topic Re: Getting the most from a third party router in Broadband

Getting the most from a third party router

ag9292 — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 18:43:29 GMT

Hello,

I made the choice to upgrade from an Eero mesh network to an ASUS router, as I was finding that I was experiencing issues with the Eero nodes - when my phone was going between nodes, my call would drop. The area I live, there is no phone signal so wholly reliant on WiFi calling.

I had a voucher for Argos and decided to purchase an ASUS TUF-AX6000. My home is circa 1,500 sqft., split across two levels - see screenshot.

My router is in the living room, as this is where the fibre connection is. I am on Sky Fibre 500mb. I have tried moving the antenna about, played about with various settings. However, I am lucky to achieve 200mbps on WiFi. I use the bedroom behind the Primary Bedroom as an office and at times, I can have only 2 of the 3 rainbows on my WiFi. As I type this, I am in the garage space (now converted to a second sitting room) and on my MacBook, only have the 2 of the 3 rainbows.

At the back of my home, I have a Ring Floodlamp and I am continually getting notifications of a poor signal.

I would assume a router at this price point, would be able to easily cover 1,500sqft in a new build home (crappy internal walls). But I have been proven wrong.

Does anyone have the same router and have any hints/ tips on playing about with the settings to achieve maximum speeds and coverage?

Any help would be appreciated - although I would prefer to stay away from a mesh network if possible, unless entirely necessary. The issue with a mesh is that I would need to have it wireless throughout my home, so my understanding is that speeds can be limited by this.

Re: Getting the most from a third party router

TimmyBGood — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 09:29:31 GMT

@ag9292

One point to consider is that with the faster versions of FTTP, striving for Hub speed throughout a property is probably going to lead to frustration: a more realistic aim is to get each device what it actually needs, and that's very rarely hundreds of megabits per second (best quality UHD streaming is under 30Mbs, for example)

Given all routers, no matter their price point, are limited in power output by national regulation (and you wouldn't want to share space with one that wasn't) it's often unrealistic to expect complete coverage from a single location.

I'd also observe that energy rating requirements mean new-builds use foil laminate foam insulation extensively which can significantly attenuate signal reaching external spaces (or locations such as a garage)

In our converted garage I've ended up running in ethernet cable: Powerline networking was less successful due to the mains topology.

Re: Getting the most from a third party router

Skull+Treaty — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 08:29:17 GMT

@ag9292

I use an ASUS Zen WiFi AiMesh system in our house and rarely see speeds below 100 mbps

Ground floor

First floor

This was done sometime last year; I've repositioned the nodes abit and the coverage is a bit better than what it shows in the pics.