WiFi Issues in new house....

[grahambr]

So we bought a new house (Well, its actually 30 years old). The house is smaller than my previous house, yet we are having SO many issues with the WiFi. I have tried so many different routers... from the WNDR400, to ASUS, now I am back on the new Netgear nighthawk AC router. They are all experiencing the same issues.

What happens is, the WiFi is fine, then it goes really slow, then its fine, then slow... When it is slow, I run a speed test and all seems OK, but it is so slow to respond. For the computers that are direct connected, they always seem OK, so I know the cable modem is working well at least.

We cant run Cat lines so we are stuck with WiFi. I put WiFi extenders in the house and sometimes they help, but other times not. I thought there was just a lot of interference...so I ran the Amped Wireless wifi monitor and everything is on channels that are unobstructed. We dont have any cordless phones hooked up and there are no baby monitors.

Its really weird. I tried moving positions of the router and everything. Heck, even when we are 20 feet from the router we experience the issues. Again, this is happening with many routers, so there is something I am not seeing....

Does anyone have any ideas??????????

Please help.....

 

[RealBeast]

Older homes tend to be built from more substantial materials, which attenuates signals much more than modern less substantial construction. Wifi extenders are fairly useless in this sort of construction.

Since you can afford a Nighthawk router, I will assume that you have a reasonable budget.

You've checked for local wireless and not found anything, so I would try to stick with 2.4GHz, which has better penetration than 5GHz (unless you are using an 80MHz wide AC bridge), unless you have interference from nearby 2.4GHz networks.

I would use Zyxel PLA5205kit powerline adapters to attach wireless APs to the router in the dead spots, which will improve your wireless coverage.

What other networks do you see with your network evaluation -- which channels and what signal strength? You can also use inSSIDer (free) from HERE and check under the Network tab to see channels and signal strengths.

 

[grahambr]

Older homes tend to be built from more substantial materials, which attenuates signals much more than modern less substantial construction. Wifi extenders are fairly useless in this sort of construction.

Since you can afford a Nighthawk router, I will assume that you have a reasonable budget.

You've checked for local wireless and not found anything, so I would try to stick with 2.4GHz, which has better penetration than 5GHz (unless you are using an 80MHz wide AC bridge), unless you have interference from nearby 2.4GHz networks.

I would use Zyxel PLA5205kit powerline adapters to attach wireless APs to the router in the dead spots, which will improve your wireless coverage.

What other networks do you see with your network evaluation -- which channels and what signal strength? You can also use inSSIDer (free) from HERE and check under the Network tab to see channels and signal strengths.

Thank you... I dont really see any competing networks and its not so much dead spots... Even when I am sitting about 20 feet from the router (In a different room) things over wifi just go really slow...then it speeds up again. It is really intermittent.

Im wondering if something on the network is, at times, bogging down the Wifi..... Is there anyway to track network utilization and the sources? That way when there is a network slowdown, I can go back and see what is utilizing the network?

I am going to utilize your advice though and add an AP to the upstairs. Any Suggestions on a good one?

 

[RealBeast]

There are plenty of network analysis tools and software (Wireshark for one) but it is all pretty complex for a home user.

Does this happen on all devices, or only laptops but not on tablets and phones?

Are you using 2.4GHz? It has much better penetration of building materials, especially with older homes that are more substantial.

Any router can easily be converted to an AP, if you have a spare from the ones you've tried that would be fine.

 

[grahambr]

There are plenty of network analysis tools and software (Wireshark for one) but it is all pretty complex for a home user.

Does this happen on all devices, or only laptops but not on tablets and phones?

Are you using 2.4GHz? It has much better penetration of building materials, especially with older homes that are more substantial.

Any router can easily be converted to an AP, if you have a spare from the ones you've tried that would be fine.

It seems to happen on all devices that are on WiFi. The hardwired are fine. We have several apple Tv's and a Samsung Smart Tv that we will stream movies to and some days it will be fine and some days it will stop and buffer like crazy. My wife uses RDP for a computer in the internal network a lot and somedays its fine and sometimes its unmanageable. We are not usually doing the streaming and the RDP at the same time.

We have so many devices hooked up through WiFi (Printers, Phones, Tablets, Thermostats, laptops, Tv's, etc...) that I am wondering if one of these is doing something and bogging down the network at times?

 

[RealBeast]

Most good consumer level routers will manage 8-12 wireless devices depending on the bandwidth of each. A SMART TV alone will often use all the bandwidth available. The least expensive fix if you want to keep them all wireless would be to do at least some of these: (1) use both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio on your Nighthawk, (2) add one or two wireless APs that use the other non-overlapping 2.4GHz wireless channels and/or another 5GHz channel), (3) assign your wireless users to different radios (you will have to use SSIDs that allow you to know where you are connecting to divide up the bandwidth), (4) check to see if there are any legacy G devices on the network -- if so try to put them all on one AP, and make all other 2.4GHz APs N only.

 

[grahambr]

Most good consumer level routers will manage 8-12 wireless devices depending on the bandwidth of each. A SMART TV alone will often use all the bandwidth available. The least expensive fix if you want to keep them all wireless would be to do at least some of these: (1) use both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio on your Nighthawk, (2) add one or two wireless APs that use the other non-overlapping 2.4GHz wireless channels and/or another 5GHz channel), (3) assign your wireless users to different radios (you will have to use SSIDs that allow you to know where you are connecting to divide up the bandwidth), (4) check to see if there are any legacy G devices on the network -- if so try to put them all on one AP, and make all other 2.4GHz APs N only.

Thank you..I am going to give it a try and let you know. Happy holidays.