[SOLVED] Router for 3000sqft home

[icu222much]

I live in a 3000 sqft two floor home with concrete floors and walls. There are 4 people in the household, and we each stream Netflix. The router will be placed in the corner of the 2nd floor. I am more concerned with the wifi range then the speed. Which router do you suggest I purchase?

I am currently thinking of Archer A9 or Archer AX10. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Obiwancanabi]

powerlines work great, transmit the LAN thru the power cables, much more reliable and if you get the right models they come with wifi repeaters so you just set the same credentials on the socket and it boosts your range, you wouldnt even need one in each room just strategically have them dotted about the place

 

[icu222much]

So essentially I shouldn't worry about wifi range because I can use a power line? My home is about 40 years old. Would it affect the power line quality? Is there a power line you suggest?

If I don't want to go the power line route, can you suggest a particular Archer and non-Archee router?

 

[Obiwancanabi]

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AV60..._r=D8V78YMWCXD9QQB4PBH1&qid=1608954635&sr=8-3 this is the sort of thing i used to use. i have tried them in old houses no problem. no guarantees but it should work. We have real solid walls here that are like a foot thick so wifi isnt that great, as long as the same ring main connects everything it should work, you only ever see the one access point too, it just clones the main credentials so its not like you need to connect to a different wifi, it should just auto navigate things like your phone between hotspots like nothing

you will want a full starter kit and then however many "wifi addons" you think you will need, i even got one from a different brand and it had no problem doing its job, one of those is the master tho and one the slave unit, the master connects to the router and your socket in the living room and the slaves all send the signal thru the cable, they act like wireless repeaters on a hardline, you can even connect a lan cable to the repeaters if you do prefer a more reliable connection. i highly recommend them

"If I don't want to go the power line route, can you suggest a particular Archer and non-Archee router? " having never used one i cant sorry, not something iv used or have any kind of experience with im afraid

 

[bill001g]

There is no magic router that goes farther. In fact that is most the problem with coverage all the crap signals coming into your house from outside. Wifi will work fairly well with a weak signal with no interference.

If you can not use powerline and have tv coax cables you can look at using moca. It can actually get gigabit speeds unlike powerline units but it cost a little more.

You very last option and you want consider having ethernet run before you do it is to use repeater/mesh systems. These take very careful placement and in many houses there is no good location because of wall/ceilings. Even when they are correctly installed you now have 2 or more wifi hops in the path all which can be interfered with.

 

[icu222much]

There were two reasons why I didn't want to purchase additional devices:

1. I was hoping to use one device (ie - avoid mesh network or extenders) as I wasn't sure if having multiple devices may end up having a complicated network and potentially cause more problems down the road.
2. My budget is less then $100 to outfit the home with wifi. Additional devices will increase my costs.

If having multiple devices will not create additional problems for me, then perhaps purchasing a cheaper router that meets my non-range requirements (ie - qos, dual bands) and purchasing multiple extenders maybe the way to go?

 

[bill001g]

Lets say you found some magic router that could put out 10 times the legal power and you directly import it from china. The problem is the end device maybe able to hear the router but the end device does not have the power to send the signal back.

In most cases wifi connectivity problems especially with portable devices are the end devices. Unlike routers these devices do not always put out the legal maximum power. They are trading small antenna size and low battery usage for less range.

The only way to fix a concrete wall is to put a hole in it so the wifi signal can pass. Obviously not a option but that is why you use wires that are already passing through the walls to extend the signals and then convert it to wifi at the far end.

 

[USAFRet]

The router will be placed in the corner of the 2nd floor.

This is the other problem.
Placed centrally on the second floor would be the best location. But even then, the concrete walls come into play.