WiFi for big house

[iwal29]

My currrent WiFi setup is not ideal. I have about a 3500 sq ft home with lots of walls and three floors. The house is very old so the walls have a material called horsehair which makes WiFi very difficult to pass through. I have a WiFi extender but that still doesn’t provide a good enough speed. I have multiple devices and with everyone on them it slows down the WiFi significantly. For example, I want my gaming console to run smoothly but the WiFi is just not reaching it and it lags constantly. The router is on the second floor and has terrible range to the first floor. The extender is on the first floor but still does not provide good speed. What is recommended I get? . I have heard of mesh WiFi and have thought about getting a different router but want some other people’s opinions. Would really appreciate feedback. Thanks!

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Try powerline adapters - they provide ethernet ports in various rooms by using the house wiring for inter-connectivity from the router without having to install cabling. They are a better solution than WiFi where it's possible to use them.

 

[BuddhaSkoota]

What is recommended I get? . I have heard of mesh WiFi and have thought about getting a different router but want some other people’s opinions. Would really appreciate feedback.

If wireless signals have problems penetrating the walls of your home, it's likely that a mesh wifi network will experience the same sort of issues.

As mentioned, powerline adapters may be a good solution, but I'd recommend exploring a wired solution as well. One or two well placed wired access points should vastly improve performance. Having an access point near your gaming console would allow you to have a wired connection to the console, which would be ideal for reducing lag.

Initially running cable might be a little difficult and time consuming depending on the home's construction, but I've found it is well worth the effort in improving network performance.

 

[iwal29]

Try powerline adapters - they provide ethernet ports in various rooms by using the house wiring for inter-connectivity from the router without having to install cabling. They are a better solution than WiFi where it's possible to use them.

 

[iwal29]

Try powerline adapters - they provide ethernet ports in various rooms by using the house wiring for inter-connectivity from the router without having to install cabling. They are a better solution than WiFi where it's possible to use them.

 

[eszed556]

I had a similar issue. Powerline adapters were looking like a great option specifically because I had just moved into this house and was absolutely clueless about the existing cabling in walls (some of which turned out faulty), and networking in general.

Your ideal situation would be to hire a contractor to run networking cables through floors and walls. This could be pricey.

Similarly, my router was in the basement at one extreme end and I had almost zero connectivity on the first floor - it was affecting the marriage. For short-term relief I bought a range extender with an Ethernet port and was able to wire at least one device and improve WiFi signals - this saved the marriage.

When I had the time and the courage, I was able to replace the faulty wiring and relocate the DSL router between the basement ceiling and the ground floor, floor. Then, from the router I pulled an Ethernet cable into a 8 port Gigabit switch which now supplies to my PC, Smart TV and receiver. Turns out the previous tenants had laid out some Cat5e cables rather strategically which simplified matters for me. Now my desktop and entertainment devices are wired in the basement.

I am not using the WiFi Extender and can average 12Mbps on the 2.4Ghz and 25Mbps on the 5Ghz band on the first floor's extreme ends after optimizing the channels. This is a huge improvement. Though, my townhouse is half of yours.

My next task is to utilize an old 2.4Ghz router to create an access point feeding from the switch which I hope will further improve first floor penetration.

I shared my story because I would definitely recommend BuddhaSkoota's solution to strategically place a couple of access points. Wired is the way to go - at least in part.


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EDIT:
Is the forum acting up? Failed to process reply on multiple accounts. Luckily I had copied the text.