Relocating master Phone Socket

[Scotia55]

My BT master phone socket is located in the kitchen and there is a room(2 walls) separating it from the lounge. My devices, mobile and TV, sometimes struggle to connect and as a result internet goes down quite frequently.  I do have adapters but I was wondering if it was worth the expense of having the phone socket moved to the lounge which would obviously bring the router into the same room as the tv?  If that is a feasible thing to do, does TalkTalk do this or do i have to contact BT?

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Scotia55

Ok no problem. I'm glad it's arrived 🙂

Debbie

[Scotia55]

Hi Debbie

Just received it late last night so not attempted to install it yet.  My brother in law will do that for me and I'll let you know how we get on.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Scotia55

Have you received the WIFI adapter/booster?

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Scotia55

No problem 🙂 It's on the way, please allow 24-48hrs for this to arrive.

I will check in again with you next week to see how you are getting on.

Thanks again.

Debbie

[Scotia55]

Yes please Debbie.  That would be great.  Thank you.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Scotia55

Would you like me to send a WIFI adapter/booster to help? There will be no charge for this.

@KeithFrench

[KeithFrench]

No don't do that, as I have another plan. Can you just put the screenshots either into a Word document or into a ZIP file. Then just attach it to your thread rather than a PM. As soon as I have them, I will remove the attachment from your thread.

[Scotia55]

I have absolutely no idea how to go about that.  I appreciate that you have lots of experience with the technical side of routers and bandwidths and such,  but for a layman like me, it seems very technical.  As I explained the other day, I cannot upload photos because it won't allow me to use the upload button.  Perhaps the best thing is just to move the master phone socket and this would negate the need for extenders at all?  

[KeithFrench]

Hi @Scotia55 

Find them & turn them off. Then get me a fresh set of screenshots from Netspot on your laptop and make sure that when you do it, Netspot is running in a maximised window and try to resize the Frequency, Security & Type columns smaller so that the Signal column is visible.

Then make sure when using the Insert Photos tool that the Size parameter is set to Large.

[Scotia55]

Morning Keith do you know I was thinking about those tp link extenders and wondered if they were to blame.  What would be your suggestion?

[KeithFrench]

Hi @Scotia55 

The thing is forgetting the 1700 network is not the same as turning it off, the WiFi signal is still present & interfering with 3483, but I have made a discovery.

I can just about make out one of your screenshots, although pretty much out of focus. Both of these networks are using WiFi channel 6 and to make matters worse, 1700 is using 40Mhz channel bandwidth instead of the recommended 20MHz for the 2.4GHz band. What that means is that 1700 is using so many channels (9 out of 11) to get that bandwidth, it is interfering with not only 3483, but some of your neighbours as well. It really needs to be turned off, but it is not what we thought it was. It is not a TalkTalk router at all, but some TP-Link device. Probably some sort of Wi-Fi repeater, does this sound familiar at all?

[Scotia55]

I have no other phone sockets.  Just the one BT installed master. I've never heard of a problem like this before.  

 Since I don't know how to turn off the 1700 router, I toggled the auto connect to off.  Immediately lost signal to the 3483 router after a few seconds and phone went to my mobile data.  So it seems if I turn off the 1700 router and am away from the kitchen, the 3483 signal is just so low that it disconnects.  As to where that old router is, goodness knows.  I suspect I have either sent it back to talktalk or it's in the loft which is difficult for me to get into.  I'll try downloading your suggested app.

[KeithFrench]

Hi @Scotia55 

This happens from time to time, you'll probably find the PMs will be back to normal again in a short while.

If I remember correctly, you are not sure where this router is physically located in your house. I was going to suggest that you log into it & just try disabling its WiFi. Not the best idea, but it could solve the problem. However, you also said that you do not know the router (admin) password, so that knocks that idea on the head.

Do you have any other phone sockets in the house in addition to the master socket, if so could it be near one of those? Your phone, if it is an Android V8.1 or greater you could install the WiFi analyser I recommend in my guide:-

Wi-Fi Analyser by olgor.com

This has a handy feature in its AP view - the distance your phone is from the router. Walk around the house until you get as close to it as possible according to this app.

Failing that, check what is plugged into every power outlet in your house, you must in the end find it the hard way.

[Scotia55]

Keith I can't post any further PMs as I appear to have reached some sort of limit?  I'm not at all clear how to actually turn off the 1700 router.  

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Thanks for your help Keith.

[KeithFrench]

Hi @Debbie-TalkTalk 

I haven't been able to get anywhere really, because of an unusual situation. @Scotia55  has two routers, one was supposed to be old & the other is the current one. Both are turned on & it seems that both have internet access.

Every time I ask her to turn off the alleged old router, she loses all internet access. I can only assume that there is some confusion & maybe one router is out of her reach or whatever. I also have a nagging suspicion that both connected to the same broadband, one in the master socket & the other in an extension one.

I have been doing the diagnosis via PMs to preserve the customer's privacy where network analyser screenshots are concerned & have just asked her to find out where each router is connected, decide which one to keep & disconnect & turn off the other one.

I am more than happy to carry on helping her, but I really need to get this duplicate router situation dealt with once & for all.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Scotia55 and @KeithFrench 

Do you still need our help with this?

[KeithFrench]

One problem that I have identified is that @Scotia55 has an old router that is not connected to anything and is still turned on, in addition to the current router. This is most likely cancelling out the WiFi signal from the current router, or making it have a poor signal strength. This is not to say that there aren't other issues as well, which if so, I will deal with.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Keith

No problem. Thanks for your help 🙂

[KeithFrench]

Thanks @Debbie-TalkTalk 

Hi @Scotia55 

I will PM you a link for a guide of mine on Wi-Fi interference & initially look at the section called "Are you suffering from interference – prove it first". This section includes full details of Wi-Fi analysers that I recommend for Windows, Windows phone, Android and Apple operating systems. However, I have no way of testing the Apple product. Do not worry about interpreting the results, I will do that for you.

Please post the screenshots that I have requested in my guide (no photos please they can be difficult to read as text can get out of focus when zoomed in), from the analyser you are using (also in my attached guide). Please ensure that the analyser window is maximised (if Windows) before taking the screenshots & upload them via the "Insert Photos" button (in a mobile browser it's the picture icon) on the post editor's toolbar with the Size parameter set to Large. If they are too small, I will not be able to read them & although I can enlarge them, this puts the text out of focus. If you prefer PM them to me. If you do PM me, then please add a link in there to this thread, so that I can find it easily.