Variable Wi Fi Strength - weak in the evening

[ahrbee]

I have a new Hub 3. All works well during the day but, in the evening, the internet speed is sometimes slow or stops altogether in our living room where my wife uses her Samsung Galaxy 3 mobile. We have a TP LINK network extender which was connected to the new hub via WPS and seems to be working well.

We want to have the same service in the evening as during the day but how? I am thinking about replacing the TP LINK with a Virgin Media pod so I downloaded the Virgin Media Connect app. I find its results questionable. It said my download speeds and wifi was great in the living room when we struggled to use the internet on either Samsung of iPhone. When I tried a scan in the bedroom, it said no internet connection when I clearly had an internet connection, able to view websites and update MAIL.

The issue of slow internet and weak wifi was not apparent recently with our old hub. It is now with our new, supposedly better and faster hub. The internet speed is still consistently excellent with my iMac, connected via cable. It is the wifi connection in the living room in the evening that falters.

So what can we do? The issue with the internet speed does not occur in the day so re-booting is not the answer, nor is turning off/on the mobile (which we have tried). Re-positioning the hub would not seem necessary (and not possible). We have a Volt package so can we just order a wifi pod and see if it works? What else?

[jbrennand]

As its just wifi, see this post of mine

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On a Hub3/4/5, you could first try separating the SSID's of the 2.4 and 5 GHz wifi bands by renaming them in the settings At the same time switch off "channel optimisation/Smart wifi” and “ apply and save the settings. All wifi devices will now need reconnecting to the best SSID at each location. Also use a wifi scanning App to find the best wifi channels to use (just select and use channels 1,6,11 on 2.4GHz) - this often helps Hub users get better wifi performance - so its worth trying - but its still no substitute for getting better kit 🙂

To address the wifi issues, VM now supply “wifi Pods” (no longer doing cheap and cheerless and poor value “boosters”). However, their Pods are only free to customers on the 1GB, Volt (or old Ultimate Oomph) packages - is that you? If so they are worth trying - they should work for you. VM Wifi is now “guaranteed” to 20 Mbps/room it’s now called… Wifi Max
See if anything in here helps….

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/wifi-max

You call 0800 064 3850 to order the first one after scanning for blackspots using the connect App.- or just wait here for a VM person to respond in a day or two and they will sort the first one for you. If you do call dont get fobbed off by the offshore CS agents' saying you aren’t eligible it will be £5 or £8 month - you are… and it wont be - just look on the webpage.

If not free to you… you will be charged £8/month (note - BT charge £10/mo for their whole home wifi solution). It’s a simple solution and should work for you. However, you would soon pay off that cost by buying your own wireless solution that will be yours to own and use forever, although the VM Pods should be a simpler option.

If you do want to invest in better equipment, you would need to get either a… (1) Mesh System, (2) Wireless router, (3) Wireless access point or (4), A combination of (2&3).

£40-100 (that’s ~4->12 months of Max Pod rental) should sort it for most customers with an average property and usage. Spend more for additional advanced“features” - if required.

[ahrbee]

Thank you for your reply. I am not sure I an expert enough to play with the settings  but I will ask for a wi-fi pod and give it a try.

This issue did not occur with my old hub which I was forced to abandon by VM in favour of Hub 3. The new hub works well with my iMac connected by cable but now, my TP LINK extender intermittently shows red meaning weak signal. The new hub is positioned exactly where the old one was and the old one operated well enough. I will try re-booting the hub and monitor the wifi signal for a while until I get a wi-fi pod.

[jbrennand]

IMHO wifi extenders are a poor solution - you want to improve the signal and not just extend a poor one.

Try the pods and see if they sort it for you - if not - bite the bullet and buy a decent Mesh system - they are easy to set up and "just work"...see the description on this one...

here is an example of a good introductory model

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Deco-S4-3-pack-Beamforming/dp/B0851D6MXY/