All interesting stuff and very much appreciated
but TBH I would not know how to determine the measurements/readings you are discussing.
Yes the Higher Mbps are at a hardwired to internet PC, the location/distance as the crow flys between the TV in question and the router is about 20 foot. The router is on FF and TV on GF, one solid wall and timber floor to deal with.
I am using the router supplied by VM HUB 3.0.
Thanks for the info.
You're non-techie so I'll cut to the chase. Sorry to say it, but for wireless, the Virgin Hub 3.0 sucks. It's not the worst of the
free-with-internet-service routers; but it's definitely at the back of the pack. Google will give you lots of hits if you search on VM hub wireless speed. There are tonnes of threads on the VM support forum. Here's just one link:
https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Speed/Virgin-Hub-3-WiFi-range/td-p/3562624
If we were to rank wireless router performance in to 1st- 2nd- and 3rd division performance, then the VM hub would be in div 2 with all the other free wireless routers, but it would be in the relegation zone at the bottom. The only thing stopping it slipping in to division 3 is that some people are still using old wireless b/g routers from 10+ years ago that should have been ditched.
What this means is that anything you buy or do that takes the VM router's existing Wi-Fi signal and tries to extend its range is going to be a bit of a lost cause. The VM router's Wi-Fi is a shaky foundation, so anything you build on top of it is going to struggle. Don't waste your money on Wi-Fi extenders.
Your solutions are going to based around bypassing the VM router's Wi-Fi service. There are a few different ways of doing this.
1) You can't just replace the the VM Hub with a 3rd party cable modem/Wi-Fi router. However, it is possible to disable the router and wireless features of the VM Hub and then connect a box that will do a better job of routing and Wi-Fi. This will increase range, increase speed, and do a better job of managing multiple device connections.
The latest '
wonder-product' wireless routers with all the bells and whistles can be anything up to and over £300, but don't panic. It's very unlikely you'll need anything that high-end. Something far more reasonable such as the
TP-Link Archer A5 at around £60 will do just fine and make a decent improvement for Wi-Fi all over the house, not just for the telly.
2) Products that use the house ring main to carry data. These are called Powerline Adapters.
In simple terms, they're an alternative to running a piece of Ethernet cable through the house. They use the house mains rings instead. They come in pairs. One plugs in to a wall socket near the router (VM Hub) and connects with an Ethernet cable. The second plugs in to a mains socket near the TV. If that second one has a wireless hotspot feature, then you get strong stable wireless in that room. If it doesn't, then you'd use another Ethernet cable to hook up the device in the room.
Early generation Powerline adapters were flaky and prone to cause interference for other radio devices. The tech has improved, and though some say that these still cause interference to some devices, there's not a huge amount of recent (within five years) complaints about them. However, if you're a Ham radio enthusiast or listen to AM radio a lot then you might want do some more research before taking the plunge.
Prices vary with specs and performance. Something reasonably fast with Wi-Fi that won't break the bank is the
TrendNet Powerline 500AV2 kit with Wi-Fi Extender. It's available for under £50.
The main caveat with Powerline adapters is that both devices really need to be connected to the same ring main for guaranteed performance. That's usually okay on say the first floor of a house. But as soon as you start
3) If you do have the option to run Ethernet cable, then at the end of that cable you'll get speeds as fast as if you're sitting on the computer next to the VM Hub. Plugging the end of that cable in to something like a Netgear EX3700 would give you a Wi-Fi hotspot with dual bands so it could work on the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz networks at the same time. The EX3700 is around £35-£40.
None of the above three solutions piggyback on the VM wireless, so they won't be hobbled by it.
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