UPC WiFi range

csheanon

I connected my horizon box this weekend and found that when I got to my bedroom on the 3rd floor where I'll be using WiFi most I get no signal.I'm renting with two others & splitting the bill three ways & I'm the only person who will not have access. I hoping UPC can provide me with something to remedy this free of charge of course? Anybody else have this problem?

5uspect

I don't know about the Horizon boxes but the regular UPC modem/routers are pretty ****e. When they upgraded me to 120Mbps it could barely sustain 50Mbps to 802.11n devices in close proximity never mind upstairs*.

Powerline adapters (commonly called Home plugs) are probably your best option. They were troublesome in my current place as they are sensitive to the wiring in your home. However I've used them in several places and they were excellent.

*I ended up bridging my UPC Cisco router to an Apple Time Capsule and I get great throughput. I've also switched to 802.11ac.

Sherlock H

The range on the horizon box if terrible! If you ring the up and tell them, they can remotely change some settings (usually the wifi channel). Try this out, and if it still is no use you can be firm with them and request a "Cisco router" from them, citing the with a normal router you previously had you were able to get signal, and their horizon box is sub-standard.

They will send you a PDF with information on wifi extenders you can buy, but ignore that, just keep requesting the cisco wifi router, it has much better wifi range.

5uspect

The Cisco router is still pretty poor, but at least it can be bridged.
Here is a handy Android app for determining wifi range etc. It should show if you have channel congestion and where the signal attenuates. Bear in mind that as you move from the router out, your phone will maintain a connection where a stationary device will not connect as the phone corrects for interference.

Sherlock H

5uspect wrote: »

The Cisco router is still pretty poor, but at least it can be bridged.

Unfortunately, UPC have stopped giving the option to home customers to put their routers in bridged mode. they only allow it for business customers. it does depend on the agent you get on the phone, but the option is no longer present on the router options webpage. All you can do is give it a try and see what they say.

5uspect

Sherlock H wrote: »

Unfortunately, UPC have stopped giving the option to home customers to put their routers in bridged mode. they only allow it for business customers. it does depend on the agent you get on the phone, but the option is no longer present on the router options webpage. All you can do is give it a try and see what they say.

Really? I did it to my Cisco EPC3925 a few months ago without issue.

Sherlock H

Yep, its a pain in the a*s. I had UPC business at home, then setup an office, so cancelled the business and got Horizon. I had been a UPC home customer before with the cisco router, in bridged, but then I went to horizon this time.

The horizon box "cannot" be bridge, I dont believe that, but thats what they say, and there is no option in the settings.

Then I complained about the WiFi signal, 4 or 5 times, and they eventually sent an Cisco, I just wanted the cisco so I could bridge, and use my ASUS router. Got the cisco, and the bridge mode option tick box was not visible on the settings page.

I rang them up, and they said that they dont support this option for home customers anymore only business. Even with business router, the option is not there, you have to ring them. Im not sure of the thinking behind doing this, dosnt make sense. Just count yourself lucky and dont give that modem back to them if they ask for it!

5uspect

Sherlock H wrote: »

Yep, its a pain in the a*s. I had UPC business at home, then setup an office, so cancelled the business and got Horizon. I had been a UPC home customer before with the cisco router, in bridged, but then I went to horizon this time.

The horizon box "cannot" be bridge, I dont believe that, but thats what they say, and there is no option in the settings.

Then I complained about the WiFi signal, 4 or 5 times, and they eventually sent an Cisco, I just wanted the cisco so I could bridge, and use my ASUS router. Got the cisco, and the bridge mode option tick box was not visible on the settings page.

I rang them up, and they said that they dont support this option for home customers anymore only business. Even with business router, the option is not there, you have to ring them. Im not sure of the thinking behind doing this, dosnt make sense. Just count yourself lucky and dont give that modem back to them if they ask for it!

Strange. Here is a screen grab of my setup and firmware info:

Sherlock H

Ye there you go, for some strange reason you are running firmware from 12/04/2013 and the router hasn't updated itself. I would need to go into the office and check my EPC3925 for the exact date, but its definitely running firmware with 2014 date and does not have that bridge mode option

5uspect

Which is even stranger because I assumed that the software update that added the Horizon Wifi service was the latest firmware update.
iirc the option wasn't there until recently and I assumed that UPC had relented.
I presume you've tried this?

TheChizler

I don't know any domestic wifi transceiver that can penetrate 3 ceilings, furniture, and potentially a few walls. I've tried various netgear and tp-link ones and have always had to have a second ap just to ensure full coverage on the second floor at home.

Is there any possibility of relocating the cable connection to an upper floor? It's that or putting a second ap upstairs.

