Moved to a new house modem/router isnt strong enough to reach throughout the house.

[Emelth]

Alright so I just moved to a new state and got a 2 story house. I currently have a Motorola Surfboard SBG6580 that I picked up from besybuy a little over a year ago. I have Time Warner internet with speed of 50 megabytes. The surfboard is located upstairs in the office over the garage. I am having difficulty getting a decent signal in certain portions of my house on the 1st floor.

At peak hours I have 3 cellphones, 1 gaming desktop, 2 laptops, 1 tablet, and a smart tv on at the same time. I also do have a PS4 and Xbox One that are on wifi as well, just havent had much time to test the consoles out yet since the move.

I need something to make the wifi signal stronger to reach throughout the whole house, I also need it to be powerful enough to play games over wifi. I will be the only one doing hardcore gaming the rest is just video streaming. So let me know what I need to do and get to get the best experience!

Also the surfboard overheats a lot and disconnect it everyday to let it cool down, it usually stays about mid 70's in the house throughout the day. I know its overheating which is making the wifi/internet slow, what can I do to keep it cool? I was thinking about getting a fan that blows on it constantly but if there is a better option let me know as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and assist me!

 

[i7Baby]

Your Motorola Surfboard SBG6580 doesn't get a good review - http://www.cnet.com/products/motorola-surfboard-sbg6580-extreme-wireless-cable-modem-gateway/

Look at reviews eg http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-cable-modem/

and http://cable-modem-review.toptenreviews.com/

 

[captaincharisma]

a wifi repeater or range extender should help you with the wifi signals. although the overheating may be the reason why the signal isn't reaching far and may be on its way out. do you have the router in a well ventilated place?

depending on how big the house id you may have to get more then one. here is one from dlink which is pretty cheap:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704187

 

[Emelth]

Well that is weird before I bought it I read all the reviews and they all pointed to it being good but I guess times have changed since better one have come out lol. Thanks I'll probably go and pick the ones you suggested up, what else can I do on top of getting the new version?

 

[i7Baby]

As captain c pointed to eg power line adapters - http://www.newegg.com/Powerline-Networking/SubCategory/ID-294

Put the router in a centralised position. What you need depends on the size and construction of the house eg concrete walls and floors make it really tough. That's where the powerline adapters are handy.

 

[Emelth]

a wifi repeater or range extender should help you with the wifi signals. although the overheating may be the reason why the signal isn't reaching far and may be on its way out. do you have the router in a well ventilated place?

depending on how big the house id you may have to get more then one. here is one from dlink which is pretty cheap:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704187

I would say its not in a well ventilated area, but even when I was in FL and had it in my man cave which had all my gaming devices and the AC was on constantly it would still heat up. Thats why I was wondering if I should get a fan to constantly blow on it.

How does this extender work?

 

[Emelth]

As captain c pointed to eg power line adapters - http://www.newegg.com/Powerline-Networking/SubCategory/ID-294

Put the router in a centralised position. What you need depends on the size and construction of the house eg concrete walls and floors make it really tough. That's where the powerline adapters are handy.

No concrete walls, I cant change the position of the router for the sheer fact that is in the office, my desktop doesnt have a wifi card and I surely would not want to game over wifi on it with this desktop. Most the things y'all are saying I'm not following. Again I know nothing about networking so if you could possibly break it down Barney style a little more so I can keep up it would greatly be appreciated lol!

 

[i7Baby]

I just run a long ethernet cable from my PC to my router. Every one else then uses wifi.

 

[Emelth]

I just run a long ethernet cable from my PC to my router. Every one else then uses wifi.

That would also not be a viable option, I have 2 little kids that will be too big of a chance of them messing with it else I would have done something like that but the office is my main gaming area it makes sense to keep the router there.

 

[captaincharisma]

if you are looking to have a wired connection then running an Ethernet cable around the house is the only option which may require you to start drilling holes in walls and trying to find a way to route the cables all around the house. adding a wifi card to a computer is pretty easy. there are some that are just like a USB flash drive where you can just plug it into the back of a computer. and install the drivers a wifi extender like the one i linked to is pretty easy to setup. you plug it in and log into it with the instructions provided in the box when you get to set it up to connect to your router

other than that i'm not sure what else you are not understanding

 

[Emelth]

if you are looking to have a wired connection then running an Ethernet cable around the house is the only option which may require you to start drilling holes in walls and trying to find a way to route the cables all around the house. adding a wifi card to a computer is pretty easy. there are some that are just like a USB flash drive where you can just plug it into the back of a computer. and install the drivers a wifi extender like the one i linked to is pretty easy to setup. you plug it in and log into it with the instructions provided in the box when you get to set it up to connect to your router

other than that i'm not sure what else you are not understanding

Alright I think there is confusion somewhere. I have never said I wanted everything wired in my post nor pointed my words in that direction. The only thing I have wired is my desktop which is upstairs in my office, which is where the Surfboard is. Everything else can run wireless. Captain your first post is exactly what I am looking for something to extend my wifi in the first floor of my house. All this talk of running cable all over my house was never an option or on my drawing board and never will be, its a horrible idea to have wires running every where and doesnt look clean at all (yes I'm OCD).