Extending Wifi Range of Huawei E5377

tylercheribini

Hi

I wish to extend wifi range of the Huawei e5377 router and from my preliminary research ive identified the TP-Link TL-MR3420. Firstly as the huawei is a mobile hotspot it will require a USB cable to plug into the tp link, will this still be compatible as it wont be plugged in directly into the usb port like other broadbands adapters. I have a fire stick connected to telly which gets the most use in home network and it seems to work fine as is but no wifi signal at other end of house. The existing router is in an upstairs bedroom, directly above where fire stick is and other laptop/tablet users are most of time.wifi performance seems to be fine as it is.If I shelled out extra for a dual band router would i really notice much difference in general download speed and all round net performance etc of home network?The tp link is not dual band, only emitting in 2.4ghz range.I average around 12-14mbps 4g in a rural location. Any advice is welcome. Thanks

Regards

Happy_Harry

The MR3420 will not give you higher speeds as it is not a modem, it just routes the data from your E5377. You will have better wifi signal and coverage but not sure how much.

I have a similar mifi and use a BT repeater, it picks up the signal from your Huawei and transmits it further. For me it works perfectly but there are some well described cons, such as adding latency (I am not suffering from it though)

Have a read through this thread where we discussed the various options for a situation like yours and why a repeater may not be the best solution and what better alternatives there are..

Especially Editorseans' comment here may be usueful in case you also want to increase your speed and 4G signal..

The next best option would be to get a second hand dedicated 4G router such a Huawei B593S-22. These have much better Wi-Fi range as well as a much more sensitive 3G/4G antenna than the compact MiFi units. The B593S-22 can be obtained for around €100 used on eBay.

I have not (yet) gotten this modem as I am still not sure if it would make any difference for me. This modem/router gets very good reviews here

tylercheribini

Hi

Thanks for your indepth response, very helpful. Yea Im prob just looking for strongest signal possible really as Im aware the e5722 is known for poor signal from other threads ive read on it. I havd an external attena ordered for my router, im not expecting too much due to rural location but even a few mbs increase would be great. Im trying meteor at the mo but Ive heard Vodafone has best national 4g coverage.

Happy_Harry

Yes, VF should have best rural coverage. But.. With VF I get 10 Mb down/ 10 Mb up on 4G (4-5 bars these days) . With Meteor (presuming 3G and 3-4 bars) I get 16 Mb down and <1Mb up. Don't really mind low upload speeds, so for now continuing my quest with Meteor.

tylercheribini

Happy_Harry wrote: »

Yes, VF should have best rural coverage. But.. With VF I get 10 Mb down/ 10 Mb up on 4G (4-5 bars these days) . With Meteor (presuming 3G and 3-4 bars) I get 16 Mb down and <1Mb up. Don't really mind low upload speeds, so for now continuing my quest with Meteor.

Cheers, yeah ill prob stick with Meteor then. Its already a massive improvement on what we had,1mb fixed line from eir and always dropping connection. Three have the largest gb allowance but their site states I would only be able to receive their 4g outdoors in my location. Maybe worth trying a three sim when i get attena just to see what speed it is although ive heard their service can be poor even in urban areas.

jay93

In my experience with three the "outdoor" coverage areas had no 4G at all. Only areas in purple on the map would I be able to get outdoor coverage and some indoor.

tylercheribini

jay93 wrote: »

In my experience with three the "outdoor" coverage areas had no 4G at all. Only areas in purple on the map would I be able to get outdoor coverage and some indoor.

Cheers, thanks for the heads up, yeah ill prob just stick with meteor then

jay93

tylercheribini wrote: »

Cheers, thanks for the heads up, yeah ill prob just stick with meteor then

Three plans are great and the allowances are high but their network isn't up to the standard of meteor or Vodafone just yet. If you could test out the Three service before going on a contract it would be a lot better rather than been stuck in contract with a slow 3G signal .
I was never able to pick up service on 4G other than purple areas though maybe that's just me..

tylercheribini

I only decided to chance prepay 4g meteor on my phone recently to see what coverage would be like before entering a contract. Their coverage map stated I would have good coverage but these type of things are notoriously "inaccurate" To my disappointment, for a day or two I was recieving only 3g on my phone but when i forced the phone to recieve lte signal only it worked a treat. It seemed phone would keep switching to stronger 3g signal by default, the 4g signal has less bars but still considerably quicker than the stronger 3g signal. I had to do the same with the mobile hotspot device once I entered the contract, works a treat now though.