Extending wifi signal of 2gig virgin media broadband

esc123

I've just got installed 2 gig virgin media broadband in the new build house but unfortunately I am unable to get any Wi-Fi signal in certain parts of the house (some upstairs bedrooms and kitchen with door closed). This is because of the hollowcore concrete flooring upstairs I presume.

What are my options in terms of extending the wifi signal to all parts of the house? I am aware of these wifi extenders that you plug in but there is none as far as I can tell that can carry the 2gig bandwidth.

Are a bunch of wifi extenders my only option here or is there something else that can be done?

I rang virgin media and they just suggested buying the wifi extender. Not very satisfactory to be honest as I raised this concern with the broadband installers and they said the signal should be fine. A bit disappointing they would roll out this tech without solutions to what I presume will be a common problem.

smuggler.ie

Do you have Ethernet on all floors/rooms that lead to central location?

esc123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121098532#Comment_121098532

Unfortunately not. It's not really feasible to wire cables to all the rooms that need it either. I'm wondering if drilling a cable up into the attic and having wifi emitters (I'm not sure what the actual name of these things are but that's what I'm calling them) at each corner of the attic wired directly from the central downstairs router. That way there is no concrete in the way of the signal but just some plaster and attic insulation. I'm not sure if wifi emitters are good at sending the wifi signal downwards however.

Does this sound like a bad idea? Or is there some alternative other than directly wiring with ethernet cables everywhere?

smuggler.ie

This would be my preference - dedicated WAP(Wireless Access Point) on Ethernet connection. Signal will penetrate plasterboard with ease compare to concrete (foil-backed insulation is not good for signal)

Depending on area and partition walls you might be good with one or two AP. Aruba instant-on or unify are scalable - you can start with one, then seamlessly add more if needed

JoyPad

I bought a pair of eero 6+ routers on Prime Day. Speed is solid, and no problems with the signal. Would recommend, if you can get them on a special offer.

dam099

If you can get Ethernet to the attic then it shouldn’t be too difficult to get it through the ceiling to an access point like an Aruba or Unify one so signal wouldn’t even need to go through plasterboard. They are also powered by Power over Ethernet so wouldn’t need power at the attic location just need to insert it at the start of the Ethernet runs with a Switch or Injectors.

esc123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121099697#Comment_121099697

Ouch they are expensive! Are you using them to extend the wifi signal in a house with concrete floors/walls?

esc123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121100882#Comment_121100882

Yes that sounds even better. I was just trying to keep the drilling to a minimum with the one cable going up into the attic. The fact they can be powered over ethernet is awesome but I'm not sure what Switch or Injectors are. I'm going to watch a few youtube tutorials on how all this wifi extender equipment works as I'm still a complete noob on this. Cheers for the info!

dam099

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121104019#Comment_121104019

A switch is a device you plug into a port on your router to give you extra ports. Standard ones don't include POE (Power over Ethernet) but you can for a little extra cost get ones that do POE as well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-SG1005P-Ethernet-Configuration-Required/dp/B0769C24T1/ref%3Dsr_1_4?crid=2P33AKQZDCCDX&keywords=poe+switch+4+port&qid=1694596805&sprefix=poe+%2Caps%2C65&sr=8-4

A POE injector is plugged into a cable from your router (or a non POE) switch and also a power source, you then connect a (longer) cable from it to your device delivery both data signal and power.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-PoE160S-Injector-Supplies-Wall-Mount-Distance/dp/B08LQP8CYD/ref%3Dsr_1_3?crid=C570KS9NYO7O&keywords=poe+injector&qid=1694596982&sprefix=poe+i%2Caps%2C58&sr=8-3

If you think you will get away with one AP then the injector might be suitable (unless you need a switch anyway) otherwise I would go with a POE Switch as it can power multiple AP's whereas you need an injector per AP.

For ceiling mounted AP's you will need to drill a hole in the ceiling where you want to place it, but it will plug in to the underside of the AP so be hidden once you mount it.

esc123

Thanks for clearing up the confusion over switches and injectors. I consulted with my local electrical shop and they recommended either a TPlink Powerline system where the internal electrical wiring of the house is used to carry the internet signal or a Mesh system.

They couldn't give me any details on the advantages and disadvantages of using a Powerline system over a mesh system. The shop assistant did mention that if I intended to run an ethernet cable up into the attic that it would be easier if I run the cable outside the house rather than drilling holes internally which I thought was a good idea.

I may consult an electrician now and see if they run the cable up into the attic for me. From there though I'm still not clear on what's required.

Would I need to run an ethernet cable from the virgin media central router up to the attic and connect that cable into a POE capable switch placed in the attic? Then run ethernet cables from the switch down into the upstairs bedrooms/office directly into access points that will be powered by the ethernet cables? Is there something I'm missing here or is it as easy as that?

