Virgin Media Community

[RougePenguin]

Hi All, 

Nothing has recently changed, up until a week ago, both channels were fine. 

recently, 2g only gets upto 60m and the 5G is still hitting 220m. 

we’ve not had anything change, nothing has been added to the network (or house) and factory resets make no difference. 

channels have been changed to clear ones. But still doesn’t change anything. Anyone have any experience in this? 

[Andruser]

The 2.4 GHz wireless signals are always much slower, that's down to the protocols they use to communicate, and the real world complication of interfering signals and radio frequency noise.  In practice I've never seen much more than 80 Mbps over 2.4 Ghz, and often less, and that's using a pretty competent mesh wifi system.

[RougePenguin]

So, should be happy with 80Mbps over 2.4? 

thanks for the quick reply. 

[gary_dexter]

Anything over 50Mbps on the 2.4Ghz band is acceptable in this day and age. 

[Andruser]

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@RougePenguin wrote:

So, should be happy with 80Mbps over 2.4? 

thanks for the quick reply. 

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Yes.  If the router is using a single network name (SSID), then devices will make their own choice as to what to connect to.  On some devices you can tell them to prefer the 5 GHz, or turn off their 2.4 GHz altogether.  Or you can usually "split the SSID" on the router and have different network names for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, and then devices only join the network you want.

If (like me) your house isn't in close proximity to many others, you can try increasing the channel width on the 2.4 GHz signal, this might increase speeds a bit, but don't do it if there's a lot of strong-ish competing 2.4 GHz signals, otherwise you'll have greater problems of signal interference as well as creating interference on other people's 2.4 GHz signals.

[RougePenguin]

Too many legacy devices unfortunately. Will try and hardwire a few things on power line adapters. 

Interference isn’t an too much of an issue from neighbours. So might give that a go. 

what’s your thoughts on adding a couple of extenders for devices on the extremes of signal(external ring cameras). Am I asking for more trouble? 

[gary_dexter]

I wouldn't bother with extenders or powerlines.

What router are you running?

[Andruser]

Well, a personal view - powerline adaptors and extenders can work, but are a kludge, and not a good substitute for a robust wifi setup.  If you've got a load of kit, maybe think about replacing the router with a mesh wifi system.  I use a TP-Link Deco M4 which has been fantastic, but there's plenty of choice of alternatives and you're looking at around £100-150. If you really wanted to go for broke there's some excellent Wifi 6 gear available, but you're looking at £250-400.  Avoid anything that doesn't have gigabit etherent ports, as what that means is the internet access will be constrained to 100 Mbps, even though the wifi is operating much faster, and I wouldn't have Google/Nest or Amazon/Eero systems myself, simoly because neither company are offering the hardware for straight commercial reasons.  And consider how much gear you need to connect by ethernet cable - some mesh systems have four LAN ports, most have one or two, although a fifteen quid etherent switch will sort that out if need be.

And the other thing is whether your router supports mesh already?  Some makers (primarily Asus) allow some of their routers to be linked to create a very impressive mesh solution (at a very impressive price).

[RougePenguin]

Currently using the TP link Archer VR900. 

Also have/had a couple of 300mbps extenders for the Ring Security Cams as they’re at the furthest points away from the router. 

Understand the ext wouldn’t be great, but didn’t want to drop a load of cash mesh if it didn’t need it. 

don’t have an option on the PW adapter as it’s a work station and only Ethernet connection 

[gary_dexter]

Have you set it up correctly?

That model of router is meant for ADSL connections, not cable.