Wifi in attic

Blanchy90

I'm currently working from home and I'm set up in my attic to hide away from the toddler.

The wifi signal is quite poor up there both on the laptop and phones.

What is the cheapest way to increase the signal up there? This is only a temporary situation so I want to spend as little as possible.
There are no sockets up there so a powerline extender wont work. (I'm running an extension lead up when I'm working)

I have 2 yi cameras, arlo camera, nest, echo dots, smart bulbs and a baby monitor so I'm sure these are probably causing some interference



Any help would be greatly appreciated

Boxcar_Willie

Get a long (20m or so) Cat5 cable and run it up from your router .

Boxcar_Willie

https://www.satworld.ie/15m-ethernet-cat5e-cable.html

Something like that will do the trick.

Blanchy90

Running a cable isn't an option it wouldn't be suitable with a toddler running around

orchard farm

For a second there i thought it said 'wife in attic' taking self isolation to a new level!!!

crashplan

A wifi range extender would help

listermint

Bottom dollar cheapest solution is to move the router.

Even if you could move it up the wall from its current location up even to the ceiling or close to it. them mount to wall with double sided tape or screws you would get extra 2 meters range.

Note also the orientation of the router impacts the range, rotating it can increase the range too.

Blanchy90

I'll move the router this evening and see does that make a difference, if not the range extender linked above looks like a good option

Boxcar_Willie

Aluminium foil on the attic insulation will block wifi signal.
I'd bet this is the cause of your weak signal , I've seen it many times .
Only way , and by far the cheapest , is to run the cat5 cable.
I know you don't want to do this with a toddler , but you're already running an extension lead up !!
You could hide/tack it neatly away.

You could try the range extender or wifi plugs , but they're not recommended with an extension lead , should be plugged into wall sockets .

dam099

Boxcar_Willie wrote: »

You could try the range extender or wifi plugs , but they're not recommended with an extension lead , should be plugged into wall sockets .

Agreed, powerline not recommended through extension lead but often works, if you get them from somewhere with a returns policy like Amazon/Argos may be worth a try.

Or as suggested you are already running an extension lead up. Cable ties and ethernet cable alongside it? (Might not be ideal electrical interference wise but I imagine they often share a close path when in wall).

Yellow_Fern

Maybe a cable behind drywall?

Blanchy90

The extension lead is coming from the landing straight up the hatch to the attic where the ethernet cable would need to come from the sitting room all the way up.

I ended up getting this wifi extender on amazon. I put it in one of the bedrooms and its giving me enough signal in the attic:)

Its not perfect but I just had a video meeting with 10 people with very minor freezing issues