Internet connection

[Bod ...]

Mesh seems rather expensive

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I'm with Virgin. It's never been thst good.

Tried connecting a small smart TV in my girls room with the Internet.

It keeps dropping out
​

Is that via wifi?

Wifi depends upon having a good RF path between router and device. Walls, distance and other nearby (neighbours) devices will make it worse. Wired works much better. Virgin will only be able to help with your routers connection to Virgin, not your internal wifi.

 

[securespark]

I used to be with Plusnet, but BT wouldn't let them have FTTP till recently, so I swapped to BT.

Decent speed, reliable service and I have the BT mesh discs which offer good coverage.

 

[Diver Fred]

Using boosters is in the end self defeating! You increase your Wi-Fi power and make your neighbours worse, so they increase their Wi-Fi power and affects their neighbours (i.e. You) WiFi.
My example - Our new neighbours moved in and have moved the location of their Wi-Fi router, and installed a booster, our Wi-Fi is now unusable in the lounge except in one small area, unusable in the kitchen but does work OK in the downstairs bathroom! Presently the're on BT so I can use their 'public' side of their router but it's not a stable connection. I'd they change suppliers then I guess that feature will go.
Cable (CAT 5 / 6) every time. I've cabled up our TV and had to put sockets in the lounge & kitchen as a precaution.

I can 'see' over 22 Wi-Fi routers of which at least 5 are useable in the right place in my house.

 

[Stivino]

Mesh seems rather expensive

£21

 

[securespark]

My speed is
View attachment 312295

Is that the same as range. What I mean by that is.
My Ring Door bell is checking with my phone beside it is about 40Mbps

 

[Wayners]

Yeah. Get a WiFi mesh system

 

[Rodders53]

£21

That is not a mesh system, just a wifi repeater.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tenda-Nova-Coverage-Ethernet-Configured/dp/B07CTKHRG8/ is a cheap mesh network £50 for 3 units.

(I use something similar from the same maker... connect one via cable to the modem-router and then disable the router wifi... others can provide a wired connection that is 'backhauled' over a hidden wifi channel.)

More expensive units will have more modern standards and possibly provide a better user experience.

@Bod ... speak with Virgin again ask about improving your wifi coverage and the mesh wifi they offer and can they do you a deal ??? They call it 'intelligent wifi' https://www.virginmedia.com/broadband/intelligent-wifi

NB your phone needs to be on 2.4GHz wifi band, not 5GHz, if attempting to see what your doorbell speed is likely to be getting (and outside with door shut).

 

[Stivino]

No it isn't a "system". But it is Mesh and will form part of a Mesh wifi system.

 

[opps]

I'm with Virgin. It's never been thst good.

Tried connecting a small smart TV in my girls room with the Internet.

It keeps dropping out
​

My Ring Door bell worked sometimes but not all the time. I think it also struggled with connecting.

Spoke with Virgin and they say nothing is wrong and it's upto speed.

I'm not sure they ate telling me the truth.

​

If you doubt VM, log in to the MODEM/router and look through the logs. They will tell you what your up time is and other data that you can post in the VM forum (which really is quite helpful).

I suspect that you problem is down to the WiFi.

Over the years, I have used the plug in devices that send the signals over the power rings. They work well but often require rebooting.

I have never been a fan of the wireless repeaters. Wifi speeds drop as the signal becomes weaker. A repeater will simply take that lower speed and distribute it further.

When practical, I prefer to use ethernet cable and connect it to a second router. You get maximum throughput that way. It is also pretty reliable (i.e. seldom requires rebooting).

The only real downside is that you have to hide the ethernet cable.

Another option worth exploring is the wifi channel number being used by your Virgin hub. If all of your neighbours are on the same channel, it will impact each each of you. In the UK we use channels 1-13 on the 2.4Ghz frequency range, the US uses 1-10, if you own any Apple products, stick with 1-13.

If you have access to a laptop, download inSSIDer, it will let you see which wifi channels are in use.

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Need to re-download previously purchased software? This is the spot.

www.metageek.com

Walk around the house with the laptop to find out how much the signal drops.

I believe that there may be an Android version, but I have never used it.

 

[securespark]

Over the years, I've used all sorts of stuff from power line stuff to repurposing routers.

But the best kit is my current set-up.
I have 4 of these around the house. The problem with my old set up was that there was no continuity from one area to another, but these are seamless.

 

[mattylad]

Bod, I take it these are wifi connections your using?

Where is the router situated? Is it next to a big metal object like the freezer etc?
Can you try moving it?