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best cost effective solution expanding wifi around the home

Liveammo
Tuning in

Hi,

We're using HUB 3.0 for WIFI around the home. Not long ago, we converted our garage into a kids living/studying/play space and we've been using wifi extender powerline adapters to pull internet connections. Its been ok, not the best speed but eventually running through 3 of these extender kits they always end up bricking. Not sure whats causing the issue but as a backup we end up using a sim MIFI hotspot device to keep things rolling (again measly performance).

The HUB 3.0 is fantastic and the coverage in the home is great! The garage distance or assuming abundant thick wall hurdles does pick up a signal but usually drops off or its super slow. 

Question:

I've been considering picking up a higher-range router to tie in with the HUB 3.0 in modem-mode but recently looking at various alternative options i'm seeing a lot of talk and positive feedback around mesh systems. Truth is, i'm in the dark here with all these networking solutions and trust you can help to determine the best solution for us. The garage area doesn't need anything blazing fast... mostly light browsing, streaming videos and light kids games (at the moment the kids only play roblox and minecraft).

I'm also open to a second broadband line or a more effective extender solution through VM if this can be achieved cost-effectively with our current internet plan (if thats even a thing). 

 

 

 

8 REPLIES 8

Tudor
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

If the Hun3 gives good WiFi around your home, but not the garage, it’s quite possible that another retail router with WiFi will not be any better. Really the best option is to run an Ethernet cable from your hub3 it the garage and then set up a wireless access point in the garage. Search Amazon and other sources for one. I will only recommend equipment it as personally used, but as I always use top of the range commercial type units I cannot recommend one for you. Others on the board can certainly recommend one.


Tudor
There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don't and F people out of 10 who do not understand hexadecimal c1a2a285948293859940d9a49385a2

loooong ethernet cable had been considered but its a tricky one. The modem/router is upstairs in our study room to the side of the house... the garage being all the way on the other side. We don't want any cables running visibly around the home (internally or externally) and hiding the cables through the attic/walls seems a little tricky or just one too many hurdles. Not completely ruling out the ethernet route but would like to see what other options are available

If you really can't run Ethernet cables look at a mesh system such as the TP Link Deco M4 or M5. 

The M4 is slightly lower budget if that's a concern.  You might well need a 3 unit system - one at the hub, another in the garage and one in the house close to the garage to act as the 'relay' 'pushing' the signal though to the garage.  These are around £100/£150 online or from Argos etc.

Ironically the mesh systems work best with Ethernet backhaul (a wired connection between them) but will likely work adequately for your needs.

I would steer clear of Ethernet over mains solutions - they often don't work well and are prone to various issues as you have apparently found.

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I know a bit about Wi-Fi, Telecoms, and TV as I used to do it for a living but I'm not perfect so don't beat me up... If you make things you make mistakes!

Good Morning @Liveammo, thanks for your post on our Community Forums, and welcome back!

Sorry to hear of the Wi-Fi issues in the newly refurbished garage.

Are you using Wi-Fi pods that have been provided by Virgin Media, or are them via a third party retailer?

If you've previously gone down the route of a third party, have you considered Wi-Fi pods with Virgin Media via our Wi-Fi Max service?

Kindest regards,

David_Bn

Thanks for the suggestion. Yep budget-oriented hence both the M4 and M5 seem to be well withing the budget range for me. I've been watching a couple of videos on youtube this afternoon... looks neat and easy to setup. Some user feedback suggests the performance is capped by half or some-sort. Are there any performance penalties i should be aware of? Other than the extended range required (garage) would all other devices which are already running really well and in close proximity to the HUB 3.0 achieve their default speeds?

Thanks for the suggestion. Is this similar to a mesh system or just a single device extender?

I had a quick look on VM and these are being charged £8 a month. Any fixed buy-out options? 

Regarding any cap - need to check that there’s no QoS set as that may limit bandwidth to particular devices or according to traffic types.  Should be possible to turn off In settings/app.

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I know a bit about Wi-Fi, Telecoms, and TV as I used to do it for a living but I'm not perfect so don't beat me up... If you make things you make mistakes!

As far as I know VM only rent the pods.  They’re usually free if you have the fastest packages but attract extra rental otherwise.  Balance that against buying your own - outright purchase vs ongoing rental.

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I know a bit about Wi-Fi, Telecoms, and TV as I used to do it for a living but I'm not perfect so don't beat me up... If you make things you make mistakes!