a monthly charge, then I installed the eero mesh system. Since i have a better modem, I do not have much down time. In the last 3 years I only had to reset the modem 1 time.
Awesome video
Awesome!
Well done, great setup but I would recommend to avoid the unnecessary high cost for the UPS, which is not required
Mesh is good. Given that the modem was on the floor with a hole on the floor going to the basement,I would have looked to run an Ethernet cable to the TV in the basement or at least hard wire the mesh access point in the basement.
I noticed the mesh access point was in the same place the repeater had been and the repeater got poor reception.
Finally, 200 for the whole house with more than two people isn't enough. You only need two people using video at their same time to saturate the bandwidth.
That said, you hugely improved their setup. I'm sure they will be delighted with the improvement.
Not sure why the comments are saying the MESH solution was bad - only negative is that the mesh devices were a little pricey, but eero has a 2 pack for 129$ and a mesh router for 89$ so overall to stand up a mesh network is 200$ (cheaper than a new modem/router). People are also forgetting that POE devices are generally more expensive than non-POE devices. Furthermore, the lay out and problem the customer was having was a perfect fit for a MESH system. Sure cables could have been ran, sure maybe a stronger 3rd party router may have fixed the issue, sure locating the modem to a central location could have worked, but then you have to run more coaxial, cut holes in the wall, create connection outlets, then to physically wire up the rest of the house you have to do the same.
Time is money as well not just buying hardware, the house clearly is not "New" or modern, so there were some hefty materials blocking the WiFi signal, creating a mesh network to separate each individual entertainment floor into its own Wi-Fi hub was not a bad solution at all, its the preferred solution with the issue is being explained here.
People saying "just get a WAP, and run cat5e cable to it through the attic. Its that simple and cheaper." WAP doesn't exactly come cheap either...they can be between 100-200$ as well depending on which brand you go far. look at the situation before with 1 network device handling 3 floors of WiFi, and then looking at it after you see that it can not only accommodate the family of the house but guests of the house as well.
Wifi for first floor ---- goes from 90 mbps to 230mbps --- handles people on 1st floor
Wifi for 2nd floor --- goes from 40 mbps to 230 mbps --- handles people on 2nd floor
Wifi for basement --- goes from 16 mbps to 230 mbps -- Handles people in basement
The upload speed for his service is garbage anyway and if uploading photos at 5-10 mbps is a no deal on this type of network solution for you then nothing will satisfy you. Photos range from .5 - 8 MB not hundreds of MB...also back ups only append new data not existing data, so your phone won't re-backup 200 GB every-night. It will check existing items as back up and then only add items that are not backed up. Also back ups happen over night while you are asleep, I do not see a problem where its 8 hrs of uninterrupted uploading at 5-10 mbps (mega-bits per SECOND).
There was nothing wrong with the solution here, except some more detailed explanation into the choices of the hardware and implementation of the solution would have been nice to have.
for the most part i agree, although you can get cheaper WAP's (im using a 30$ tplink while only 802.11n its for my garage which only has smart devices and a tablet. and technically it can be programmed to be a repeater), also the video i dont think mentioned setting the modem to bridge mode so you are not double NATing the wifi devices (needing to go through two routers to hit the internet, which can cause issues with online game matchmaking and as others mentioned IoT devices)
The biggest issue i see in mesh technology is when you start to get a large amount of wifi devices on your network (IoT stuff, laptops, tablets, phones) it can start loosing speed as with mesh you have more overhead with the Mesh AP's having to communicated back and forth between each other along with the other wireless devices connected to the Mesh APs.
It will pretty much come down to usage, and DIY skills along with what type of home you live in. I can run my own ethernet and i live in a mobile home so access underneath is fairly easy, just need a long auger bit and some cable pulls and i usually can get a new line run in under an hour. Im also a cheap skate so 2 of my AP's i got used for free, they only do 802.11a/b/g and 2.4ghz, but i only have my Iot devices on them (lights, speakers, sensors) as they dont need as much bandwidth.
