Second Router or Wireless Access Point ?

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spacejunk

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I've had a long-running issue with intermittent dropouts using my wireless receiver that came with my mobo. It has two honking antenna's, but still it has to contend with several walls and a beefy upper floor structure.

Would it be better to purchase another router that can receive the signal and then LAN it to my PC or would it be better to buy a WAP to relay the signal ?

I'm not really savvy with networking, so correction on what functions I should expect from a WAP is welcome. I have a humongous ugly wrinkled ethernet cable slithering through the house and my landlord isn't a fan.
 
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Tom Tancredi
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Tom Tancredi

Tom Tancredi

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Neither actually. WIFI is based on 802.11 standard, the original 2.4GHz broadcast while can go 'far' is affected by all those neighbors, cordless phones, microwaves and babymonitors causing it constant interference. 5Ghz is much better but only two or three rooms (20-30 Feet). Both are greatly depreciated by such "beefy" or multiple (several) walls or floors or such.

Your best solution would be the much more likely Netgear Orbi or Google Mesh, which claim to take into account larger structures ( 2000-5000 SQFT) or multiple floors. You would need to look into those solutions to meet your needs.
 
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spacejunk

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Wouldn't that be a bit excessive ? I mean it's not a unit complex, it's just a two-story house. $560 is not within my budget as far as networking goes. I just need to get the signal upstairs and then I can go crazy with cables if need be.

Are there any other options ?
 
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Tom Tancredi

Tom Tancredi

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Think of WIFI as a bubble, if you can relocate either the Router (thus moving the bubble) or moving your 'gear' to be inside that bubble (the best being 5G as the only solution to your performance issues) then your either needing to do a wired solution OR pony up the money for the convenience your trying to achieve.

As I mentioned the more things the bubble goes through the more it 'POPS' and you can't get it to you / or other bubbles (the other names you see and the other devices you don't - see my list). While you can review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZk0ksn0Yak which says the same things, ultimately you in the latter category, where you have the problems (Beefy aka solid) floor structure and (several) walls in between points, hence the suggestions I offered.

Do remember if you try a Extender, it cuts the speed 1/2 and ONLY extends 2.4Ghz which is still getting 'bounced' around by all those other sources (neighbors,...) so your not going to achieve the goal unless you move, wire, or spend more.
 
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doolittle

doolittle

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I had a very similar problem in my 3-floor townhome, my internet comes in from the basement and the router placement is sub-optimal so I tried to connect another router in AP mode in the center of the house - it worked close range but once I got a couple of rooms away the signal dropped out and disconnected a lot.

My ultimate solution was to get a UniFi AP-AC-LR to replace the router in AP mode, it made a stunning difference - now the whole house gets full bars 5ghz and the 2.4ghz band is not drowned out by the neighbors. Great products with an excellent antenna design, it's worth a look.
 
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spacejunk

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That sounds like a much more sensible option for me, at least if I'm understanding you correctly.

For the UniFi to broadcast a 5ghz signal doesn't it need to be wired to the main router ?
 
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Tom Tancredi

Tom Tancredi

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UniFi is only solution I seen implemented in a school, and is used in other COMMERICAL spaces due to size and other limitation require this level of implementation. The downside I seen is how the UniFi followed many of the problems of older NON-MESH implementation, and to see what those are and how they affect you (like extenders and such) here is a good explanation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfBiR-mtvSM
 
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doolittle

doolittle

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My experience has been UniFi handles multi-AP handoff really well compared to others (ahem - aerohive) where constant swapping between APs really kills your device battery. Good price point for the features as well, which was my main driving point to get one for home use. Surprising performance from the single AP, not only covers the entire townhouse with 5g I also get 1/2 bars in the backyard as well.

No experience with mesh other than being a user / client, I got my AP in service before mesh was a thing.
 
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