In-Home Wi-Fi

[Rianne]

We currently have AT&T Uverse and Wi-Fi. I know, very ancient but they no longer offer Uverse and we're happy with it and the streaming add-ons. Our Wi-Fi is weird. Some days my calls drop or stutter in and out. Other days are just fine.

Our house was built in the 50s and the walls have drywall + chicken wire and are very thick. We have a Wi-Fi extender and it still happens. Is that the problem? Is it our iPhones? Or AT&T Wi-Fi struggling. I called AT&T which is like talking to a wall, so no help.

 

[Jerry1]

When you say your calls drop or stutter, I assume you mean your iPhone while using wifi.

Are you sure you have your phone set to use wifi for calling? If not, it my just be your cell signal. Conversely, can you use your phone without wifi and see if you have any issues?

 

[Rianne]

When you say your calls drop or stutter, I assume you mean your iPhone while using wifi.

Are you sure you have your phone set to use wifi for calling? If not, it my just be your cell signal. Conversely, can you use your phone without wifi and see if you have any issues?

Ah! I did not have my settings on Wi-Fi calling. We'll see how that works. Thanks!

 

[Qs Laptop]

Jerry1 has a good suggestion--confirm your phone is on wifi calling when you get the stuttering and also try making calls by using the cell phone's data plan to see if the stuttering occurs when your phone is not making calls on wifi.

Chicken mesh inside plaster walls can affect wifi signals.

When your calls stutter in-and-out is it typically in the same room of the house? Or does it happen anywhere in the house?

How big is the area inside your house in square feet?

Where is the router located? Is it near the center of the house? At one of the ends of the house?

Where is the wifi extender located?

Have you tried downloading a wifi signal strength app for you iPhone and test the quality of your wifi signal in each room of your house?

 

[Qs Laptop]

Ah! I did not have my settings on Wi-Fi calling. We'll see how that works. Thanks!

OK, good to know.

 

[Rianne]

Jerry1 has a good suggestion--confirm your phone is on wifi calling when you get the stuttering and also try making calls by using the cell phone's data plan to see if the stuttering occurs when your phone is not making calls on wifi.

Chicken mesh inside plaster walls can affect wifi signals.

When your calls stutter in-and-out is it typically in the same room of the house? Or does it happen anywhere in the house?

How big is the area inside your house in square feet?

Where is the router located? Is it near the center of the house? At one of the ends of the house?

Where is the wifi extender located?

Have you tried downloading a wifi signal strength app for you iPhone and test the quality of your wifi signal in each room of your house?

Square feet = 2500 but it is a ranch, all one floor.

The router is at one far end where the smart TV is and the extender is at the other end through those thick walls.

If I go in the sunroom, the calls seem to work, but they stutter and disconnect in the room with the main router.

I will try that app. Thanks!

 

[Qs Laptop]

Square feet = 2500 but it is a ranch, all one floor.



The router is at one far end where the smart TV is and the extender is at the other end through those thick walls.



If I go in the sunroom, the calls seem to work, but they stutter and disconnect in the room with the main router.



I will try that app. Thanks!

That is odd that it stutters in the router room.

If you could place the router in a more central location in the house it would be very helpful. I suppose it's in the room with the TV because that is where the internet connection enters the house, so maybe it's a hassle to move the router.

If you use the WiFi signal strength app it should give you some insight as to the weak coverage points.

You might try moving the router to different spots within the TV room. That might be enough to alter the weak and strong WiFi spots to more favourable coverage.

 

[MichaelB]

Our house in South Fl is a giant faraday cage, and we’ve suffered similar wifi and cell phone connection issues, even when sitting next to the wifi router. Our cell phone wifi calling is always enabled.

I added extenders and tried a cell phone signal booster, with no improvement. What has worked is a mesh wifi system. It sharply reduced the places where there is weak or no signal. The other thing that has helped cell phone connectivity is to remain stationary when using the cell phone. Just a little movement seems to cause audio dropouts.

 

[Rianne]

Good advice here, thank you. Like your icon MichealB!

 

[ERD50]

... The router is at one far end where the smart TV is and the extender is at the other end through those thick walls. ...

Hard to tell from that description, but you want the extender in-between the source and the weak spot. It kind of sounds like the extender is as far from the source as you can get?

I think you want it either just on the other side of the wall from the source, or maybe on the side near the source (thinking the boost of the extender will get through the wall to your devices). You just need to experiment.

If none of that helps, there are quite a few reports of these 'mesh networks' working well. I'm not familiar with them, as I've never needed them, but they get positive reports.


-ERD50