But if use case is light with a few devices this solution should be fine, doesnt work for me but i got the knowledge and skills to do a more complex network (modem thats bridge only - no built in router, ubiquiti edgerouter, 24 port switch, and 4 AP's including an ubiquiti AC for high speed devices, 2 old cisco aironets on a seperate ssid, vlan, and channel for IoT , and a tplink in my garage, i might have a total of $400 in hardware including the modem, edgerouter, ubiquiti AP, managed switch, and tp-link AP. the cisco's i got for free from a business throwing them out. but then again im running close to 100 IP's on my network between computers, tablets, phones, TV, game consoles, IoT devices, WifI security cameras, and several virtual machine game servers.
some legacy devices hate mesh networks as they blend all three signals as if one , asus ax600 can seperate the bands also products like sonos sometimes get angry riding another mesh network generally fixedd by patches , the eeros only have two ports so you may need a switch if wanting to wire a home office or gaming area.
@@lqdxoni1 I got rid of my mesh for that very reason.. my wifi devices always dropped out because they were combining the signal..
@@lqdxoni1 of course some dowhich if the device is stationary most likely will remain on a single AP.
Also which is why almost every ISP hardware will support meshing. If not then by some research and effort you can use 3rd party hardware for meshing.
The device thing communicating with different APs in the mesh can usually usually and I stress it “usually” solved by manually setting the WiFi channels. Space them out to prevent any unwanted complications.
Even my legacy devices don’t have issues with my mesh network I set up. Of course doesn’t mean everyone has a smooth sailing experience like myself.
It all comes down to the personal home and what the network needs are of that home. For this customer this set up was a perfect solution just not the only perfect solution for their situation. Looking at the experience, and general IT knowledge and use case…the more plug and play for the guy the better.
@@jjjacer your home setup is what I have as well and my enterprise experience also helped fix any unwanted errors and issues of course.
When we look at the customers IT knowledge and experience - while I personally wouldn’t go with eero and there are, I think cheaper mesh setups out there, the fact it was practically plug and play for Him and only required a total of 3 new devices that are powered via wall outlet with no additional Ethernet runs for POE - perfect solution for him and his use case.
Like I could run cable to all the areas I need but my setup doesn’t warrant that. My next run is a doozy and will be when I can get the ubiquiti cameras and that.
Of course my comment was specifically targeting those saying everything in the video was wrong, too expensive, and a waste of time. All the while suggesting more technical solutions which required more knowledge then the customer had.
Of course TOH would have done the install, most likely off camera options were given and discussed with the customer and we only see the after effect of those discussions.
When we look at the bandwidth usage for 1080P - it’s around 1-3 mbps but you want a comfortable 4-8mbps to prevent buffering. Each Device can support 10/100 mbps at a minimum. He was also getting 300 mbps down so if we spread it out between 3 total floors that’s 100mbps of WiFi speed with built in channel optimization and device band allocation. Even if 3 people were doing 4K streaming on the same floor, you are still looking at plenty of left over bandwidth for the other 2 floors. Now since it doesn’t look like anyone is running hard cable to computer towers we can assume that the devices in the house will only be on WiFi. So unless there are 35 people using 10 mbps per floor at the same time, the customer will not run into any slow downs. I would say on average the single bandwidth usage of a device in that house would be between 8-20mbps and they do not look like a family that will be using 2-3 devices utilizing combined predicted bandwidth of 30-60 mbps.
In this instance I think a mesh network system wasn’t needed, the other floors all had decent WiFi, this seemed like a quick & easy/lazy fix and it was very expensive. There are much cheaper alternatives, including running some Ethernet from the modem to the entertainment room and putting up an AP, after all they’re on the same floor. The homeowner wasn’t far off either with the extender, those are decent but he should’ve picked a different outlet that was closer to the router or perhaps tried a power line adaptor.
Very interesting, informative. I don't understood much about WIFI this video has helped me out
That cheap WiFi extender is worse than expensive signal extender? Those installed are just fancier extenders... They didn't do good job, they did easy fix. But I guess labor is more expensive than hardware...
0:54 I like how he just straight up materialized a splitter.
I’m hoping that you can help me with a question that didn’t come up during this ‘How to Fix and Upgrade a Weak Wi-Fi Signal’: The homeowner had a modem/router presumably from his internet provider. During the intimation of the new mesh router it was not explained how one bypasses the router in the already existing modem/router such as to still be using the modem from the modem/router but, instead of using the router part of the existing modem/router, uses the newly purchased installed mesh router? In advance, thank you for any enlightenment you can provide! Joe
The extender would probably have worked fine if it was located halfway to the modem/router. Putting it next to the tv was getting no better signal than the tv directly. In fact, depending on how the extender was configured, the tv might still be connecting directly to the router.
