I need to increase the internet speed to the back my house

[dknighd]

Hi,
I have 100 Mbps to my house via Verizon Fios. That suits me fine.


But I'd like to have at least 1/4 of that available to the back of the house.


My old apple wireless stuff works fine but only about 10 Mbps, unless I'm close to primary router, then I get 100. Which enough!



The preferred solution is a direct wire from one side of the house to the other. But that is difficult.


I've been using Ethernet over power line for a few years. But is seems to getting flakey.




What would you do? With Amazon prime days I'm tempted to just buy something and give it go! Which of the many models would you choose?



Summary - my house is difficult for wifi - lots of stuff between front and back of the house. Even though it less than 100 ft (more like 50 feet if a crow could fly though walls)

 

[RetiredHappy]

Get a Eero wi-fi router, a set of three, which you will place the other 2 as repeaters. It is the best there is.

 

[target2019]

An ethernet backbone is what I prefer. A friend just upgraded my basement-to-office backbone from CAT 5 to CAT 6. This is a run from the primary router (gigabit) in basement to a gigabit switch in my office.

 

[jimbee]

If you have unused coax cable connecting the two areas, you can consider ethernet over coax.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PDMP79D/?tag=thewire06-20&linkCode=xm2&ascsubtag=AwEAAAAAAAAAAfkd

 

[euro]

Get a mesh network. Something like this: TP-Link Deco Mesh WiFi System (Deco S4) – Up to 5,500 Sq.ft. Coverage, Replaces WiFi Router and Extender, Gigabit Ports, Works with Alexa, 3-pack
Visit the TP-Link Store
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 26,915 ratings | 1000+ answered questions
-13% $129.99 ($43.33 / Count)


You may only need a two pack (cheaper), depending on your particular circumstance. If running a cable is easy (sounds like it is NOT easy for you though) then I would agree that is the best shot. However, the mesh solutions are very good these days, so I won't hesitate to recommend it. I have used such a setup for many years now and my house used to have many dead zones.

 

[swakyaby]

Get a Eero wi-fi router, a set of three, which you will place the other 2 as repeaters. It is the best there is.

We use this setup too in our 2,950 sq ft home, and we’re entirely satisfied with it.

 

[OldShooter]

When I upgraded a year or two ago I went with a Linksys MR8300 router. There was a weak spot in the garage, so I added a WHW01P extender that easily solved the problem. Now in a new house, I have mounted the router centrally and high, so no more need for the extender. IMO any of the newer systems from people who specialize in high performance WiFi will probably solve your problem. I am not hampered by any Apple experience but would be biased against them simply because they are not specialists.

I have 250kbs fiber to the house and usually (speedtest.net) see the full speed with WiFi connected devices. I have run ethernet cable to my desk, to DW's desk and to our internet-connected Onkyo receiver, more for good luck than any demonstrated technical need. I also have the "WiFi Analyzer" Android app that shows me WiFi bands and signal strength, including the neighbors, as I walk around and survey the house.

 

[donheff]

I will second the mesh network. They work seemlessly. Each hop through a mesh node will cut your data rate in half but with FIOS speeds that won't be noticeable.

 

[mpeirce]

Mesh Wi-Fi has gotten very good, but if there are physical issues with your house that make Wi-Fi problematic, you could try upgrading your Power-line adapters. They have also been improved over the years and are both faster and more resilient to interference.

 

[albireo13]

We have a modest 2-story house, ~2800 q ft. When we moved in 4 yrs ago, I tried our Wifi router and we had dead spots in the basement and in the upstairs bedrooms. I tried several high-priced single routers that were bristling with antenna stalks. Very impressive looking but, minor improvements.
I looked into mesh networks and ended up buying Eero. We have the one base unit on 1st floor and a satellite unit upstairs. Now we have coverage everywhere. The worst is 44MBPS in basement. We love it. It has been running for almost 3 years now and I recall we only had to reboot it once. The setup was very easy as well.

 

[Gumby]

Get a mesh network. Something like this: TP-Link Deco Mesh WiFi System (Deco S4) – Up to 5,500 Sq.ft. Coverage, Replaces WiFi Router and Extender, Gigabit Ports, Works with Alexa, 3-pack
Visit the TP-Link Store
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 26,915 ratings | 1000+ answered questions
-13% $129.99 ($43.33 / Count)


You may only need a two pack (cheaper), depending on your particular circumstance. If running a cable is easy (sounds like it is NOT easy for you though) then I would agree that is the best shot. However, the mesh solutions are very good these days, so I won't hesitate to recommend it. I have used such a setup for many years now and my house used to have many dead zones.