Gatling

Strange enough i get about 60+ meters on a standard upc router

Gatling

Strange enough i get about 60+ meters on a standard upc router

Sherlock H

5uspect wrote: »

Which is even stranger because I assumed that the software update that added the Horizon Wifi service was the latest firmware update.
iirc the option wasn't there until recently and I assumed that UPC had relented.
I presume you've tried

Awesome, just tried that there, option is displayed on the settings page now, router is in bridge mode, and my ASUS, is kicking a*s with much better throughput than the Cisco. I had given up on getting this working at home. Thanks!

Sherlock H

TheChizler wrote: »

I don't know any domestic wifi transceiver that can penetrate 3 ceilings, furniture, and potentially a few walls. I've tried various netgear and tp-link ones and have always had to have a second ap just to ensure full coverage on the second floor at home.

Is there any possibility of relocating the cable connection to an upper floor? It's that or putting a second ap upstairs.

ASUS RT-N66U, unbelievable range on that bad boy! Plus the throughput from WAN to LAN is really good, allowing you to make the most of your broadband speed.

Technoprisoner

i had the same problem with the horizon...i solved it by having to buy this http://www.amazon.co.uk/RT-AC66U-AC1750-Diamond-Dual-Band-Gigabit/dp/B008O56HXC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1411300263&sr=8-4&keywords=asus+router

Sherlock H

Technoprisoner wrote: »

i had the same problem with the horizon...i solved it by having to buy this

The only problem there, is that horizon is still handling your internet traffic, routing and NAT and its slow at that, really bad throughput. However, if your not too bothered by performance and just want signal, ASUS router are the best!

Technoprisoner

Sherlock H wrote: »

The only problem there, is that horizon is still handling your internet traffic, routing and NAT and its slow at that, really bad throughput. However, if your not too bothered by performance and just want signal, ASUS router are the best!

with this router i now get a very strong single half way up the road where as with the horizon id be lucky to get a signal 15 foot away. now i get download speeds of 100mb in the furthest room from the horizon

5uspect

Sherlock H wrote: »

Awesome, just tried that there, option is displayed on the settings page now, router is in bridge mode, and my ASUS, is kicking a*s with much better throughput than the Cisco. I had given up on getting this working at home. Thanks!

Brilliant!

degsie

Technoprisoner wrote: »

now i get download speeds of 100mb in the furthest room from the horizon

100Mb/s via wireless! Proof?

coylemj

A lot of nonsense being quoted here about the Horizon box. I'm on the first floor with a laptop connected via Wi-Fi to the Horizon box which is downstairs.....



That good enough for you?

Technoprisoner

degsie wrote: »

100Mb/s via wireless! Proof?[/you want a screen shot of my download speed?

Technoprisoner

coylemj wrote: »

A lot of nonsense being quoted here about the Horizon box. I'm on the first floor with a laptop connected via Wi-Fi to the Horizon box which is downstairs.....



That good enough for you?

you must live in a new build with paper thin walls

coylemj

Technoprisoner wrote: »

you must live in a new build with paper thin walls

The signal is passing through floorboards. And your assumption is way off the mark.

degsie

Technoprisoner wrote: »

you want a screen shot of my download speed?

No, I'll have to come to your house :rolleyes::D

5uspect

degsie wrote: »

100Mb/s via wireless! Proof?

UPC 120Mb Cisco modem bridged with an Apple Airport Time Capsule 802.11ac.
Tested with a 802.11ac capable Mid 2014 15" rMBP running OS X 10.9.5.

Speedtest:


Transfer of a 100MB video file from the Mac to the Time Capsule with rsync:

$ rsync -a --progress --stats --human-readable ~/Desktop/test.MOV /Volumes/Data/
building file list ... 
1 file to consider
test.MOV
     100.72M 100%   17.25MB/s    0:00:05 (xfer#1, to-check=0/1)

Number of files: 1
Number of files transferred: 1
Total file size: 100.72M bytes
Total transferred file size: 100.72M bytes
Literal data: 100.72M bytes
Matched data: 0 bytes
File list size: 68
File list generation time: 0.001 seconds
File list transfer time: 0.000 seconds
Total bytes sent: 100.74M
Total bytes received: 42

sent 100.74M bytes  received 42 bytes  15.50M bytes/sec
total size is 100.72M  speedup is 1.00

degsie

Nice. But that's one expensive solution! Maybe one day...

5uspect

Ah I get similar performance with an 802.11ac ASUS usb dongle on a Windows box. The ASUS router above should perform the same if not better. You probably can get it all as a bundle.

James esq

Its a shame when they put an idiot in change of technical changes, my range is gone with horizon, also when I rang up to complain about remote not pairing I was told I had it six months and should have complained earlier then they hung up. Also when I told them I got the pairing number from the site, they said their are 16 other numbers for panasonic, I said thats a lot of numbers there was no answer to that. UPC is still better than Vodafone, soon they will be equal. Can't wait until the direct satelite link becomes viable.