What solution is best for wireless connection between many walls?

[Alox]

Hello all

I'm trying to upgrade my wireless speeds that I get in the upstairs area of my house. The router is located downstairs through many double brick walls.

I'm currently using a Netgear dual band N600 router, and I'm using 40Mhz bandwidth on the 2.4Ghz channel to reach upstairs with a decent speed (40~Mbps down, 30~ up at 50dB).

I can connect the the 5Ghz network however I get around 60-70dB and around 2Mbps down and up.

My speeds on 2.4Ghz are okay, however I'm paying for 100/40Mbps and getting less than half of that. The connection is also not very stable, when I'm playing a game my ping will constantly spike and sometimes disconnect for a few seconds.

Ethernet is not an option, and I assume nothing using a 5Ghz band will reach where I need it, unless new routers can really extend the rang on the 5Ghz band more then I'd expect. I just don't know if it's worth trying to upgrade the router considering I might not be able to get better speeds/reliability anyway?
I was thinking of buying an ASUS AC-68U.

I understand speed has increased dramatically for both 2.4 and 5Ghz bands, I guess I just need to know if range has been increased as well.

Any advice is very much appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

 

[gp-se]

If range is important then get the TP-Link Archer C3150. I had an Asus 1900P, but the range wasn't the best in my house (2400 square feet). I got the C3150 and it gives me a good signal everywhere now, I'm also on gigabit, and doing speed tests I get 800mb/s down when close to the router (10 feet away) and 400mb/s further away (second level about 35 feet away). I have the Router located in the center of my house. Using ethernet I get full speed (940mb/s).

 

[Alox]

If range is important then get the TP-Link Archer C3150. I had an Asus 1900P, but the range wasn't the best in my house (2400 square feet). I got the C3150 and it gives me a good signal everywhere now, I'm also on gigabit, and doing speed tests I get 800mb/s down when close to the router (10 feet away) and 400mb/s further away (second level about 35 feet away). I have the Router located in the center of my house. Using ethernet I get full speed (940mb/s).

Thanks for the suggestion, looking at the SNB reviews it seems the range was about the same between the ac1900 and c3150 over long distances, but I'm strongly considering giving it a try regardless.

I don't understand how I can currently get a strong, decent connection on 2.4Ghz band at like 55dB when a lot of SNB reviews seem to indicate routers they test drop off dramatically at about 45dB.
This makes me a little concerned that upgrading won't be of any benefit.

 

[sfx2000]

Each wall is going to hit the radio by about 5dB, if the walls are sheetrock, plaster and lath will easily double it.

5GHz - couple of walls, and one probably starts to run out of radio link budget - the losses here get too high...

2.4GHz will have about 2x the range at the same speeds... close in, obviously 5GHz can do better, but the cliff is steeper for 5GHz vs. 2.4GHz...

 

[Alox]

Thank you for your input!
Yeah, I thought 5Ghz might have been too much to ask...
I'm thinking about buying an Archer C3150 to use on the 2.4Ghz band with a 1900AC PCI-E adapter.

I just hope it'll actually bring me improved reliability compared to my N300 setup.
It's a fair amount (350AUD) to spend if it doesn't make a difference!

My currently router does not have external antennas though. I have a feeling a newer router will give me better attenuation results upstairs but I can't be sure.

 

[sfx2000]

It's a fair amount (350AUD) to spend if it doesn't make a difference!

Well - move things around a bit first - with WiFi, location is everything - find a balance...

$350AUD is not trivial....

 

[MichaelCG]

Instead of spending a bunch for a BHR, have you considered buying just an AP that costs quite a bit less? Also keep in mind, your AP is only half of the RF equation. Good chance many of your clients have less than optimal RF properties as well...and they have to be able to transmit back through all of those walls.

 

[Alox]

I use a pretty solid 450Mbps (2.4Ghz only) TP Link PCI adapter, a 2016 MacBook Pro and a Google Pixel, so none of those should be an issue.

I have considered using an AP, but all available options seem to have much shorter range than a BHR unfortunately.

I decided I'm going to give the TP Link C3150 a try, I'll surely get better performance considering I'm using a 2x2 N router with 3x3 devices. 4x4 may be overkill but it seems the C3150 has slightly better range even for older devices than say the ASUS AC68U.

There is a D-Link DIR885 AC3150 router currently on a flash sale at a local store for $200 AUD, but nobody has reviewed it properly get so I don't think it's worth the gamble.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I'll report back with how I go with the C3150

 

[aavvtomjerry]

It's two ways connection, even you have a powerful router but your device is not powerful enough reply back to the router, it's useless.

The limit of 5 Ghz is impossible to work if you between many wall. It's limitation of High frequency.

