Thick walls - will WiFi Max improve our range?

[LMC20]

We had Sky Full Fibre installed earlier this week, and the engineer set the router up at the front of the house near the windows — he said that was the best spot for it.

Since then, the wifi’s been pretty poor. The signal barely reaches beyond the room the router is in, and it keeps dropping out. We’re in an old Victorian single‑storey flat with thick stone walls, so I’m wondering if Sky’s WiFi Max is actually worth it.

Is it basically a mesh system, and would it be strong enough to get coverage to the back of the house where we currently have no wifi at all?

I spoke to someone at Sky on the phone and they didn’t recommend moving the router, which I assumed would be the first step to improve the range. They said WiFi Max was the best option — but I’m not keen on spending more than I need to.

[Me134]

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@LMC20 wrote:

We had Sky Full Fibre installed earlier this week, and the engineer set the router up at the front of the house near the windows — he said that was the best spot for it.

Since then, the wifi’s been pretty poor. The signal barely reaches beyond the room the router is in, and it keeps dropping out. We’re in an old Victorian single‑storey flat with thick stone walls, so I’m wondering if Sky’s WiFi Max is actually worth it.

Is it basically a mesh system, and would it be strong enough to get coverage to the back of the house where we currently have no wifi at all?

I spoke to someone at Sky on the phone and they didn’t recommend moving the router, which I assumed would be the first step to improve the range. They said WiFi Max was the best option — but I’m not keen on spending more than I need to.

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I would certainly research your own wifi mesh system or possibly powerlines which use your electrical power lines (not my personal favourite mind). Is there any chance of laying in ethernet cables from the main router to at least another room or central corridor? If it's FTTP then you could use a longer ethernet cable and move the router away from the window, it should be out of any direct daylight regardless.

[LMC20]

Thank you for your reply, that's really helpful. 

I've heard the tplink mesh is quite good, but they obviously can set you back quite a bit. Happy to spend it if it works though. 

Good tip re ethernet cable - I would need a cable minimum 10m to get from the modem to the hallway, will this affect the strength of the connection do you know?

[TimmyBGood]

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@LMC20 wrote:

Good tip re ethernet cable - I would need a cable minimum 10m to get from the modem to the hallway, will this affect the strength of the connection do you know?

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Ethernet is good for up to 100 metres with no measurable loss of speed, as long as it's Cat5e (or higher which domestic environments really don't need)

[Chrisee]

@LMC20 A word about WiFi Max it uses a 5GHz signal to communicate between the hub and the pod extenders which is never going to be that great in your home due to the walls. I think there are better third party alternatives out there which should provide better coverage if moving the hub doesnt work.