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Hub 4 poor signal - solutions needed for refugee family!

Hub4newbie
Tuning in

We have a Ukrainian refugee family coming to stay with us shortly, who need good wifi for their schooling and WFH.  My wife and I also WFH about 50% of the time.  So I got a new deal with Virgin which looked great - Hub 4 to replace my ageing super hub 2, and much faster speeds.  I set it up today and....the speed is great over an ethernet cable, or to download in the same room as the router, but the strength is MUCH poorer than with the old hub 2.  Most rooms in our large house (three floors; router is on middle floor) now have no signal.  I have a few days to sort this problem.  Looking through previous threads it looks as though the best bet is to buy a decent router and use the hub4 as a modem.  I'm not overly technically savvy, but not afraid to give things a go either, so .... any recommendations for a decent router in the £50 - £100 range gratefully received, plus any instructions from anyone who has already gone down this road successfully.    

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

I wpould start with a TP-Link Deco Mesh system.

A 3- pack M4 will be ~£100 whilst for larger properties a M5 might be better for ~£150

Three of my mates use the M5's and they love them 🙂

Look at the various specs. One advantage of a Mesh is that you could start with 2 units and then add a third and fourth etc, later. But on a 3 floor property I would start with one on each floor.

There is a "Sequence" for setting up any new system - so check back here - whatever you go for.


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John
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I do not work for VM. My services: HD TV on VIP (+ Sky Sports & Movies & BT sport), x3 V6 boxes (1 wired, 2 on WiFi) Hub5 in modem mode with Apple Airport Extreme Router +2 Airport Express's & TP-Link Archer C64 WAP. On Volt 350Mbps, Talk Anytime Phone, x2 Mobile SIM only iPhones.

See where this Helpful Answer was posted

6 REPLIES 6

jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

I wpould start with a TP-Link Deco Mesh system.

A 3- pack M4 will be ~£100 whilst for larger properties a M5 might be better for ~£150

Three of my mates use the M5's and they love them 🙂

Look at the various specs. One advantage of a Mesh is that you could start with 2 units and then add a third and fourth etc, later. But on a 3 floor property I would start with one on each floor.

There is a "Sequence" for setting up any new system - so check back here - whatever you go for.


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John
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I do not work for VM. My services: HD TV on VIP (+ Sky Sports & Movies & BT sport), x3 V6 boxes (1 wired, 2 on WiFi) Hub5 in modem mode with Apple Airport Extreme Router +2 Airport Express's & TP-Link Archer C64 WAP. On Volt 350Mbps, Talk Anytime Phone, x2 Mobile SIM only iPhones.

Thanks John - I'd already seen a lot of posts from you on this forum so I'm delighted to make your acquaintance!  I'll look into the specs and get back with a post when I've got a plan.  Is setting up a mesh system significantly harder than just getting a better router and using the hub4 as a modem?  Not that I'm nervous or anything....

jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

The M4 3-pack is less than £100 on Amazon at the moment 🙂

The M5 3-pack is £149. It is more powerful and more compact and bijou and more "appealing" to those with aesthetical eyes 🙂

Setting up is essentially the same as a wifi router - but the Deco needs some extra tweaks. I will post the procedure blow for info and perusal
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First switch on and plug the first Deco unit into the Hub on an ethernet cable. Follow the instructions in the pack for "Registering" the product with TP-Link. Once that is done go to the Deco settings and select the "WAN port" setting to be in Automatic IP i.e. DHCP (& Nat) mode, it may be pre-set that way anyway.

Then, disconnect all cables from the Mesh first unit)and switch it off and unplug it.

Then, put the VM Hub into modem mode

See... ( https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-media-hub-modem-mode )

... and wait for the base light to turn magenta/purple (on a Hub3 - but not on a Hub4!).

Once it’s in modem mode, the VM hub “MUST” then be powered off. Switch your first Deco on and make sure it’s fully initialised (leave 5 min) and then put in the ethernet cable from its WAN port into the VM hub (any Hub port will work).

NOW… power up the VM hub and wait 5 minutes for The Hub to initialise and and you should get a connection. Use the recommended Tp-Link App to connect any other Mesh units to the first one. They may take a bit of moving about and leaving a few minutes - trial and error - until they connect' Note all devices will need connecting to the new DECO SSID and password.

You can use the ethernet ports on the 3 units to connect devices on ethernet cable as well as wifi - usually most stable - for TV's/immobile PC's etc. If you want extra ports you just add a cheap Unmanaged switch with 5/8/20 additional ports to use

Finally, one last thing to check in the Deco settings is to look for the "QoS" and set to 1GB as it "might" have defaulted to 100Mbps as reported in this - message 2.

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Speed/Upgraded-from-100-to-200-with-no-difference/td-p/4931648


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John
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I do not work for VM. My services: HD TV on VIP (+ Sky Sports & Movies & BT sport), x3 V6 boxes (1 wired, 2 on WiFi) Hub5 in modem mode with Apple Airport Extreme Router +2 Airport Express's & TP-Link Archer C64 WAP. On Volt 350Mbps, Talk Anytime Phone, x2 Mobile SIM only iPhones.

Again, many thanks for your help.  I think we'll go the whole hog and get the more expensive set up.  One last question - what spec do you advise for the ethernet cables?  

jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person
No less than Cat5e - but TBH - I always use Cat6a - these have extra shielding in the sheathing to protect from "crosstalk" and "interference" The cable spec should say that. Anything "higher" (Cat7/8) isnt needed.

Some will say (correctly) that "solid core" cable is better than "twisted stranded" wiring - but the cables wiil be "stiffer" and less amenable to bending/turning - so - I prefer the ease of running more flexible cables.

Others will add comments

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John
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I do not work for VM. My services: HD TV on VIP (+ Sky Sports & Movies & BT sport), x3 V6 boxes (1 wired, 2 on WiFi) Hub5 in modem mode with Apple Airport Extreme Router +2 Airport Express's & TP-Link Archer C64 WAP. On Volt 350Mbps, Talk Anytime Phone, x2 Mobile SIM only iPhones.

Followed your instructions to the letter and everything worked first time with no problems at all.  The mesh network (I went for the Deco m5 in the end) is superfast and the strong signal now extends right to the end of our long garden.  Hopefully there'll be no stability problems with Virgin, but for now I am a Very Happy Bunny.  Many thanks again John!