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Wired boosters failed....am I being thick?

stevef444
Tuning in

Hi all. My title invites comments, but I can take 'em.

Existing setup. V3 hub downstairs, ethernet to smart TV. I am on a Maxit TV package with 352 internet speed. Opposite end of the house is a later extension where my study is. Thickish brick walls and has always been a wifi deadspot. VM provided Wired Boosters which gave me OK wifi, plus an ethernet connection in the study which I use for my CCTV. 

OK, so last weekend, the boosters stopped working, no lights, no signal, nothing passing through. Called customer service to be told that they are no longer supported/supplied, and I would need Pods at a cost of £5 per month. Told me these are just for the wifi and will not allow the ethernet for CCTV. After several contacts with tech today, complaint resolutions and CS, I am getting nowhere except that I have been offered an engineer visit to move my Hub up to my study. This will give me the ethernet connection for the CCTV but stuff my TV connection! 

My concern is that if the Hub is moved to the room that is currently in a deadspot, then surely this is likely to screw up the wifi for the rest of the house? 

Would I just be better off going to Mr Amazon and getting a third-party wifi/ethernet booster, or some sort of Mesh system and leaving the Hub where it is now, rather than wasting an engineers time?

 

Hope that makes sense....any suggestions welcomed

 

Steve

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

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jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person
Your last option is the one I did 20 years ago.

If they are charging you £99 to move the Hub - then that money would get a decent introductory Mesh system (Deco M4).

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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.

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jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person
Your last option is the one I did 20 years ago.

If they are charging you £99 to move the Hub - then that money would get a decent introductory Mesh system (Deco M4).

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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

They are not charging for the move, but I am just not sure if it would achieve anything anyway other than making more holes in my walls, and while it may cure one problem, it has potential to create more.

Or for simplicity, if you need ethernet, don't want to run an ethernet cable through the house and don't need to improve wifi, then just go to Mr Amazon and buy your own powerline mains ethernet extender for twenty or so quid (or if there's one near by, check Screwfix).  I'm normally roundly critical of powerline networking because it can be very inconsistent, but if you know it works for you then go for it.

I should point out I'm using the TP-Link Deco M4 myself, and it's a fab bit of kit, but there's no point spending that much unless it is solving the problem you actually want solving.

 

jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

Agreed 🙂

If your wired connections are all fine, forget the move and pods and go for the Mesh or router+ WAP options (or powerlines as Andrew says) but I think good ones ("Devolo" are pricey.)

There is one thing you could try on the Hub3 if you havent already....
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Try separating the SSID's of the 2.4 and 5 GHz wifi bands by renaming them in the settings and at the same time switch off "channel optimisation" apply and save the settings. All wifi devices will 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 Hub3 users get better wifi performance. If it does nothing you can revert it with a pinhole reset

But its still no substitute for getting better kit 🙂


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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 and Andrew

Between you, I think that keeping it as simple as possible is the way forward. Apart from the study (and adjacent room) the Wifi works fine in the rest of the house. A powerline system with a built in wifi extender will effectively replicate what I had with the boosters and maybe work better than they did. Loads of options on Amazon so I will investigate further. I will cancel the engineer visit.

Your collective wisdom is as ever much appreciated. (John, your last bit of advice has already been tried by the VM techs, there is some improvement around the house, but the study is still no-go.)

Steve

 

 

jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person
Great.

Let us know which ones you go for and how well they work for you 🙂

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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.

So just as an update....I phoned to cancel the appointment to get another agent who suggested keeping it scheduled, on the basis that the tech might be able to come up with a better solution, or if not he could issue pods without charge.  Needless to say, the tech had no better solutions, and they don't carry pods in the van anyway.

 

Bottom line is that I bought a TP-Link v1300 powerline kit with WiFi which was just shy of 100 quid on Amazon. Did the same thing as the original boosters but so much better, stronger wifi where I need it. A simpler solution for me.

 

Thanks again for all the suggestions.