ADSL Modem routers

[audi321]

Hi all, I currently have a Netgear router and the wifi is appauling. Even a single brick wall causes the drop off to be significant.

Theres literally hundreds to choose from on Amazon, and some seem to be as low as £25 whereas some go into the £300's.

I only get 12mbps at my house, so I'm not interested in speeds, features etc, I just want the strongest 2.4ghz signal I can buy.

Any recommendations?

[tapandunwrap]

Lots of options here, but as long as you see the advertised speeds through a cable connected to it, I'd suggest you keep the router, so long as it's not many years old, switch it to 'modem mode' and buy a mesh wifi system to connect it to and serve wifi through that.

Lots available from BT, Google and others. Buy as many access points as your house needs, preferably connect them together with cables for best signal quality.

cheaper option might be a pair of TP Link powerline extenders with wifi at one end like a TP Link.

Edited by tapandunwrap on Wednesday 23 December 15:29

[audi321]

Thanks. Yes I do see the full speed whilst hardwired to the current router so that could be an option. Although the house isn’t that big. It’s the thick walls that cause the problem.

[tapandunwrap]

Depending on whether you're able to run a cable between the router and the room(s) you want to serve better wifi, which is preferable for quality but never as convenient, a powerline extender with a wifi point on the end should do the trick for you.

Like this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5585575

Edited by tapandunwrap on Wednesday 23 December 15:30

[audi321]

Thanks again, but I just want a simple option. One decent router with a VERY strong 2.4ghz signal

[megaphone]

Get something with big external antennas. Routers/APs are limited to a max dBm to meet WiFi regs. The problem will be your client devices not being able to reach the router, better antennas improve this.

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/dsl-mod...

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/dsl-mod...

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 December 17:47

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 December 17:48

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 December 17:51

[mattley]

audi321 said:

One decent router with a VERY strong 2.4ghz signal

Rules and specs and stuff mean this is not a thing.

Powerline is as simple as you're going to get assuming you've got normal internal mains wiring.

[sparkyhx]

bite the bullet and go mesh. The BT disks are on offer at £75 for 3, just plug the first one in the router and the rest dotted around the house. Also with BT they don't rplace your router so no need to put the Modem/router into bridge (modem only) mode. Although you may want to switchj off the routers wifi to stop any chance of connecting to the old one.

[colin79666]

audi321 said:

Thanks again, but I just want a simple option. One decent router with a VERY strong 2.4ghz signal

Great, except unless you have an equally strong signal going back from your devices...

If you can’t get decent 2.4 GHz signal strength out of your existing kit due to the construction/distance then turning up the power or using a high gain antenna might help slightly but the real answer is additional access points/mesh. If you are willing to buy multiple WiFi client devices don’t skimp on spending a little more on decent foundations.

[audi321]

Just a quick update. I plugged in my mates spare cheap WiFi access point (wavlink) to my existing modem router and turned off the WiFi on that (is it called bridge mode?).

Now I’m getting a lovely fast signal all over the house. So turns out my Netgear WiFi is just particularly poor at WiFi (or the settings are wrongly configured) but either way I’ve sorted my problem for no cost, bonus.

Thanks all for your input.