Wifi help.

[gixer1]

I use wifi in an outbuilding that is around 30-40 feet from the main router, I use a TP link system to boost the wifi from the router to the outbuilding where there is a plug in gizmo that acts as a remote router. Recently it’s been patchy and seems to be losing connection with the house TP link gizmo.

It passes through 3 internal plasterboard walls, 2 external breeze block walls and a floor (as it’s in use on the second floor of the outbuilding)

Can anyone recommend some way to improve this or something to replace the Tp link that is more reliable??

Thanks in advance,
Gixer

 

[Jelly]

A mesh wifi system has worked well for us: https://www.tp-link.com/uk/mesh-wifi/

However if it really needs to be reliable could you bury an ethernet cable to it?

 

[Kentish]

Probably not very helpful but I use a TP Link (Powerline) system as you describe (to provide ethernet to a summer house where I work) and have found that if I'm plugged into the ethernet it's no problem at all and never drops, but if I attach a wireless access point (I've tried using 2 old wireless/routers) and connect computers to that via wifi, it drops out intermittently.

In the end I switched to have the ethernet plugged into my Mac, using my mac's "internet sharing" to provide a wifi network for other devices, that worked fine and the devices connected to that never dropped.

Your situation might be different but what I took from my experience is that it's not the TP link per se, but that there's some kind of compatibility issue with the TP link network and those type of access point configurations. Maybe it's a very minor connectivity/latency issue which isn't evident on a computer but which is amplified by the access point behaviour.

I never bothered to resolve this but you could try borrowing a few other APs (maybe something like an apple airport might work better) to see if that improves things, and also fiddling with your network configuration, perhaps starting with giving your devices static IP addresses (i.e. settings > wifi > TCPIP > "manually" or "using DHCP with manual address" or similar).

 

[T.eddie]

As above mesh system is good, I use the following around the house and get Wi-Fi in the garden and garage
Deal: Mercusys AC1900 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System, Coverage up to 6,000 ft² (550 m²), Connect over 100 Devices, Full Gigabit Ports, Dual Band Wi-Fi, Easy App Control, Halo H50G(3-pack) https://amzn.eu/d/dP99HDg

 

[gixer1]

Excuse my ignorance folks…but other than using the wifi speed test is there a way to see if the signal is strong/weak in certain locations? And will my darling children streaming videos etc in the house connected to the main router effect my tp link and my net speed in the outbuilding?

Sitting in the outbuilding and using my phone to do a test I get the below results.

 

[The Grouse]

Excuse my ignorance folks…but other than using the wifi speed test is there a way to see if the signal is strong/weak in certain locations? And will my darling children streaming videos etc in the house connected to the main router effect my tp link and my net speed in the outbuilding?

Sitting in the outbuilding and using my phone to do a test I get the below results.

I see you're using iPhone, so You could try using the "Airport utility" app. Just need to turn on wifi scanner on your phone as well. It's not perfect but will give you the dBM readings.

 

[Rasputin]

If your speed is normally that slow anyone on the network will slow it down a lot. What’s the speed reading on average? Iv tried extenders and they never worked with my MacBook. Windows no such issues so might be a hardware issue.

 

[muddy42]

As above, mesh systems are good. I have TP link Deco. This has a feature to prioritise my laptop over streaming.

Direct modern cat 6 ethernet cable from your laptop to the first router on your network (avoid sockets if possible) will always provide a better internet connection than any wifi. You can get quite long cables now and they can be flat in profile to go under doors/windows etc. I have a 30m one that I used in several locations during lockdown - round the outside of a house/ along a gutter/ over the roof etc.

You could always try one out first before laying in a cable properly?

 

[Buchan]

Run a cat 6 cable in some alkathene as muddy42 says.

 

[Pelyma]

I've tried power line extenders, they worked sometimes, an Asus router which helped, but the house was too big for full coverage, in the end a Ubiquiti set up and had cables run to various points in the house and out to the barn. It wasn't cheap but the harmony it has brought is well worth it!

 

[willie_gunn]

I have a Linksys mesh system running at home, originally courtesy of Gigaclear who are our local (and excellent) broadband provider.

I recently added a couple more nodes onto the mesh, and have now realised I can pick up WiFi out in my game larder, which is a similar distance from our house as your outbuilding.

If I was reliant on having a network connection then I'd run an Ethernet cable out there, as has been suggested above. With the Linksys mesh nodes you can also connect them via Ethernet, so running a cable out to the larder and then connecing a child mesh node there would give me WiFi out to the garden and garage as well.

 

[Jh1986]

Mesh systems can get clogged pretty quickly as they have to effectively do double the work of a normal access point (upstream/downstream).

You're best off either burying a cat cable and running a separate access point in the outbuilding, or using a separate 'point to point' bridge to cover the gap.

 

[Freeforester]

Is the problem long-standing generally, or relatively recent? Ours has been, just wondering whether there’s been any interference owing to the solar flare recently (Aurora has been noticeable recently also)?

 

[gixer1]

Is the problem long-standing generally, or relatively recent? Ours has been, just wondering whether there’s been any interference owing to the solar flare recently (Aurora has been noticeable recently also)?

Recently! Like, the last week or two I guess…