Extenders are the stains on satans balls and should be eliminated like Covid from the planet. I exaggerate a bit, I know, but I've NEVER had any good times with extenders. They are unreliable when someone walks in front of one of them, coughs, sneezes near one. They often have a single radio signal for both backhaul and client connection and by definition they are slow SO now they are TWICE as slow. They are of course limited to where an actual plug point is so in this video the dude may not have had any choice but to plug it in there.
Those are usually from the provider and are garbage and over priced. You can buy a gently used wifi mesh or the power extender which work way better.
Extenders rarely help anything.
@@TurboSpeedWiFi well, that’s a pretty downer statement. I do believe that many of them are marketed beyond their capabilities, but I hope they don’t get totally classified along with power factor correctors. 🥴
I have used several extenders to good effect, not to boost throughput, but to stabilize signals in poor coverage areas. In most cases, it’s worth adding a second access point hard-wired to the main router, or just direct wiring problem devices.
He did this all wrong.
To make a long story short, mo money, mo money, mo money!
If you are using an all in one device like this be sure to call your ISP to have them put the modem in bridge mode! Otherwise you have 2 routers daisy chained and can cause double natting issues.
I have three mesh Eeros and my signal is rock solid. I would have made sure to at least investigate putting the cable router/modem into bridge mode. He could have an issue or twenty down the line if he doesn't deal with the double-nat of two routers that are doing identical functions. Also, he could "possibly" remove the cable router from the connection all together. I have my gateway Eero plugged in directly to the cable line.
Yup, we put the existing combination modem/router into bridge mode, disabling the WiFi antennas!
I wish he would come to my house and help me. It’s great when you understand all of this stuff but when things go wrong, it’s hard to figure out what to do. Also, who wants to see all that stuff in a room, there has to be better ways to get the signals you need in a more discreet and aesthetic way. It’s great if you can start from scratch, but over time, all this stuff evolves and requires replacements.
Just getting the modem off the floor and on a table would do wonders. What good does it do having a UPS on at modem but not the other floors?
Great video keep up the awesome work you do. I had a problem with my network and Wi-Fi I went and bought this system that was recommended it works.
I think your actually lucky in the US-AN OLD House in the UK is 100% guaranteed brick or block internal walls, usually like you mentioned in this video in the US are dry wall,great video.!
Ups for the modem and main router which is great. What about the signal amplifier? As far as i understand from the video the amp is also a powered one, in case of power outage you lose internet access.
That real kool!!
Finally something I'm somewhat knowledgeable about so that I can verify the quality of content that is coming out. I watch this channel to learn something about areas I have no expertise in. I'm a tech guy. Suggestions in this vid are good especially if you can't move the location of the router. Another option would be to install a better router, mesh systems are expensive especially the one he used. Probably a $400 to $500 dollar system. Might be able to get away with a $200 router that puts out a better signal. Also making sure you connecting to the 2.4gz connection as it's better for going through walls and other building mats. I'd argue you could get a usuable connection doing that rather than dropping a lot of cash on a mesh network. However, what they did in this vid is good if you don't mind spening money. Some little nitpicks here and there but overall pretty good. Also at the end they show the guy getting speeds faster than what he's paying for, this is a misconception that upgrading your modem/router is going to give you faster speeds. What they showed shouldn't be taken for fact or as an expectation, this is a common scam that unfortunately many people fall victim to. The result they got is likely an outlier.
You said "Some little nitpicks here and there but overall pretty good" Can you please elaborate on the small mistakes they made? I'm very much into tech and have a great interest in different perspectives. Have a nice weekend.
Oh and also a splitter will not cut the signal in half, it will reduce the signal by the decibel level printed above the leg of the splitter which is ok to do as long as the cable tech has the signals balanced. A house amp is normally only installed if there are more than 4 cable boxes and modem installed or if the run from the tap is long enough to require it.
Everything you said is correct. I typically try to leave modems right around 0db (-10 to +10 is where it needs to be at) and the reason for that is because the signal is gonna fluctuate with the change of temperature outside
The fact the guy is being told that 96mbs is a good speed blows my mind, never mind all the other junk he's spewing.
I'd cry if I had that speed.
@@LdyVder gamer?
@@alexcelaya8814 Gaming only requires 5 Mbps max. LOL!
@@TurboSpeedWiFi gamers are usually the first ones to call and cry about their speeds being 1 mbps under what they’re paying for lol
Went to a tp link wifi 6 router about 6 months ago, and the range is incredible.
