Boosting Virgin Wifi signal

emptage

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I get my broadband from Virgin and have the super hub 2. I am still not getting a very strong signal in my living room due to the fact that it is an extension so there is an external wall between it and the room where the super hub is located. I have contacted tech support who have tried changing channels etc but with no improvement. They also suggested I use powerline adapters but these won't solve the problem as the extension is on a different ring circuit. It is not possible for me to drill through the wall and feed an Ethernet cable through. I think I am left with two possibilities, buy a wifi extender but I understand these are not very effective. The only other possibility is to use the Suphub as a modem and attract a powerful router such as a Netgear Nighthawk. Which of these two solutions is likely to be the most effective
 

margetti

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Hi, I have just moved house and have had exactly the same problem. Old house -the superhub serviced the whole house just fine. New house (with extensions as you have) - very poor signal outside of the room the Superhub is in.

First thing - are you sure homeplugs won't work - this from Devolo's website:

"Can I use devolo products even if I have different electrical circuits in my house?

Yes, devolo products also work if you have multiple circuits (phases) in the house. You do not have to modify the mains supply, such as by installing a phase coupler. "

Bought the Devolo network kit (despite having dismissed homeplugs for years) and it is doing the job just fine. Just don't take any notice of the speed ratings which are theoretical speeds - the kit I have claims 500Mbps but getting about 80Mbps at best which is about right from what I've read.

Wi-fi extenders are, as you say, not very effective. They receive and transmit on the same channel, so their throughput will be 50% at best.

Whether a more powerful router will work will be a matter of trial and error I'd say - worth a try if you can send it back I'd say.

Final thought - what device/s are you connecting to the wi-fi? If its an iPad then not much you can do, but if its a PC there may be the option of adding on a more powerful antenna.
 

daveh75

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Modern 'homeplugs' will/do work on different rings (so long as their connected to the same consumer unit).

My advice would be to use homeplugs to provide Ethernet into the extension then if you still need wifi in that room, connect a secondary router (configured as an AP) or Access point to the homeplugs in that part of the property.

Extenders suck for the reasons margetti mentions and should be avoided at all costs IMO.
 

kikiso

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I also have the Virgin not-so-super hub and had the same issue with coverage. I looked into getting a Homeplug and decided agianst it, I've heard it can introduce noise to the mains, whether that's true or not I went for a Netgear RT-N66U router based on reading other forums and talking to friends with similar issues. It's a wonderful router and I get great speeds all over the house, it has the added capability of being able to act a print and/or storage server as well. It leaves me with the flexibility to roam anywhere in or out of the house and it's not too expensive. Just checked and still available for just over a hundred quid.
 

emptage

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Thanks for the reply. Can you tell me how you configured the system. Do you use the super hub as a modem and connect the router to that. If so how did you configure the router. Did you need to set up a new wifi network
 

kikiso

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Yes, the Super-Hub has a configuration setting to make it act as a modem only, you then connect the first port of the Super-Hub to the input of the wireless router and then you define your new network via the router's configuration screens. Once in the modem mode the Super-Hub disables all the other ports. You get to define two networks, one at 5ghz, one at 2.4ghz, they both run at the same time, the 5ghz being better for streaming but not so good at going through walls. You also get to define a guest network if you want to. I also recommend you install Inssider 3 or 4, whichever you can get hold of, it's freeware and makes all networks in your location visible and tells you what channels they are using, you should move yourself router to a channel that your neighbours are not using or is very week, that way you avoid the delays introduced by clashes and the resulting error corrections that can happen. As nobody seems to be using the 5ghz frequency where I live, that one is easy and my laptops and phones etc seem to select it automatically.
 

emptage

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Many thanks for your helpful reply. I am not very technically minded, is it easy to set up a new modem. I will probably go for the Netgear nighthawk as it has a very long range
 

kikiso

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Yes, it's a lot easier these days than it used to be. You basically need to logon to the admin facility and work through a few options, most routers now come with default settings which are printed for you so you can use a provided SSID and security key. You are provided with an address for the router that you put in your browser and you can connect wirelessly to it if already connected with the provided SSID etc or over an Ethernet cable.

I opted to go in and change the provided defaults to ones I know and were already defined for my previous routers (I've had about 4). This also makes life simple if you have several smartphones, tablets, PCs and other devices with SSIDs and security keys already defined as you avoid the need to change them.

If you have any issues I'm always scanning these forums and will try to help as I'm sure others will as well.

Just a little bit of further info about performance. In my living room, very close to the router I'm getting a speed of 54MB using speedtest and an excellent signal, I subscribe to the basic Virgin service (up to 50MB) so this is pretty good. In the bedroom furthest away from the router I'm getting about 6MB and a good signal.
 

emptage

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Thanks for your help. By SSID do you mean the name of the wifi network I set up. If I use the same name with the same password

Then my iPads and iPhones will automatically recognise it and login.
 

kikiso

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Yes, that's correct. And the "guest" network facility means you can define a serperate network called for example "Guest" with a different password that you can let visitors have so that they can use your wifi without giving away your main password. This can be turned on or off without any effect on your main networks.
 

emptage

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Kikiso, Many thanks for all your help. Just one think you talk about a Netgear RT-N66U router, do you not mean the Asus RT-N66U. I cant find a Netgear with that product number. Regards
 

kikiso

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Well spotted. My previous router was Netgear, and the one Virgin give you is Netgear also, what a mistake to make. Sorry. all the ASUS routers seem to be pretty good.
 

aliEnRIK

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kikiso said:
I looked into getting a Homeplug and decided agianst it, I've heard it can introduce noise to the mains

I have a RFI meter and can confirm that homeplugs definitely inject quite a significant amount of RFI into the mains supply
 
Establish an outside Wi-Fi antenna on the laptop (if probable). For this alternative to be practicable, the laptop should support add-on antennas. Appear for a special jack alike in appearance to an earphone or microphone jack. Sometimes these are described “SMA jacks.
 

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