5ghz band not enough reach (Netgear R6220) - What router/setup do you recommend?

[router_roulette]

EDIT: I'm looking to spend under $100 street price unless I would see a SIGNIFICANT real-world wireless performance improvement.

The 2.4ghz band appears to be saturated around my house as internet speeds are very slow on my 2.4ghz N router (TP-Link TL-WR841ND) as well as the 2.4ghz band of a dual band router (R6220).

I recently borrowed a NetGear R6220 which has both 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands. When connected to the 5ghz band, the connection speed locally and to the internet is MUCH faster (6x faster). However, the reach is less as one might expect from the higher frequency. The antennas do not appear to be removable on the R6220.

What router/gear would be ideal for a 2 story house if the NetGear R6220 has almost enough reach but not quite enough? Is a repeater necessary? A higher power 5ghz router? Higher gain antennas? Any help is much appreciated.

Most of the devices we use regularly work on 5ghz band but there are a couple notable exceptions such as a 60gb PlayStation 3. Again, please note, I have not purchased a 5ghz router, so buying a different router is certainly an option. I have several working 2.4ghz N and G routers laying idle from many years ago.

 

[L&LD]

An RT-AC68U (look for the latest revision C1 with the faster processor and updated radio circuitry), an RT-AC3200 or an RT-3100 would be what I would be looking to test in your environment.

Of course, the RT-AC88U and the RT-AC5300 are also on the table when sheer performance is concerned, but one of those routers will cost much, much more.

It will also depend on your homes construction. If lath or plaster you will probably still need a router and an AP. But with simple drywall, chances are great that one of the routers mentioned will be all you need and give you a sizable jump on performance even over the R6220 at close to medium range too.

 

[router_roulette]

An RT-AC68U (look for the latest revision C1 with the faster processor and updated radio circuitry), an RT-AC3200 or an RT-3100 would be what I would be looking to test in your environment.

Of course, the RT-AC88U and the RT-AC5300 are also on the table when sheer performance is concerned, but one of those routers will cost much, much more.

It will also depend on your homes construction. If lath or plaster you will probably still need a router and an AP. But with simple drywall, chances are great that one of the routers mentioned will be all you need and give you a sizable jump on performance even over the R6220 at close to medium range too.

Isn't dry wall made of plaster? What is "AP"? Thanks.

 

[sfx2000]

Can't beat physics... no router can do that..

Move the AP to where the clients are, best kept secret in WiFi it seems...

 

[router_roulette]

Can't beat physics... no router can do that..

Move the AP to where the clients are, best kept secret in WiFi it seems...

What is the "AP"? The problem is when I move the router, then clients in other locations don't get adequite coverage.

 

[sfx2000]

The problem is when I move the router, then clients in other locations don't get adequite coverage

5GHz is only going to go so far...

2.4Ghz has a fairly decent reach...

What do you define as "adequate"?

 

[router_roulette]

5GHz is only going to go so far...

2.4Ghz has a fairly decent reach...

What do you define as "adequate"?

Staying reliably connected to the network. The 5ghz band has a much sharper cut off - moving 2-3 feet can mean the difference between 30+Mbps downlink and 0 Mbps (disconnected).

Unfortunately all the 2.4ghz routers I've tried have performed very slow on the download speed, I'm not sure what the deal is? I'm paying for 30mbps download and 5 Mbps upload speed through Comcast and I get only 5-10 Mbps download speed while standing right next to the router but I consistently get 29-30mbps download speed on the 5ghz band. This is with a single device connected to the network wirelessly.

 

[sfx2000]

Staying reliably connected to the network. The 5ghz band has a much sharper cut off - moving 2-3 feet can mean the difference between 30+Mbps downlink and 0 Mbps (disconnected).

Indeed... that's how it works...

 

[router_roulette]

Indeed... that's how it works...

How what works?

 

[htismaqe]

Isn't dry wall made of plaster? What is "AP"? Thanks.