IKR, before I was lucky to get WiFi near the edge of my property 50 feet away. Now I get super WiFi in the middle of the next block.
Yes, thanks for this!!! I was all ready to shell out a few hundred dollars then I read this and bought the tplink 6. i live in a large 200-year-old house with stone walls 2 feet thick. Just getting the new router solved all of my coverage problems, no more buffering, or dropping. or 12-hour uploads of video footage. Yay!!!!!
I've used mesh networking AND powerline networking. In my experience, I think I'd give the slight edge to powerline networking.
Any feedback on your personal experience?
Hello amazing video just wondering which wifi analyzer did you use ??
My tp link wifi extender works excellent. Full wifi bars with it, over 100 mbps and without it in the same spot i have 2 wifi bars and 37 mbps. 2.4 & 5 G supported, easy setup.
great video. accurate info. mesh is awesome. tried all the major brands and orbi was the winner for me. faster and better range than eero and google.
Run wires everywhere possible and practical - especially the TV and audio system - just like the 80s and before. Wireless for the phones and tablets and where wire is not practical.
Gaming consoles (Xbox, Play Station, etc.), Desktop computers, Audio systems, Network Attached Storage (NAS), Roku boxes, Streaming boxes, and TVs (Smart, Roku, etc.) should always be hardwired into the router.
Great ideas....so many boxes though. Yikes.
Wifi extenders work great the thing with them is you can’t be too close to the router and you can’t be to far away got to balance it in the middle. If you use the mesh feature the extender and the router work as one with one access point. If you don’t have the mesh features the extender works as a booster with a separate access point. When using it in the mesh setting any devices close to the extender will automatically use the extender because it’s the strongest signal and devices close to the router will use that. The router will automatically handle what traffic goes to the extender based on what device is accessing the internet. When the extender is being used as a booster you’ll have a separate access point you have to log into and the router dose not automatically choose what data is sent the extender is just boosting the signal. The mesh feature works the best with the router and the extender.
Wired always the best but next best thing is a mesh with a wired backhaul. Blazing speed!!
Nothing beats good ol' hardwire. Lol😅
Some routers (especially if you have multiple people/a lot of IOT devices) overheat often. If you notice periodic slow-downs, one thing to look at is if it's overheating.
Add a fan to the modem and/or router. I always do
This mesh system is so good it outperforms the wired connection LOL
Get a linksys ea9500 tri-band router, which can be found on eBay at average $120 used. Combine the 2 5g networks together into one, so you’ll ideally have (1) 2.4 ghz and (1) 5 ghz band. Centrally locate modem/ router. Your 2.4 band will push just about 100-120mbps, your 5g band will be DOUBLE!! (I’m pushing 233mbps on a 100 mbps service) you will not have any issues. Another good tip is (in my instance spectrum) get a doxis 3.1 modem, it’s an updated model/software which will help with signal and speed.
Why is spending money the answer? You do not need a mesh to fix the problem but bless your hearts for trying
Ehhh splitters dont cut cable signal in "half". Usually its 3.5db to like 11db difference from the input signal. Amplifiers can actually cause problems if the signal is too powerful, it just becomes noise.
asus zenwifi ax660 rocks also has 4 ports on each node to wire things, also for wifi static ip's help to stop interferance.
Did he disable the wifi from the modem when setting up the mesh network? Otherwise, 2 wifi network operating inside the same house.
Also, what's the point of using that UPS? If the house loses the power, having only that main mesh router working as LAN model, what benefit of that? The other 2 mesh router units will also lose power as well. That UPS is a definitely an unnecessary cost.
you need to run a cat5 or cat6 from modem to access points!well worth the effort and will make it work alot better!!!!
If they sent Keith or Scott out instead of Ross. They wouldve just relocated the router existing or added separate cheapo one.
yeah, no point in touting two 5ghz bands if one is used as wifi backhaul
Cat5 is only good for 100 Mb/s and his plan from the isp is 200Mb/s so he should run Cat5e or Cat6. Although cat5e will get the job done Cat6 is the better option. Cat6 has significantly less cross-talk because the twisted pairs are wrapped around a plastic core/tube.
