House wired for Virgin - top floor socket - boost signal

[svc88]

Hi there, 

I moved into a new build house recently and got fibre optic broadband set up in the living room. The issue is that the signal and speed is 10 times weaker/slower on the 3rd floor (around 30mbps compared to 380mbs downstairs). It look like there's some sort of a Virgin socket on the top floor. See images here:

https://imgur.com/a/ay0ITin

https://imgur.com/a/D5e0r2M

Can someone tell me what kind of cable this is? And would it be possible to boost the signal by installing another router on the top floor as well using this cable?

Thank you!

[Sephiroth · Accepted solution]

To answer your question directly, the VM blanking plate covers their coaxial cable. If, for example, you put one of their TV boxes into the upstairs room, they would replace the blanking plate with a socket and terminate their cable onto it. So that isn't going to help.

Your options are as follow in no order of priority:

1/
Install Powerline adapters, minimum of two. One connected to your Hub downstairs; the other plugged into a wall socket on the 3rd floor. Most powerline adapters offer an Ethernet socket as well as radiating WiFi. Your speed depends on the electrical path of the signal. I suspect over that sort of distance, you won't get much more than 40 or 50 meg, which, to my mind is respectable.

2/
Install a WiFi mesh product. VM offer pods - you'd need at least two and they charge a rip-off rental per month for customers not entitled to free pods. The theory is the same for any WiFi mesh system. You'd install one mesh device on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd floors so that the relay is established. You'll never get 380 meg upstairs, imo; maybe 200 due to the relay - could be higher but I don't use this method because I don't need to! But I do understand WiFi very well.

If your new house is wired with Ethernet sockets (you didn't say), then you have a full speed opportunity with a bit of equipment arrangement.

Keep us posted.

[Tudor]

If your WiFi is ok downstairs there is another option that would give you excellent WiFi on the second and third floors. If there are Ethernet cable run upstairs you could use them or otherwise get an Ethernet cable run from the VM hub to a central location on ideally the top floor. This Ethernet cable can then be connected to a Wireless Access Point or a retail router running in bridge mode. Ethernet cables are fairly thin and easy to hide, I have run some from downstairs up to my loft and they are hidden behind the down pipes. 

[Sephiroth]

A very good suggestion from Tudor. It is better than meshing and Powerline adapters.