Increasing the 5GHz WiFi range?

[Rob Q]

My router has 3x 5dBi RP-SMA antennas on it and I would like to extend the range on the 5GHz band. I would use the 2.4 band since it has a longer range but the neighbours router is set to have the channel on 'auto' and it keeps dropping my devices, so I took everything off and switched them all. The problem is that the signal is much lower and I would like to give it a nice boost.
I can't use a powerline network kit or a wired connection because it's on a part of the house that used to be a garage and now is the living room, so it has a cement wall.
Do I get a higher dBi antenna or just keep using the stock ASUS antennas and install a WiFi extender?

Model: RT-AC1900P
Devices that need a stronger signal: Roku Streaming Stick (dual band 2.4/5GHz only), laptop.

I found a 3x 9dBi RP-SMA antenna kit on Amazon, not sure if that would work.

EDIT: Not sure if a WiFi extender would work because there are no available electrical outlets that are in the middle of point A and point B.

 

[wouterv]

Experiences with hi-gain antenna's are seldom satisfactoy.
With an RT-AC1900P I suggest to look for an AiImesh solution, requiring a second router that support Aimesh.

 

[OzarkEdge]

My router has 3x 5dBi RP-SMA antennas on it and I would like to extend the range on the 5GHz band. I would use the 2.4 band since it has a longer range but the neighbours router is set to have the channel on 'auto' and it keeps dropping my devices, so I took everything off and switched them all. The problem is that the signal is much lower and I would like to give it a nice boost.
I can't use a powerline network kit or a wired connection because it's on a part of the house that used to be a garage and now is the living room, so it has a cement wall.
Do I get a higher dBi antenna or just keep using the stock ASUS antennas and install a WiFi extender?

Model: RT-AC1900P
Devices that need a stronger signal: Roku Streaming Stick (dual band 2.4/5GHz only), laptop.

I found a 3x 9dBi RP-SMA antenna kit on Amazon, not sure if that would work.

EDIT: Not sure if a WiFi extender would work because there are no available electrical outlets that are in the middle of point A and point B.

How many sq ft do you need to cover on one level and how far apart would the router and additional node be?

OE

 

[Rob Q]

Well... the 5GHz network range is really decent on the main floor but my other systems are running a wired connection so it doesn't really matter. Just I want the signal to go more to the north. As soon as you try to get to it from the living room, it drops down a bit.
So, where the router currently is, I need the signal to go another 549 ft2, just to get it past that wall.

 

[Rob Q]

Experiences with hi-gain antenna's are seldom satisfactoy.
With an RT-AC1900P I suggest to look for an AiImesh solution, requiring a second router that support Aimesh.

A second router, huh? That sounds expensive.
I thought about making a WiFi bridge from my old Netgear WNDR3700v1 router but since it's slower, it wouldn't work (like having a Pentium 4 and a Pentium 3. The slower guy has to keep up with the faster device). Also, location. I couldn't think of a place to put the second router.

 

[L&LD]

Can you move the main router another 10-20 feet or so 'north'?

The slower guy won't keep up with the faster one, the faster one will slow down for the slow one.

A second router doesn't have to be expensive. What clients with what online activities are needed 'north'?

It drops down a bit? How much is that? Enough to spend more on?

 

[OzarkEdge]

Well... the 5GHz network range is really decent on the main floor but my other systems are running a wired connection so it doesn't really matter. Just I want the signal to go more to the north. As soon as you try to get to it from the living room, it drops down a bit.
So, where the router currently is, I need the signal to go another 549 ft2, just to get it past that wall.

Area is not distance. I'll assume your house is 2000 sq ft on one level with a difficult wall at the living room. And that the router is 40 feet from the living room wall.

I would not mess with antennas.

You can try extenders.

You can buy an RT-AC66U B1, make it your AiMesh router, and add your AC1900 as a wireless AiMesh node, assuming it supports AiMesh.

I would buy an RT-AC86U and make it the router and try to move it closer to the living room. If needed, add the AC1900 as a wireless AiMesh node in the living room.

If you place an AiMesh node in the living, you can wire your media devices to it.

OE

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

In some (maybe most) localities 5GHz channels 149 and higher have more transmit power. It seemed to improve my coverage noticeably. But that's not gonna help receivablility at the router unless the client side also gets a boost.

 

[Sachb]

My router has 3x 5dBi RP-SMA antennas on it and I would like to extend the range on the 5GHz band. I would use the 2.4 band since it has a longer range but the neighbours router is set to have the channel on 'auto' and it keeps dropping my devices, so I took everything off and switched them all. The problem is that the signal is much lower and I would like to give it a nice boost.
I can't use a powerline network kit or a wired connection because it's on a part of the house that used to be a garage and now is the living room, so it has a cement wall.
Do I get a higher dBi antenna or just keep using the stock ASUS antennas and install a WiFi extender?

Model: RT-AC1900P
Devices that need a stronger signal: Roku Streaming Stick (dual band 2.4/5GHz only), laptop.

I found a 3x 9dBi RP-SMA antenna kit on Amazon, not sure if that would work.

EDIT: Not sure if a WiFi extender would work because there are no available electrical outlets that are in the middle of point A and point B.

I'll give you solutions:

1) You need to boost the signal with a third party firmware. Works but your Signal to Noise ratio will increase.

2) Get a hold on the D-link DAP 1860 or the TP-Link RE650 to use it to connect to the main router and then connect this to a 2nd router or AP.