The big issue is that plaster is most often applied to a wall made of wood lathe and often contains a metal mesh like chicken wire as well. So plaster walls are much much worse than standard drywall.

 

[htismaqe]

How what works?

That's how the 5Ghz band works. Higher frequency bands degrade at a much higher rate meaning they don't reach nearly as far, even without any obstructions.

 

[router_roulette]

That's how the 5Ghz band works. Higher frequency bands degrade at a much higher rate meaning they don't reach nearly as far, even without any obstructions.

No, that's just how signals tend to perform at higher frequencies. It doesn't explain why or how it works.

 

[htismaqe]

No, that's just how signals tend to perform at higher frequencies. It doesn't explain why or how it works.

You're splitting hairs at this point.

From a practical standpoint, attenuation in the 5Ghz band is expected when you have distance and line of sight issues. The difference between 20+ Mbps and zero, as you stated, can literally be just 2 or 3 feet.

You started in your original post that you "expected" the Netgear to have a better reach on the 5Ghz band. What exactly did you expect and maybe we can determine whether the results you're seeing are actual realistic, expected performance or indicative of an issue.

Based on your 2.4Ghz observations, I'm wondering if you don't have a problem somewhere else. Achieving WAN performance well in excess of 100Mbps, let alone 30Mbps, should be fairly easy.

 

[stevech]

Adding access points (APs) near the weak signal area is the cure.

5GHz falls to the laws of physics: attenuated more by distance x than is 2.4GHz. Also attenuated more by obstacles in the path: walls, floors, foliage, terrain.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basics/lanwan-basics/32056-how-to-improve-network-performance-part-1

 

[htismaqe]

Also attenuated more by obstacles in the path: walls, floors, foliage, terrain.

WINDOWS.

Yeah, we had a discussion about this here a while back. Low E glass in energy-saver windows can really affect 5Ghz range.

 

[stevech]

Most office building windows are metallic coated. Not RF friendly.

 

[sfx2000]

Most office building windows are metallic coated. Not RF friendly.

Reminds me of 3rd party window tint for cars - was particularly hard on PCS band (1900MHz) and wasn't very friendly to Cellular (850MHz)... some of the factory tint is just as bad, and one of the worst was Ford's defrost layer inside the front windshield of some of their US mid-size cards and mini-vans...

 

[stevech]

700MHz LTE... Verizon. That's it! More sub-GHz cellular!

 

[sfx2000]

700MHz LTE... Verizon. That's it! More sub-GHz cellular!

ATT has quite a bit of 700MHz as well - last I heard though, VZ did a spectrum swap with T-Mobile, so that's where T-Mo got a decent chunk...

 

[Klueless]

What is "AP"? Thanks.

In SteveCH's reply he gives you a link that shows a nice picture of an AP.

When a novice like me thinks of wireless I think of a wireless router. When a veteran thinks of stuff he sees the components; a router, a switch, an AP (Access Point ... the wireless thingie ... I told you I'm no techie : -)

Since you already have a wireless router they're saying take an AP and place it somewhere near the devices that get little to no signal and then run a hard wire Ethernet cable from a port on your wireless router to your AP.

In your case you might use that old N router you stashed away and reconfigure it to be a simple AP (i.e., dummy it down by shutting off the router function).​

If you don't want to pull a cable then you might want to check out one of those wireless range extenders. As above you would place it somewhere in between your wireless router and the devices that are getting weak to no signal. Placement is just a little trickier though; it's got to be close enough to your wireless router to catch a good signal yet close enough to your devices to send them a strong enough signal. (I think of it as kinda like a relay race; you run the baton as fast/far as you can and, just before you drop, you hand it off to the next guy.)

Me? I'd buy local from someplace with a generous return policy just in case the range extender doesn't cut it in your environment. And/or download WiFi Analyzer onto your Android. It turns your phone into a Wi-Fi meter of sorts so you can walk around and see where your signal is strong and where it gets weak.

Or ... buy a range extender with the "bridge mode" option. That would give you the option of turning it into a hard-wired access point should you need to.​

Good Luck!