Wifi Issue - Driving me nuts

leevis · 17 Sep 2021

Hi
I have Sky broadband and a very moody wifi signal. Hub is in the front room of the house and in the back its not too great. What i have done is bought an extender which goes in the back which seems to have solved this issue.

BUT

the wifi is now prefixed as _EXT so i have to choose which one to connect to, is this right?

SECONDLY

I have just built an extension and to make sure the wifi was good there i bought one of those double sockets with a extender or repeater in it. The problem i have is trying to set it up. It has WPS so i can press the WPS button on the hub in the front room but i am guessing that it needs to see this to extend which it cannot.

Really not too sure how to fix all of these

Could be that my wifi is just rubbish? Is there a troubleshooting guide on where to start and how to test this?

I have tried to connect the double socket to the extender (which also has WPS) but that didnt appear to work either

chalkywhite · 17 Sep 2021

Pls post a photo of your sky router. My bet is that it's the shoe box, rather than the slim unit?

leevis · 17 Sep 2021

Its the slim black one, the Sky Q ER115 i believe

MMarve · 17 Sep 2021

Your first mistake is in buying an extender. As you have discovered, they provide a different Wifi network to connect to which means you end up with your devices trying to decide which one to connect to as you move round the house and often hanging onto the weaker one for too long before moving to the stronger one.

I'm not sure I quite follow the second point, but if it is a product where you are using your house electrical circuit, I think these only work if the two plug sockets are on the same electrical circuit. As you say the second one is in an extension, it may be that they are not joined up so won't work.

What you need, which will solve both issues, is a mesh network. Take a look at something like the TP Link M4. I have it and it has revolutionised wifi in my house, garage and garden.

chalkywhite · 17 Sep 2021

That's the better one, dual channel. I combine mine with an Asus device for throwing better WiFi around the house

Keithmac · 18 Sep 2021

If you use a Powerline adapter with Wifi Extender, you can download an app to your phone so it automatically picks the strongest signal (using the two seperate SSDI channels).

You can also "clone" your SSID and password to the extender, Laptops can be programmed to use the strongest signals but your Phones will struggle.

From what you already have I'd try the app on your phone first, it will pick the -ext network when in range.

mattylad · 18 Sep 2021

If you have an android phone/tablet and install "wifi analyzer" you can walk around the house and view the strength of the signals.

It may be that you simply need to go into the router settings and change the channel, the default auto setting often keeps it on the middle channel that everyone else is also on
and changing can improve it a lot.

Worth a try.

Also, are you able to get an ethernet cable from the router to a central place in the extension?

leevis · 20 Sep 2021

I have managed to get the extender working in the dining room on both bands but still cannot get the plug/socket one working.

What I will try later will be to rename the SSID on the dining room one so that it matches the original one (minus the _EXT) - not too sure if this is possible on the app. In fact last time i tried the app it couldnt see the extender but will try again.

If i can change it i will try and WPS the socket one from the dining room one.

Lower · 20 Sep 2021

MMarve said:
What you need, which will solve both issues, is a mesh network. Take a look at something like the TP Link M4. I have it and it has revolutionised wifi in my house, garage and garden.

I agree.

I tried a number of different range extenders and powerline adaptors but couldn't find anything that worked reliably and seamlessly.

I then bought the BT mesh system with 3 discs. It has worked seamlessly ever since and i now have a excellent wifi strength and speed throughout the whole house and right out to the boundaries of the garden. I don't have to restart it periodically and it just works.

Stivino · 20 Sep 2021

I bought on of these from Amazon;
TP-Link RE300 AC1200 Mesh Wi-Fi Range Extender/Wi-Fi Booster
I paid £33 at the time but it is only £23 now. It was easy to set up and it works a treat.

JBR · 20 Sep 2021

Another one for TP-Link. Mine works perfectly.

withers · 5 Oct 2021

Hi in regards to the wifi SSID of the extender having a prefix does the extender have a management address or does logging onto your router give you access to manage the extender?

In regards to your WPS issue, you need to be within range of the SSID to connect using WPS, however, i would advise disabling WPS as it's a security vulnerability due to the nature of how WPS works attackers within physical range of the router can brute force the WPS pin which gives them your SSID PSK.

You could buy a mesh product, alternatively, if you want something much better you could look at Ubiquiti's access points and buy a few of them, ubiquiti kit goes well with consumer home networks and some of their newer kits supports Wifi 6.

link removed

Another piece of advice if coverage is your main concern, setup a wireless network that only uses 2.4GHZ and not 5GHZ, 2.4GHZ has wider coverage than 5GHZ.

Wifi Issue - Driving me nuts

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