My config:
Netgear X7800 X4S--->(Wifi)Dlink DAP 1860 ---> (Ethernet) D-link DIR-882

This gave me the best possible result and I achieve speeds around 520 mbps across 2 rooms using the 5 Ghz band.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

 

[wouterv]

A second router, huh? That sounds expensive.
I thought about making a WiFi bridge from my old Netgear WNDR3700v1 router but since it's slower, it wouldn't work (like having a Pentium 4 and a Pentium 3. The slower guy has to keep up with the faster device). Also, location. I couldn't think of a place to put the second router.

No pain, no gain
You need additional hardware anyway, and new antenna's are in my opinion waste of money.

 

[Rob Q]

Our house is a total of 1330 ft2 on the one floor.
I am running the Merlin firmware on my router and I'm on channel 161. I don't see anything about the power settings besides 'Tx power adjustment" which is set to "Performance".
The one laptop is connected at -63dB, the Roku stick is the worst. I'll have to get a readout when that is powered on. It's signal strength is low but it's not affecting the performance of playing back any HD content on Netflix or YouTube.
I went to 'System Log - Wireless Log' and it says for the 5GHz network, it says this..
Noise: -90 dBm
I don't know if that means anything...

 

[wouterv]

Our house is a total of 1330 ft2 on the one floor.
I am running the Merlin firmware on my router and I'm on channel 161. I don't see anything about the power settings besides 'Tx power adjustment" which is set to "Performance".
The one laptop is connected at -63dB, the Roku stick is the worst. I'll have to get a readout when that is powered on. It's signal strength is low but it's not affecting the performance of playing back any HD content on Netflix or YouTube.
I went to 'System Log - Wireless Log' and it says for the 5GHz network, it says this..
Noise: -90 dBm
I don't know if that means anything...

Now I doubt if channel 161 is a wise choice, it may not allow the router to go to 80 MHz.
I suggest to try channel 149 instead.
All the rest I stay with the suggestion to increase the WiFi coverage by one way or the other add an access-point or bring the current router to a more central location.
You cannot further increase the power.

 

[Sachb]

Our house is a total of 1330 ft2 on the one floor.
I am running the Merlin firmware on my router and I'm on channel 161. I don't see anything about the power settings besides 'Tx power adjustment" which is set to "Performance".
The one laptop is connected at -63dB, the Roku stick is the worst. I'll have to get a readout when that is powered on. It's signal strength is low but it's not affecting the performance of playing back any HD content on Netflix or YouTube.
I went to 'System Log - Wireless Log' and it says for the 5GHz network, it says this..
Noise: -90 dBm
I don't know if that means anything...

Right..You need the other firmware. I'll give you a hint: hg

 

[OzarkEdge]

Our house is a total of 1330 ft2 on the one floor.
I am running the Merlin firmware on my router and I'm on channel 161. I don't see anything about the power settings besides 'Tx power adjustment" which is set to "Performance".
The one laptop is connected at -63dB, the Roku stick is the worst. I'll have to get a readout when that is powered on. It's signal strength is low but it's not affecting the performance of playing back any HD content on Netflix or YouTube.
I went to 'System Log - Wireless Log' and it says for the 5GHz network, it says this..
Noise: -90 dBm
I don't know if that means anything...

You should try to make one wireless router work... it's easier and cheaper and most reliable.

I would put a longer cable on the AC1900 and move it high, in the clear, and to a more central location. Or upgrade to an AC86U for more range and to keep AiMesh an option.

-90 dBm noise means negligible WiFi interference... that's good.

I would try channel 149 or 153 as was suggested, with bandwidth set to 80 MHz.

OE

 

[Rob Q]

Ahh.. as promised, info for the connection of my Roku.
Rx/Tx: 130/130Mbps
RSSI: -58dBm
Model: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01DPI55VW/?tag=smallncom-20

 

[OzarkEdge]

Ahh.. as promised, info for the connection of my Roku.
Rx/Tx: 130/130Mbps
RSSI: -58dBm
Model: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01DPI55VW/?tag=smallncom-20

Roku connection is good. If you disable Universal Beamforming per band, it might improve to 150.

OE

 

[Rob Q]

I do see the Roku bouncing around alot for the Rx/Tx, along with all the other devices on the network. Would beamforming do that?
Also, channel 161 is giving me 80MHz for the bandwidth. All of the devices on my 5GHz network are running at 802.11ac, except for the Roku which is being maxed out on 802.11n.
I don't know if this is a sales gimmick but Roku claims that their new streaming stick has a better range since it's using '802.11ac MIMO dual-band wireless'.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I do see the Roku bouncing around alot for the Rx/Tx, along with all the other devices on the network. Would beamforming do that?
Also, channel 161 is giving me 80MHz for the bandwidth. All of the devices on my 5GHz network are running at 802.11ac, except for the Roku which is being maxed out on 802.11n.
I don't know if this is a sales gimmick but Roku claims that their new streaming stick has a better range since it's using '802.11ac MIMO dual-band wireless'.

Universal Beamforming can trouble some older adapters. I would not expect it to affect many clients.

My suggested WiFi settings:
- set 2.4 WLAN to n-only, 20 MHz, ch 1,6,11 or 1,5,9,13 (non-overlapping, least congested), WPA2-Personal AES*
- set 5.0 WLAN to n/ac-mixed, 80 MHz, ch 149,153,157,161,165 (non-radar, highest Tx power), WPA2-Personal AES*

Disable Airtime Fairness per band. And Universal Beamforming per band IF it improves a client connection.

The Roku is probably just fine.

Neighboring WiFi can interfere. Use a WiFi Analyzer to see what is around you.

OE

 

[Sachb]

You need hgg's firmware.There, I said it.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

 

[Rob Q]

You need hgg's firmware.There, I said it.

Okay, but I would like to read up on it. Where can I find the website and the download link? RMerlin's stuff is available in prebuilt images and is constantly updated where hgg's stuff hasn't been updated since 2017 and I can't find any info about it.