Need help on deciding network upgrade for old house.

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Alcad

Alcad

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Nov 12, 2011
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So the house that I live in is pretty old, I believe it was built in the early 50's or so, so the walls aren't exactly the most wireless friendly. I'm currently using a Asus RT-N56U 300MBPS wireless-N router paired with a TP-LINK TL-WN822N 300MBPS Wireless N USB Network adapter. The signal is decently strong, but I feel like I'm not getting my full advertised network speed because of the thick walls in my house. My question is: what would be in my best interest to upgrade to?

Should I go for a stronger router/adapter combination, perhaps upgrading to Wireless AC? Or would a Powerline Adapter work best? My 'theoretical' max speeds should be 75mbps up and 75mbps down, but I think I've only hit like 6.2MBps or around 50 mbps max. Thanks in advance.
 
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why_wolf
running some Ethernet would be best, the powerline adapters 2nd. The problem with the adapters is their quality is wholly dependent on your electrical wiring so you won't know if they'll work well until you plug them in.

A new router won't do much or any good. If the walls are to thick, they're too thick.
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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May 29, 2013
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Wireless AC probably won't change anything. The higher speeds available in AC are 5Ghz only. 5Ghz doesn't penetrate walls as well as 2.4Ghz. The BEST implementation would be to install ehternet cable to the room(s) that need high bandwidth. That will ensure maximum throughput. If you have a basement or accessible crawl space, installing cat5 cable is not terribly difficult.
After that the AV2 powerline adapters are the next best thing.
 
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J

Joe Porter

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Aug 12, 2013
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I wouldn't have thought you will get an awful lot more whilst wireless anyway. Your Max speeds are up to 75mbs you are getting 2/3rds of that but you also have to account for slightly slower speed due to the connection being wireless. In theory a powerline adapter should help you achieve slightly faster speeds but I wouldn't have thought it would be that noticeable. If your signal is quite strong as it is I doubt a new router/adapter combination would make any difference. If they were struggling currently then I would have suggested it may make a difference but as they are performing quite well I don't think it would make much difference.
 
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why_wolf

why_wolf

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Aug 28, 2015
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running some Ethernet would be best, the powerline adapters 2nd. The problem with the adapters is their quality is wholly dependent on your electrical wiring so you won't know if they'll work well until you plug them in.

A new router won't do much or any good. If the walls are to thick, they're too thick.
 
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