Connection to outside office

[BrianEvans]

Hi there,

I have an office in my back garden with the main WiFi hub in the living room. I have a 3rd party booster which I purchased from Amazon to boost the signal to any device in the office. However, I have just done a speed test on my laptop this afternoon (hard wired to the booster and on WiFi) and I am getting around 20 download speed, which is way lower than what I pay for. I have noticed that every time I've been on video calls today, I need to go inside for the signal to get better. Is there anything I can do to make the wifi speed reach to my outside office as I am getting nowhere near what I require in order to work.

[JimM1]

@BrianEvans Wireless device being the booster connected to the wireless device being the hub? is that what you are saying and nothing but fresh air between booster and hub!

[BrianEvans]

Hi,

Yes. So I have a laptop connecting to a booster that is plugged in. Which I have setup to pull in the signal from the main Hub, but when doing the speed test, I am getting 20mbps which is much much lower than what I have on my package. I have even tried an Ethernet cable from my laptop to the booster but it's even worse, down to 18mbps download which doesn't make sense. I need to have the speeds massively increased due to the amount of meetings I am unable to participate in

[JimM1]

@BrianEvans Easy one to sort out that, External Ethernet rated cat 6 cable run from your home where the hub is, to the place where the booster is, you may even get away with the booster plugged into the Ethernet port that's a try and see.

Powerline may work since you have mains power, speed would not be known until you tested.

Getting 20Mb/s now you are one lucky person. Even if you where paying for 900Mb/s would not make the slightest difference.

[BrianEvans]

Hi,

So I won't be setting up an Ethernet cable from my hub to my booster/laptop as that would mean dragging a cable about 20/30 meters through the house, into the garden and into the office, which is not very practical, especially having pets and young kids in the house. 

20mbps download speed is absolutely nothing compared to what I had with previous suppliers. I used to get 200/300mbps download speed with a minimum guarantee of 600mbps, which is what my minimum is now. Of course that's to the main hub, but to get nowhere near 200/300mbps when I used to get this is a complete joke.

So your suggestion of dragging cables through the house is not an option I will be willing to do due to a number of safety reasons.

I would like some other useful recommendations provided rather than the basic suggestions provided and that I would have already thought of, giving I work in IT.

Thanks 

[JimM1]

@BrianEvans What was the other kit you had previous?

[jamesn123]

@BrianEvans 

You pay for the speed up to your hub & via a cable. Anything via WiFi can be entirely affected by local conditions. Your setup of using a 3rd party WiFi booster, that not only is supplying clients via WiFi, but its backhaul connection to your main hub is also WiFi is entirely inappropriate for a high speed WiFi connection you seem to be expecting and something Sky would not approve of nor support.  

Can you please clarify that you were actually getting 300mbps via WiFi using a booster to a garden room 30m away from the main hub using your previous supplier?  And that all equipment is in the same location as before?

[BrianEvans]

Yes, I can confirm that all the equipment is in the same exact location, connected in the same method (via the booster) and I was getting up to 200/300mbps through the booster speed meaning I was able to join video calls without dropping off or freezing.

[jamesn123]

@BrianEvans 

What make & model of booster are you using?

[BrianEvans]

I had BT. So I had a main hub plus a couple of boosters that sat in my kitchen and the other in my office in the garden to carry the signal from the main hub out and it worked a treat. But then they moved to EE kit and the speeds then got worse. 

I then moved to Sky, which I was getting pretty good speeds from the back end of last year, but it's all changed from around March this year and I do not understand why.

[BrianEvans]

I have this 

https://amzn.eu/d/1GySo8g

[JimM1]

@BrianEvans BT and whole home or complete wi-fi yes to that, EE and smart wireless not so much a yes to that one, sky if sky max and there booster that's an iffy one, SR203 and a SE210 possible  but link to link SE to SE not going to give that a thumbs up for the 200-300 for sure.

[BrianEvans]

So what kit do you recommend I get to improve the speeds from 20mbps as I need a good enough bandwidth to hold a video calls without dropping off my camera on without freezing or dropping off. 

[jamesn123]

@BrianEvans 

The BT & EE Whole home solutions use WiFi 5 & 6 mesh solutions to create a high speed links so that your speeds are as high as possible when your device is connected to a booster rather than the main hub. To buy that kind of solution 3rd party would be £££s. This is in no way comparable to using a single Sky hub paired with a £16 booster that is only capable of WiFi b/g/n (WiFi 4), there is absolutely zero chance you could have achieved 300mbps from this device previously or ever. 

Your options are:

- Purchase the Sky Max addon so you can claim one of Sky's dedicated booster pods. (Note this may still not solve your issue because Sky do not support outbuildings as part of their WiFi guarantee) 

- Use an ethernet cable to backhaul to your garden building

- Purchase a modern mesh system to reach your outbuilding

[BrianEvans]

Thanks for the advice but I already have the Sky Max package. I am unable to drag Ethernet cables through the house and I have been in the market with other suppliers who offer the mesh solution so I'll look into that more and get out of my Sky contract.

Thanks