And Im looking at something like the Aruba INSTANT ON AP11D (I cant post links) as the access point that I can mount on the wall or ceiling.

trant

Don't go with PowerLine if you have the option of a mesh system, it's a vastly inferior option used for setups with no other option. Running ethernet cable outside is fine but make sure it's outdoor rated or it will degrade over time. Keeping it indoors would be preferable.

Your idea of a PoE switch in the attic sounds like the best way to do it. I'd suggest wall/rafter mounting it to keep it out of the way.

Flinty997

A mesh what worked for me. Its what is designed to do.

donspeekinglesh

I recently mounted an AP in my landing. I already had internal cabling to bring the network to the room I use as an office From the switch in the office I ran a cable along the skirting board and up the wall (between the door frame and wall) into the ceiling, have it hidden in some small ducting I got in Screwfix. (will just need to paint the bit between the top of the door and the ceiling). It's very neat.

In the attic I have a Ubiquiti Flex switch - powered by POE from the office switch, and it powers the AP with POE. I used the template with the AP to drill and it's perfect. No visible holes or wires. It's no bigger than my smoke alarm.

dam099

A mesh just using WiFi for backhaul may not work for the OP as they have mentioned "hollowcore concrete flooring" which could block or seriously degrade the signal to the upstairs. I think they need some sort of ethernet either as backhaul for a mesh system or to dedicated WiFi APs like Unify/Aruba. One ethernet cable to the attic and a POE switch up there to feed a few APs sounds feasible. It might be useful to pair that with an AP from the same system downstairs as well so devices roam/hand off well between units, Unifi do ones that are not ceiling mounted as well.

jumbone

Do they really build new build without any cat6 cable in them these days - hard to believe.

OP - are there any blanked off 'sockets' in your house. My sister's new build house had the cables installed but unterminated and behind blank plates

esc123

@dam099 "It might be useful to pair that with an AP from the same system downstairs as well so devices roam/hand off well between units, Unifi do ones that are not ceiling mounted as well."

What should be paired with a downstairs AP? To get a seemless transition of devices moving from 1st floor to ground floor I thought I'd only need AP's on the first floor as the main central Virgin Media router would allow access on the ground floor. Would that not work?

@jumbone "are there any blanked off 'sockets' in your house. My sister's new build house had the cables installed but unterminated and behind blank plates"

good question, there are indeed blanked off sockets in some rooms. Ive just put in a question to the construction company asking what they are for. Thanks for that!

dam099

You could use the Virgin router for WiFi downstairs but its less than ideal in either of the 2 usual ways you could set it up

a) Use a different SSID for downstairs on Virgin vs the AP's upstairs and have devices set to connect to either automatically if the other not available

b) Use the same SSID and password as the AP's upstairs

In either scenario your devices may hold on to a weak signal from the currently connected router/AP rather than switch to the stronger one, so you have a connection but its poor.

Using mesh systems (or multiple dedicated AP's from the same system) usually allows devices to roam better.

You don't necessarily have to decide up front though especially with AP's which are sold as single units, you can try the hybrid of Virgin downstairs / AP's upstairs and see if it works for you and if it doesn't get another AP for downstairs. I suspect you may end up having to do that but you might get lucky.

Also as an aside, short of getting expensive 2.5gb/10gb gear you are not going to be able to utilise the 2Gb connection over WiFi. Even beside the Virgin router with a WiFi 6 device you would be doing well to break 1Gb.

Flinty997

For me it's just easier to buy a mesh unit for each zone as a package of 3 or 4 etc. They are cheap and just work.

If you hit a physical barrier you can cable past it.

If you want low latency for multiplayer gaming or similar that might be where the mesh not be enough. Or some other intensive use case.

Cabling the whole house seems overkill unless you really need that.

esc123

@dam099 "You don't necessarily have to decide up front though especially with AP's which are sold as single units, you can try the hybrid of Virgin downstairs / AP's upstairs and see if it works for you and if it doesn't get another AP for downstairs. I suspect you may end up having to do that but you might get lucky."

Yeah Ill probably try the hybrid system first and see how it goes

"Also as an aside, short of getting expensive 2.5gb/10gb gear you are not going to be able to utilise the 2Gb connection over WiFi. Even beside the Virgin router with a WiFi 6 device you would be doing well to break 1Gb."

Yeah it's clear to me now that the full 2Gb bandwidth will not be utilised over WiFi which is a bummer. It seems nothing short of direct ethernet connection with cables that can carry the bandwidth will do the job. Out of curiosity is there WiFi hardware that exists that can carry that kind of bandwidth, and if so how much are we talking in terms of expense?

esc123

@Flinty997 "Cabling the whole house seems overkill unless you really need that."