How you can do, the first one use LAN cable connect to the second router upstairs and use cheap 5 Ghz router. It the best solution that you are not interest in LAN cable.

The second choice, use powerline extender and connect the upstairs one with the second router.

Both solution will better than use single high power router that have the limitation of both the router power to use between multi wall and the problem of the low power device that cannot reply back to your router.

 

[Alox]

Thank you for your input

I wish I could run an ethernet cable upstairs, but it's not really possible.
I also tried using a high end AV2 Powerline kit which did not work as my house uses multiple lines.

 

[aavvtomjerry]

Thank you for your input

I wish I could run an ethernet cable upstairs, but it's not really possible.
I also tried using a high end AV2 Powerline kit which did not work as my house uses multiple lines.

I see. So my solution is impossible.

 

[Alox]

So unfortunately, the 3150 isn't really giving me a range improvement. At close range it's nearly twice as fast, but it's essentially the same where I need to it to reach.

Upon looking at the latest reviews & tests, it seems my best bet is actually the R7000. The tests indicate it can provide decent throughput up to 63db...

Going to buy one today and hope for the best!

I am surprised/disappointed that such a new high end router provided the same performance as an old n router at long distances... I guess all efforts have gone towards improving 5ghz signal in the past few years.

Anyone else have experience with long range 2.4GHz solutions?

 

[Mindthoughts]

Hello all

I'm trying to upgrade my wireless speeds that I get in the upstairs area of my house. The router is located downstairs through many double brick walls.

I'm currently using a Netgear dual band N600 router, and I'm using 40Mhz bandwidth on the 2.4Ghz channel to reach upstairs with a decent speed (40~Mbps down, 30~ up at 50dB).

I can connect the the 5Ghz network however I get around 60-70dB and around 2Mbps down and up.

My speeds on 2.4Ghz are okay, however I'm paying for 100/40Mbps and getting less than half of that. The connection is also not very stable, when I'm playing a game my ping will constantly spike and sometimes disconnect for a few seconds.

Ethernet is not an option, and I assume nothing using a 5Ghz band will reach where I need it, unless new routers can really extend the rang on the 5Ghz band more then I'd expect. I just don't know if it's worth trying to upgrade the router considering I might not be able to get better speeds/reliability anyway?
I was thinking of buying an ASUS AC-68U.

I understand speed has increased dramatically for both 2.4 and 5Ghz bands, I guess I just need to know if range has been increased as well.

Any advice is very much appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

Have you tried to use a Wireless Range Extender? In your case, I think you will need that to boost your signals. It can cover a large area.

 

[Alox]

Have you tried to use a Wireless Range Extender? In your case, I think you will need that to boost your signals. It can cover a large area.

Unfortunately, there are no power points between the router & upstairs. I tried using one and connecting it straight to my PC, but the speeds were worse than what I get using the wireless adapter

 

[Alox]

I'm tempted to give up on a router and pay someone to go into the crevasses of my 106 year old house to run a patch lead to upstairs

So many spiders and bugs help

 

[coxhaus]

You will have the best solution if you run wire. Dedicated wire is always better than wireless.

To get 5 Ghz wireless to work all over my old house I used 3 Cisco wireless APs all linked as one unit. I was having trouble with 5 Ghz wireless not penetrating walls and especially tile walls.

 

[Alox]

You will have the best solution if you run wire. Dedicated wire is always better than wireless.

To get 5 Ghz wireless to work all over my old house I used 3 Cisco wireless APs all linked as one unit. I was having trouble with 5 Ghz wireless not penetrating walls and especially tile walls.

I'm going to buy a router regardless I think. It'll take a while to get someone out to see if they can install it anyway.

How much did the cisco AP setup set you back? sounds expensive...

 

[coxhaus]

How much did the cisco AP setup set you back? sounds expensive...

I bought my Cisco APs off eBay used. I upgraded the firmware and set them up. They have been running for a couple years with a couple of firmware updates. You need wire to connect them together using a switch. One of my Cisco APs runs off a powerline adapter since I have not strung wire yet. I keep thinking about it but one of these days I will do it.

PS
My Cisco APs are the business class units not the pro units which need a controller. My Cisco APs are WAP321 units. I don't know if they still sale them, but any unit of this class will work.

 

[Alox]

Thanks a lot for the info interesting to know how other people setup their network.

Some good news.. I'm getting stupid fast speeds on 2.4Ghz with about a 55dB connection.. 95Mbps down, maxes out my upload at 36Mbps. I have no idea how this is possible, yesterday when i first set it up I was seeing around 35Mbps down/up. Overnight it's just decided to go crazy idek

This is using the Nighthawk R7000 by the way,using 20/40Mhz coexistence as I have no neighbor access points to worry about.