I got one of these last year. It was easy to set up and works like a champ.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

In our 2500 sqft main house we have Xfinity and use one of their Xfi pods to ensure coverage. Works very well and is seamless with the primary router.

In our vacation/rental home, we use the Eero 3-pack to provide coverage to 4300 sqft over three floors including a pool area. Works great.

As you're on FiOS, the Eero is probably a great way to go.

 

[jim584672]

I did a 100 ft. Ethernet cable from the router.

 

[Time2]

Do you have a reduced signal strength back there?

When I was wo*king, we had a small business on a boat in a Marina. I used an old satellite dish and put a wifi card at the focus. Then later I switched to this yagi antenna. I used those until the Marina got there own wifi. If you want to try one, order from Amazon, that way if it doesn't solve your problem, you can send it back. Here's the yagi I used, https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/mfj-1800. There are plenty of others and also cheaper. I received plenty of signals from a condo building 100+ yards away. I used those until the Marina got there own wifi. If you want to try one, order from Amazon, that way if it doesn't solve your problem, you can send it back.
If you aren't using 2.4GHz, you might try switching it, in a somewhat limited experience, I lost my wifi signal in my sauna, the signal had two walls to go through, After some checking I found, my phone had been switched from 2.4GHz to 5GHz, when I switched it back to 2.4GHz, I got my wifi back in the sauna. So, I think 2.4GHz passes thru walls better.

 

[njhowie]

We had been using an old hodge-podge of wifi, powerline, and cabling. It was ok, and periodically we'd have an issue where rebooting a device would resolve. But, a few months ago, there was an issue, and after hours of trying to find the culprit, I cut the main breaker to the house, had everything power up and it finally resolved. At that point I said it was enough.

I purchased the TP-Link Deco X-55 (6500 sq ft). I removed everything we had been using before, and replaced with the Deco 3 node mesh. Instantly, everything seemed to be better, and I had more visibility into the network and devices.

After a few weeks, it became clear that when using the TVs over wifi, specifically one of the TVs, it impacted performance of the Deco mesh. So, I put back the powerline for the one TV, and everything has been really good since.

A few years ago, I purchased a mesh package from a no-name brand and it was absolutely terrible. At the time I said no thanks, will just keep what we had. This time, purchasing a decent (not cheapest, not most expensive) TP-Link product proved to be a better approach. Our wifi is much more reliable now, and we have significantly more coverage. Previously, we had almost no wifi signal outside the house. Now we have wifi coverage probably a good 75 feet radius around the outside of the house.

 

[mpeirce]

One last comment - if you're having issues and your equipment is more than a few years old, bite the bullet and buy new (WiFi 6 or 6E now, 7 next year).

WiFi has evolved and gotten much better - better range and more resilient against interference - as the protocol has matured.

Also, if you have a larger area to cover, get a mesh system. They work very well. Don't bother with "extenders" and "boosters".

 

[NoiseBoy]

My old apple wireless stuff works fine but only about 10 Mbps, unless I'm close to primary router, then I get 100. Which enough!

Summary - my house is difficult for wifi - lots of stuff between front and back of the house. Even though it less than 100 ft (more like 50 feet if a crow could fly though walls)

Which Apple WiFi product are you using? Apple quit selling routers in 2018 and, according to Wikipedia, their last model was designed in 2013. If you have an Airport Extreme (looks like a white brick) then you can add an Airport Express to your network to extend coverage fairly easily. It would be best if you can run an ethernet cable from the main router to the little Express, but I think you can do it wirelessly. Since Apple's WiFi products are getting pretty long in the tooth you may be best served by adopting one of the mesh options that's been recommended in this thread.

WiFi is "radio", so a couple of common guidelines apple:
1. Get the router with its antenna(s) up has high as possible. On top of a bookcase rather than on a lower shelf.
2. Clear line of site is best so no hiding the router in a closet.
3. A central location may be best, or locate it closest to your high demand space.

 

[dknighd]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, the Apple stuff is more than 10 years old.


I decided to try eero. A 3 pack of

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DPNSW6P?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
I might only use 2, we'll see.
I was tempted by the 6 or 6E model, but really do not need that speed capability (yet). Last years model should be fine, and was much cheaper.

Should be here tomorrow.

 

[dknighd]

This seems to have solved the problem

 

[Major Tom]

This seems to have solved the problem

Fantastic. This is such a helpful group!