Definitely agree. But running a cable to the attic is doable and then from there running a cable into wall/ceiling mounted AP's wouldn't be too bad. Especially if we only need a single AP upstairs if we can get away with it.

jumbone

@esc123 good question, there are indeed blanked off sockets in some rooms. Ive just put in a question to the construction company asking what they are for. Thanks for that!

a screwdriver is quicker!

esc123

Believe it or not but I dont have the flat head screwdriver to open the thing 🤦‍♂️ We've only recently moved house, that's my excuse anyway. If they dont reply tomorrow Ill just have to make my way down to the hardware store 😄

smuggler.ie

While you at it, check your utility room. Normally, all CAT wires and TV coax should lead to central point where you organize your distribution(patch panel, switch, etc)

gabbo is coming

Hi, just got VMs sagemcom modem for 1Gb

Getting 700mb on the VM modem

When I check my tplink s4s, I'm getting less than previous, getting about 170. But full 50 upload

I've changed the QOS setting on the deco, anything else?

heavydawson

Bear in mind that only Wifi 7 routers/meshes will likely be capable of pushing the full 2gbps, and that would require careful placement of the mesh units, in addition to client devices also supporting Wifi 7. Most Wifi 6 devices have a 2x2 configuration, which limits their max speed to 1200mbps, and you'll only get that speed within about 3-5 m of the router.

Unless you really need the 2gbps connection, I'd change to a 1gbps package, wait for the Wifi 7 mesh hardware (and phones/laptops supporting Wifi 7) to get cheaper (another year or two), then jump back up 2gbps (if you still feel you want it)

esc123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121345275#Comment_121345275

Thanks a mil! I think that's what I'll probably do. I didn't realise when ordering the 2gig line that the hardware side of things isn't quite ready for the 2gig connection speed. Live and learn I suppose.

westsidestory

I'll ask here rather than start a new thread.

Have modem moved to hall and we get ~25 - 43mb speeds. The installer put an ethernet cable from this modem to the office as house has concrete block walls internally. What device need I get to plug into this ethernet cable to improve WIFI in the office? I'd like the new device to not compete with the modem but just boost WIFI that end of the house.

We live in the upstairs part of a split level house with solid thick concrete floor between upstairs and downstairs. What would be best method of bringing WIFI downstairs? No ethernet cable downstairs but modem is at top of the stairs.

Not great at this!!

westsidestory

Think I'll get this mesh system. Any opinions?

With my low speed (20 - 43mbps) do i need to concern myself with WIFI 6 able mesh?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Deco-E4-Seamless-Replacement/dp/B07RXLF5XZ

pizzahead77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121376144#Comment_121376144

You need a wireless access point and I'd probably get a switch too so that you can connect more devices wired.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-TL-WA1201-AC1200-MU-MIMO-Wireless/dp/B084BGKJZT/ref%3Dsr_1_3?crid=2LBV8F3M18KEC&keywords=wireless%2Baccess%2Bpoint%2Bwifi%2B6&qid=1700219795&sprefix=wireless%2Bac%2Caps%2C185&sr=8-3&th=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-LS1005G-Wallmount-Ethernet-Splitter/dp/B07VWB347G/ref=sr_1_3?crid=KJQQFTLY6NLU&keywords=gigabit+switch&qid=1700219925&sprefix=giga%2Caps%2C187&sr=8-3

westsidestory

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121379326#Comment_121379326

I'llneed a few devices to have WiFi spread properly about the 2 storey house, is the AP you suggested above better than a mesh system?

I am not too concerned about the switch as of yet but will keep it in mind for future if needed.

dam099

Do you expect fibre to be available in next few years? I’d be less concerned with WiFi 6 than the fact that the Ethernet ports on the E4 are only 100mbps not gigabit which will be more of a limiting factor if your speeds improve in the future.

I would recommend the S4s instead if you want to future proof a bit more, real world they can do 300-400 with Ethernet backhaul. Currently about €45-50 more but you might see some Black Friday deals on them next week, I’ve seen them on offer before for nearly same price as E4s.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0851D6MXY?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_7550AKHHT6Z4VNBG2RC6&language=en-GB

westsidestory

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121380080#Comment_121380080

Thanks for advice. We are not included in the NBI areas to be upgraded so think we will have to do with the 70mbps on offer which in reality is ~20 - 44mbps range.

Will have a look at S4.

SodiumCooled

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121105656#Comment_121105656

It’s unbelievable, it’s bordering on negligent nowadays for a builder to have a house wired without at least one CAT6 in every room all coming back to a central location.

dam099

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121383593#Comment_121383593

Negligent is a bit strong, I am sure a builder would argue most people just use WiFi anyway and they would probably be right.

Personally I use Ethernet where I can as I see the value but it would be up to the government to incorporate a requirement into the building regulations and the industry to educate users on the benefits of using Ethernet for fixed devices and WiFi backhaul.

SodiumCooled

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121384769#Comment_121384769

Agreed, I was being a bit over the top with the use of negligent it’s just something I put a lot of planning into as a self builder that it would irritate me no end to hear a house doesn’t have CAT6 (or similar) run around to a few locations at least (personally I have at least two separate CAT6 cables run to every room in the house).

i wouldn’t argue with the fact most people use WiFi but it was for serving APs in a mesh network that I would be referring to as much as hard wiring devices though things like smart tv or streaming boxes etc will only benefit from a cabled connection.