I’ve been using my carrier’s router for a while now but I’ve been having some issues. Though speed tests show nice speed, the consistency of the signal is very bad. I work from home in an office with my SO and when we’re both using the internet the signal can become really bad. Currently getting 20% signal strength and having a hard time keeping my teams call up.

The router is not that far, like 10-15m away but does go through a wall. Ethernet cables are unfortunately not a possibility and since we both have desktop computers we’d rather not move.

Looking for a router around 100 euros, preferably available on Amazon Spain so I can return it if it doesn’t solve my problem. The goal is to shut down the carrier router’s wi-fi and just use the new router for all the networking.

I don’t having any special requisites. Wi-fi 6E would be a nice to have but honestly wi-fi 6 is good enough. Solid connection is the most important thing for me.

Thanks!

  • Kahless@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    3 days ago

    Some things you can try before buying anything:

    • Have 30cm space between your “router” and the floor, walls or the ceiling
    • The router’s antenna projects the signal similar to a flashlight projecting light on the wall. Knowing in which direction your antenna “shines” the signal can help you direct the WLAN signal where you want it. It will most likely have a spherical propagation pattern, with a bias in a certain direction. More like a candle in a paper bag than an actual flashlight I guess.
    • See if you can deactivate Wifi clients that you don’t need while working, like Alexas and Smart TVs. As long as they are powered on, they are sending probe requests, congesting the air and lowering latency, aka bad Team sessions.
    • Check out on which channel your “router” is operating. You don’t want to use the same channels as your neighbours do because of interference.
    • If the channels that you and your neighbours use overlap, you can adjust the channel width or bandwidth. Try 20MHz for 2,4GHz and 40MHz for 5GHz. This will increase latency aka better Teams sessions.
    • See if you can activate DFS channels. Those are channels usable for WLAN, but reserved for weather radar. Not a problem since you are indoors. Nobody uses them since they are usually deactivated by default. That means no interference which means higher throughput and better latency aka better Teams sessions.
    • You can experiment with setting up a dedicated 2,4GHz SSID for use in the room behind the wall. 2,4GHz goes further and penetrates better than 5GHz. Comes a the cost of lower speeds though.
    • Try deactivating 2,4GHz alltogether, too. If your laptop supports 2,4GHz and 5GHz it might switch to 2,4GhZ when the 5GHz signal is getting weak, causing hicups in the process, leading to bad Teams sessions.

    If that doesn’t help, consider using a mesh AP for your remote room. Mesh APs receive Data not via Ethernet cable, but via WLAN signal from your router and then send a WLAN signal out of another antenna, on another channel. You could just position one in your office or half way between your office and the “router”. Maybe your Internet Service Provides offers a Mesh solution that works with your “router” out of the box. They are not to be confused with WLAN repeaters, who use the same channel to send out the signal that they are receiving it on, leading to interference, smaller throughput and lower latency.

    Another option would be ethernet via powerline. I’ve only heard about these. They seem to work for some people and not for others. I guess it depends on the power installation in your home. They might not be the most secure, given that they use the power grid of your whole house. You can always send stuff back I guess.