So the answer is to spend $200-$400 dollars on a mesh network. In the process you blanket your neighbors with multiple channels of spectrum to run the mesh backhaul. Everyone's equipment ends up in contention fighting for a free channel. Couldn't just run coax to a more central location in the house? Maybe run an ethernet cable to a better located access point? Run an ethernet cable to fixed equipment that has the option of using a wired network?
After reading the comments, a lot has been said already but i would like to add 1 thing, in the basement 1 of the mesh repeaters was placed on a subwoofer. Best not to do this ever 😅
I also bought a EERO. Cost was about 500$ for 3 at the time. It helped tremendously. But I came here thinking he would help with cable management and routing hard wire from one floor to the other.
I can improve your wifi by having you spend an extra grand in equipment isn’t really a solution.
Perhaps change the location of the modem and hardwire some Ethernet throughout the house cleanly would have been a nice tutorial.
For $500 you can get many quality access points that have very strong signal when hard wired
@@nishiljaiswal2216 but you would have to pay contractor to install ethernet cables on all 3 floors drilling holes through floor, or do it yourself and in order to hide all your ethernet cables, you would have to run the ethernet cables inside the walls between wall studs, which is a lot of work and not cheap to do. so for $500 it saves you a lot of headache to get a mesh network.
So you have to buy 3 of the mesh routers if you have a main floor, upstairs and basement like the dude in the video?
If feel bad for his Wife trying to push video through a 5mbps upstream 🤦♂️
212.6 / 22.7 just now. Love Eero Mesh.
How were they able to achieve speeds HIGHER than the hard-wired test of 170 mbps? Did the home owner upgrade from the ISP?
I don't get what the difference is between the extender and the mesh. They are both broadcasting and receiving wifi signals. What is making the mesh faster? Stronger signal? The additional channels?
I am cat5 wired to everything and am running an old Apple Supreme wifi. Located in the front of the house on top of a closet shelf on the top floor and I can stream 1500 feet away in my garage.
Also have about a dozen neighbors wifi networks filling the airwaves.
I highly doubt your wifi signal reaches 1/3 of a mile.
Hardwire as many devices as you can.. only mobile devices should be on wifi..
16 Mbps should be adequate enough for streaming as long as it's consistent. We have no internet up at our cabin and Cell service inside isn't good. If I put my phone by the sliding glass door I can get 10-15 Mbps but not consistent either, it can drop lower than 10 Mbps at times. Anyways i'll hotspot from my phone to a laptop and have no issues browsing the web or TH-cam etc. I can can also connect my Android TV box and stream HD Netflix/Hulu with it and usually don't have any issues. I was also able to connect to my plex server and stream my Cable TV service from home up there and in 720P. It surprisingly was working quite well as long as I got a consistent speed but since we don't always it will buffer. Anyways I didn't expect it to work at all but when it actually worked I was pleasantly surprised.
Exactly. My old isp was around 2.5Mbps down. It was generally pretty reliably and I could do 720P Netflix as long as I was the only one using it.
Wow it seems like a lot of devices from a lot of different companies in order to get one thing I can only ponder if this fuels your own profession
Wifi analyzer would work also for checking RSSI strengths from different places in the house
Non-wired mesh and testing throughput as a placeholder for signal strength? Rookie.
I just put a wi-fi mesh network in my house, to cure poor wi-fi from a router that was at one end of the house, and a 2.4 GHz extender that was basically an electricity vampire. The mesh network is amazing! Fast wi-fi everywhere, and bonus - no more 2.4 GHz signal loss when someone uses the microwave. My next step in a few months or so is to wire the house for wired backhaul to my mesh routers.
I wired my satellites to back-haul but I went through a 16 port Ethernet switch and when I did a mesh reboot I had to turn off the Ethernet switch or the reboot would not complete. I plugged the switch into a smart outlet so I could tell Alexa to turn off the switch. Once the reboot was done I just tell Alexa to turn on the switch again. My home is full blown smart so I rarely need to get up to do anything.
You're microwave is messed up if it's interfering with your WiFi. The microwave should have adequate shielding to prevent such an issue.
Get a new microwave.
I need that at my house
Common mistake. Did not set the modem-router combo into bridge mode, causing double-NAT. Will be very problematic for IoT devices. Also far better to use MoCA as backhaul for wireless "mesh" systems at the very least, if CAT runs are not feasible.
Moca adapters are expensive. Modern wifi mesh networks work perfectly fine.
