will full fibre improve coverage

Joined
12 Jul 2004
Messages
21,736
Reaction score
2,324
Location
Surrey
Country
United Kingdom
have talk talk 35 Huawei hg633 router about 8-10 years old 'fibre to cabinet in the road 80ft away
doesnt give a good signal from the router too about 50 ft away direct line off sight through only 4 panes off glass and then 12 ft sideways behind a brick wall
or further to 80ft away again line off sight and through a thick wooden insulated door

would full fibre give any improvement, or am i limited to extenders that i am hoping to avoid the perhaps few watts off consumption ??
is there any other solutions possible ??
i don't mind outlay at all say £50 to avoid ongoing costs

sorry iff its the normal gibberish i produce as in my head its very clear :giggle:
 
I think what you are trying to ask is should the WiFi from the router I have give greater coverage or how can I improve it?

The digital Broadband 'signal' difference between FTTC (& copper to your house) and FTTP is the transmission speed - FTTC typically <100Mbs, FTTP typically >150Mbs. The Router converts the signal from the system network to a form that the Local network and your computers, etc understands. The router can supply that signal by LAN cable (4 wires) or WiFi (2 bands, 2.3 & 5.2GHz) both have a router to device and device to router signal. The 2.3GHz signal has greater range with less signal pairs and only 3 truly separate signal channels; the 5.2GHz signal has more separate signal channels but a lesser range.

If you wish to use WiFi signal further away from the router you either need a range extender (Mesh Network) or better still a LAN cable.

It could be worthwhile going to the WiFi page of your computer and 'seeing' just how many WiFi signals are active in your house and grounds. The more routers your device can 'see' the more interference and hence reduced performance your system will have.
 
Last edited:
thanks
only me one laptop in the sitting room zero else connected to the internet apart from my mobile no tvs no boxes no doorbells or gismos
i am a simple soul i just wondered iff say a strength gain by full fibre off 20%better signal would stretch to the corners outside where i may find useful as i dont do streaming or downloading [that i know off lol]
all i do is forums like this say banking and asda no watching anything appart from i player but thats in the house as off now but wondering iff new fibre would extend with a stronger overall signal
as it is i have a Chromecast that works fine in direct line off site [60 ft away]but having to use 3m hdmi cable between Chromecast along the wall to the tv as the signal wont reach

sorry iff its gibberish :giggle:
 
Last edited:
Buy a long Ethernet cable and link the tv to try a better connection in the house before you change your supplier

And yes use a free tool on your laptop to see if you have neighbours on the same channels as you
 
A - any UK Router WiFi signal strength is no more than 250mW on any band. New ones are likely to be lower than old ones.
 
thanks everyone will try another channel iff i can work it out
 
Your router is ancient if you move to full fibre isp will give you a brand-new router. It should have a much better performance.
 
There's something in what @foxhole says about the age of your wireless router.

Quite a while ago, BT were making a big play about their Wi-Fi coverage being the fastest. This was with their new BT Hub router at the time, and it's still relevant today. It was fast. They were running 5 GHz wireless ac / n at the time. However, the range was pants. What their adverts failed to mention was they'd switched off the ability to drop to 2.4 Ghz wireless n where better range was needed. Their wireless routers could do dual channel, but by default they were shipping with it switched off.

You mention glass. Although you and I can see through it, to Wi-Fi it looks the same as a solid wall.

Your ISP might give you a router that is more advanced than the one you have now. Router tech does trickle down, so there's every chance you could receive a dual band router which can run 2.4 and 5 Ghz at the same time. If your present router can run dual bands but it isn't set up then that's something you should look at.

The last time I changed my broadband package it was to go from 35 Meg fibre to the pole to 80 Meg fibre to the property. It made zero difference to the speed of any Wi-Fi in the house.

Like many people, I have a Wi-Fi dead spot near the TV. It's a combination of the range, the proximity of a wall, and the fact that the Fire TV stick is buried behind the metal box that is the home cinema surround amp and it makes a fantastic Wi-Fi barrier. :LOL: I was using a pretty good wireless router that I'd bought to improve over the ISP 'free' router. It was a Netgear Nighthawk, but even that couldn't fix the range issues around the TV area.

The new router from the ISP was the same. Not too surprising, the Netgear was good, so it would have been a surprise if an ISP router could better it. I knew a wireless repeater wasn't going to improve things enough. Anything using just wireless to extend the range also drops the Wi-Fi speed by half.

