Need good coverage for 2 floor apartment

[PartisanEntity]

Hi there,

I currently have an Asus RT-N66U router attached to my cable modem.

I have a computer attached to the router through a LAN cable and get consistently around 250 Mbps. (Checked on speedtest.net app).

If I am standing right next to the router and I test the wifi signal on my phone, again using the speedtest.net app, I get around 187 Mbps

However, upstairs, where I have the Roku, Fire TV and PS4 Pro whatever is left of the wifi signal is only providing around 30 Mbps, and very often less than that, sometimes it drops down to 5 Mbps.

Are there any routers that are especially well suited to provide good coverage for my set up (2 floor apartment)?

I tried using an old WRT54GL router as a wireless AP, and placed it upstairs at a location that was receiving as much of the wifi signal as possible, but this did not really cause any significant change in the wifi signal upstairs.

I have considered pulling a LAN cable from the router to upstairs, but this is rather complicated at the moment as I do not have optimal cabling in the wall to utilize.

What options would I have?

 

[Grisu]

I have considered pulling a LAN cable from the router to upstairs, but this is rather complicated at the moment as I do not have optimal cabling in the wall to utilize.

What options would I have?

But thats your only and almost perfect option.
You could use PowerLAN to connect upstairs AP to the router, but I wouldnt and will be more expensive.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi there,

I currently have an Asus RT-N66U router attached to my cable modem.

I have a computer attached to the router through a LAN cable and get consistently around 250 Mbps. (Checked on speedtest.net app).

If I am standing right next to the router and I test the wifi signal on my phone, again using the speedtest.net app, I get around 187 Mbps

However, upstairs, where I have the Roku, Fire TV and PS4 Pro whatever is left of the wifi signal is only providing around 30 Mbps, and very often less than that, sometimes it drops down to 5 Mbps.

Are there any routers that are especially well suited to provide good coverage for my set up (2 floor apartment)?

I tried using an old WRT54GL router as a wireless AP, and placed it upstairs at a location that was receiving as much of the wifi signal as possible, but this did not really cause any significant change in the wifi signal upstairs.

I have considered pulling a LAN cable from the router to upstairs, but this is rather complicated at the moment as I do not have optimal cabling in the wall to utilize.

What options would I have?

You could of/should of updated to a dual-band 3+ antenna AC router a few years ago. It will give you AC WiFi link rates of 433 Mbps x the number of antennas in the wireless AC client... usually 433 or 866 Mbps, which will support your 250 Mbps ISP speed, subject to distance.

AX routers are arriving, so you can plan on those in a year or two or three.

So, an AC router purchase now could serve for 2-3 years of service, or more.

Some options are:
o A good router that serves WiFi to the second floor. An ASUS RT-AC86U might do it, but might not... you'd have to try it.

o Add a second router or AP as a wired AP for the second floor. Requires a wired backhaul to the router. (A wireless repeater/extender would share its WiFi between clients and backhaul, which might not suit your particular remote client traffic.)

o Get a mesh system that puts a wired or wireless node on the second floor. ASUS AiMesh with a wireless backhaul would likely work using two ASUS routers.

If you stay with ASUS, consider the RT-AC86U, or two in an AiMesh configuration.

OE

 

[L&LD]

The RT-AC86U and the RT-AC3100 are the only two routers I currently recommend to my customers.

The RT-AC86U gives the highest throughput when you're using a 1Gbps ISP up/down plan. But the RT-AC3100 still has more range in my experience (though not the highest throughput).

See my report of what an RT-AC3100 can do.

RT-AC3100 Report https://www.snbforums.com/threads/s...-go-with-the-rt-ac1900p-v3.34748/#post-281391

 

[PartisanEntity]

Great thanks for the suggestions and feedback.

@L&LD I read through your review of the RT-AC3100, you mentioned in the review that the router was placed in the basement. Was this a house or multi story apartment?

 

[Smokindog]

IF you're of the mind to try a "refurb open box" then you can pick up an RT-AC3100 on the cheap ($79.99). I'm currently running 2 of them and for months they've given me no issues. THAT SAID, I've been trying to pick up another for a backup with a lot of issues. The first one arrived with a sticker on it that read "BAD" and would fail any firmware update. The second arrived with no 2Ghz radio functioning. The third is due here today. Yes, it's been a pain but newegg does pay for return shipping and your choice of replace/refund if the product is defective. NOTE that if they have no more to ship and you choose REPLACE they will automatically change it to REFUND. I had to do that for this 3rd one which meant waiting for it to return to "in stock".

I'm guessing that this is a "different batch" and comprised of more early/older versions of the router than the first two I picked up at $89.99. I couldn't read the hardware rev on the last one as the refurb S/N covered it. Again, this is only a guess. I personally wouldn't be doing this with any other company. Newegg has treated me well over the years, YMMV! It all depends on how much "hassle" you may be willing to tolerate!

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320287R

Great thanks for the suggestions and feedback.

@L&LD I read through your review of the RT-AC3100, you mentioned in the review that the router was placed in the basement. Was this a house or multi story apartment?

 

[L&LD]

Great thanks for the suggestions and feedback.

@L&LD I read through your review of the RT-AC3100, you mentioned in the review that the router was placed in the basement. Was this a house or multi story apartment?

It was originally a single, three-story home, plus basement. It is now used as a rental with 3 or 4 units today.

 

[dlandiss]

I have considered pulling a LAN cable from the router to upstairs, but this is rather complicated at the moment as I do not have optimal cabling in the wall to utilize.

What options would I have?

One quick test you can do for free is to tip the router antennas so that they are at right angles to the location you are trying reach upstairs. For example, the the target is directly above the router, turn the antennas to horizontal.

 

[PartisanEntity]

This may be a silly question, but since the router has 3 antennas, do I turn them all horizontally?

 

[dlandiss]

This may be a silly question, but since the router has 3 antennas, do I turn them all horizontally?

Wi-Fi signals reflect around a lot indoors. Try them all horizontal first, then maybe all at 45 degrees, and finally at some combination of angles like \||/. Look for the best compromise between same-floor and upper-floor performance.

There is no guarantee that this will be enough. My house needs both the main router in my office and an access point in the living room. It depends on distance, what's inside the walls, how good the radios in your remote devices are, the list goes on forever.

 

[MarcusVR]

There is another alternative: you could use a Powerlink to connect your main router to the AP. Of course there is some loss, but I used this solution in my house and the result was perfectly acceptable to me, as I didn't consider the theorical speed, but just my needs. Now I'm able to stream UHD movies with high bitrate over my network - without lag! - to a place where I barely had signal.

 

[Grisu]

There is another alternative: you could use a Powerlink to connect your main router to the AP.

1. I think you mean PowerLAN or PowerLine (I offered him as first answer but has been ignored ...): https://www.snbforums.com/threads/need-good-coverage-for-2-floor-apartment.56595/#post-490427
2. PowerLink is a completely different real-time protocol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_Powerlink

 

[PartisanEntity]

I tried two different powerlan products, both showed the same degradation. By the time the signal came out of the adapter it was down to about 30 Mbps.

 

[pege63]

I tried two different powerlan products, both showed the same degradation. By the time the signal came out of the adapter it was down to about 30 Mbps.

If you have cable TV at home, then MoCA2.0 might be another option for you.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I tried two different powerlan products, both showed the same degradation. By the time the signal came out of the adapter it was down to about 30 Mbps.

One could blame the common house electrical circuit.

It is curious that you suffer the same degradation to 30 Mbps whether testing over WiFi or testing over two different powerline links.

OE