@@Egleu1 I would never solely on WiFi. Even if I didn't have any wired devices, I would prefer hardwiring each AP rather than using WiFi. Then again, I live in a one story house with attic only so running CAT was very straightforward.
Yes, MoCA can be expensive but it's faster speed than powerline adapters and way less work than running network cables. Many houses like mine have cable jacks that are completely unused since no one has a TV in every room. So you can't go wrong with MoCA adapters. You can always buy used and/or sell them after running networking to those locations.
Oh that's what bridge mode is for. I should've done that back when I was renting ISP gateway.
But at least he installed one UPS for the router and AP and one for the cable amplifier
He didn't have to set up bridge-mode. That's not required. I never do, and I don't have any problems at all.
8:16 Paying for 200Mbps internet and getting 241Mbps is quite the improvement....
It went from 176Mb hard wired to the router to 241 wireless on the sofa. I’m guessing it’s even higher directly out of the router. The point is that’s a helluva swing in data speed. Good for that day, but I wonder if it has a bad swing in the other direction on worse days. If it ever becomes a problem he may want to follow up with his provider or possibly even change providers to get a more consistent transfer rate.
yes, and ~6Mb upload is garbage too. That is some crap svc
Not sure why the UPS was pushed. They should have gotten a new modem too not just a router. I would get the TP-Link mesh wifi it's like $150 for 3 units.
Wow, this one left a LOT of critical information out. First off, before even introducing a new device, I'd try simply getting the router up off the floor on a table or shelf. Being that close to the floor can cause signal interference considering there's also substructure there that would reflect radio waves, particularly in old construction. I'd also double check if that radiator by it is functional or old construction that's been replaced by forced air; if it's in use, heat could easily degrade that cable over time, and if it's electric, that much amperage being pulled nearby the router could also cause signal interference (I'm suspecting it's not in use since the signal coming in to the router seemed to be within spec, but we have no idea how long it's been there). Also, before introducing new equipment, the existing range extender could be a possible solution if it was positioned better; putting it right next to the equipment having the problem is obviously not going to work, it needs to be about half way between the problem area and the router. Not the best solution by any means, but cheaper, simpler, and may do enough to make the network useable, so it's one that would be worthwhile to educate on. Finally, if you are going to set up a new router for a mesh network (or any other type of router for that matter) and you have a combination unit from your ISP, you need prevent your network from being double NATed. To fix this, you need to either A) Put the router from your provider in bridge mode, B) Put the router from your provider in IP Passthrough Mode (a sort of pseudo-bridge mode that some carriers use, sufficient to prevent double NATing), or C) Assign a static IP to the new router and set that IP to a DMZ in the old router.
We did put the existing modem/router into bridge mode, and we did raise the new router set up off the floor. All is good. Customer is thrilled with the increased WiFi speed/bandwidth and coverage.
But then how would they let eero sponsor the video?
@@FJB2020 no sponsorship on this video. But thanks
@@rosstret Well that is refreshing.. Sorry for the accusation, just seems like everything is a sponsored video anymore and hard to sift through it all.
P.S. It is great to see the show still going after all these years and you following in your fathers footsteps..
@@FJB2020 thanks! We try to stay as true and authentic to providing non-biased third party advice. Which is why we don’t mention brands, ever. I’m glad to be part of the team, which also comes with added responsibility!
Didn't see any other cable items in the household so why is there a CATV Amp?
All the other wires on that Amp are likely drawing in RF noise into he Amp and causing actual interruptions and network bogging. Often the modems with routers build in while space and outlet saving are weaker than separate modem and router. A good wifi 6 router centrally located on first floor would have fixed this along with disconnection all unused coaxial wires from the amplifier.
The comments are worth far more than this whimsical video
No specs were given on the Wi-Fi configuration, channel width, or channel utilization. There's a strong possibility that upgrading wasn't necessary to get up to double the speed as the baseline.
Ah, the old tug test. Works every time.
9:00 I'm watching This Old House watch This Old House. . lmao
If I have a cable modem router combo can I use this mesh wifi setup? Or is that not an option ?
Would never recommend a mesh system. Hardwired access points. If unable to run wire to where needed power line Ethernet adapters work wonders to hardwire aps if power is in the area needed.
I would add access points on each level and hardwire to the tv and desktops. Ubiquiti is the answer.
One in basement would do the trick. And maybe move original modem/wifi combo to second floor, as basement unit would cover 1st...
What is the best mesh system to use?
Upload values are important too