What I did to fix the connectivity was to run an Ethernet cable from the router to the back of the TV. This wasn't a short lead. It goes from the router at the back of the house, up into the loft, then to the front of the house and into the living room via the same hole as the aerial and Sky cables. This was outdoor-rated Cat5e which does gigabit speeds, so it is way faster than my current broadband service. That cable is quite thin too. It's about the diameter of a decent phone-charger lead.

From the end of this cable I run an 8-port gigabit speed network switch. The Fire TV stick has an on-the-go cable attached for a hardwired network connection. The TV, the AV receiver, a 4K Blu-ray player, and the Sky box all connect, too. If I wanted to improve Wi-Fi in this part of the house, I could add a wireless access point. This would take the gigabit network speed and then make it available as a dual-band Wi-Fi signal up to the maximum speeds the device allowed.

I know the idea of running cable gives some people nightmares. It is the right answer though rather than praying for a Wi-Fi miracle.
 
Your router is ancient if you move to full fibre isp will give you a brand-new router. It should have a much better performance.

My own wifi was much better, after I moved to full fibre, but nowt to do with the move to full fibre, rather it was a new router, and newer ones are better than the older ones for speed and coverage.

For best coverage, it is usually better to have the router in the middle of the area where coverage is needed, and usually high is better than low down. My new router is in the loft, and I get full speed, in my semi, even on the ground floor.

What I used to have, and need, was the old router in the loft, then second router on the ground floor, to improve coverage there. I have since been able to do away with that second router, and replace it with a dumb switch, to serve the various wired LAN items.
 
I only use Wi-Fi , get good coverage all over house and out to annex ( 40m away) with isp router and a mesh set up .
Paying for 150mbps but achieve a bit more , just under £13 a month after discounts .
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2092.jpeg
    IMG_2092.jpeg
    68 KB · Views: 10
There's something in what @foxhole says about the age of your wireless router.

Quite a while ago, BT were making a big play about their Wi-Fi coverage being the fastest. This was with their new BT Hub router at the time, and it's still relevant today. It was fast. They were running 5 GHz wireless ac / n at the time. However, the range was pants. What their adverts failed to mention was they'd switched off the ability to drop to 2.4 Ghz wireless n where better range was needed. Their wireless routers could do dual channel, but by default they were shipping with it switched off.

You mention glass. Although you and I can see through it, to Wi-Fi it looks the same as a solid wall.

Your ISP might give you a router that is more advanced than the one you have now. Router tech does trickle down, so there's every chance you could receive a dual band router which can run 2.4 and 5 Ghz at the same time. If your present router can run dual bands but it isn't set up then that's something you should look at.

The last time I changed my broadband package it was to go from 35 Meg fibre to the pole to 80 Meg fibre to the property. It made zero difference to the speed of any Wi-Fi in the house.

Like many people, I have a Wi-Fi dead spot near the TV. It's a combination of the range, the proximity of a wall, and the fact that the Fire TV stick is buried behind the metal box that is the home cinema surround amp and it makes a fantastic Wi-Fi barrier. :LOL: I was using a pretty good wireless router that I'd bought to improve over the ISP 'free' router. It was a Netgear Nighthawk, but even that couldn't fix the range issues around the TV area.

The new router from the ISP was the same. Not too surprising, the Netgear was good, so it would have been a surprise if an ISP router could better it. I knew a wireless repeater wasn't going to improve things enough. Anything using just wireless to extend the range also drops the Wi-Fi speed by half.

What I did to fix the connectivity was to run an Ethernet cable from the router to the back of the TV. This wasn't a short lead. It goes from the router at the back of the house, up into the loft, then to the front of the house and into the living room via the same hole as the aerial and Sky cables. This was outdoor-rated Cat5e which does gigabit speeds, so it is way faster than my current broadband service. That cable is quite thin too. It's about the diameter of a decent phone-charger lead.

From the end of this cable I run an 8-port gigabit speed network switch. The Fire TV stick has an on-the-go cable attached for a hardwired network connection. The TV, the AV receiver, a 4K Blu-ray player, and the Sky box all connect, too. If I wanted to improve Wi-Fi in this part of the house, I could add a wireless access point. This would take the gigabit network speed and then make it available as a dual-band Wi-Fi signal up to the maximum speeds the device allowed.

I know the idea of running cable gives some people nightmares. It is the right answer though rather than praying for a Wi-Fi miracle.
thanks lucid great advice as always
will try the band thing iff i can work it out :giggle:
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Back
Top