Best WiFi extenders

[Diljit]

I am on 65 Fibre. Speed drops at times. Got a Talk Talk extender but makes no difference. Any advice on what extenders are best to try to have connection in all rooms. Is Xtra Boost extenders as advertised any good?

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Thanks @KeithFrench 🙂

Michelle

[Diljit]

Thank you

[KeithFrench]

That is your choice, if it connects to the 5GHz band, do a speed test. Next, compare that to a speed test over the Ethernet. Go with which ever is the fastest, although the Ethernet is going to be the most reliable.

[Diljit]

Keith

Thank you very much indeed for all your help and advice - much appreciated.

Just one bit of advice please. My PC is currently connected with Ethernet cable. Should I live the WiFi connection on or off please.

[KeithFrench]

Hi @Diljit 

The main problem is with your 2.4GHz band, it is very heavily congested, which might not be the main problem. Your signal strength is very low on channel 1. This might be due to the router or your PC's location.

This is the best location, but obviously, this is not always practical & a compromise has to be reached.

The general rule is to keep away from:-

1. Cordless phone (DECT) base stations
2. TVs
3. Loudspeakers & any sub-woofers (including those used with a PC)
4. Computer monitors
5. Electrical appliances – they often transmit their own signals that can interfere with Wi-Fi signals.
6. Bluetooth devices – they operate on the same Wi-Fi frequency as your broadband, which can cause signal problems.
7. Mirrors – they actually reflect Wi-Fi signals, stopping them from passing through walls and reflecting them back into the room.
8. Anything containing large amounts of water – things like fish tanks and boilers can absorb Wi-Fi signals like a sponge.
9. Large metal objects – radiators, for instance, will have the same effect on your Wi-Fi as mirrors. If you have a tower PC case with an internal WiFi card, the metal of the case can block signals to & from the antennae if they are located behind the tower case.
10. If you are using a USB Wi-Fi adapter, use a USB socket on the front of the PC, as there is more open space around it than at the rear. If a USB extension cable is used, try to ensure that it is fairly short, so that the power from the computer is not attenuated. Long extension cables can cause the adapter to not have enough power from the computer to work correctly.

As a very general rule, the signal travels best on the same floor as the router and to the floor below. It does not always propagate very well to a floor above the router. However, with more modern routers, if they have a higher specification, they may be able to get the signal upstairs OK, but your ability to receive it also depends on your device's network adapter being of a higher specification, as well as its age.

Where USB or PCIe-connected WiFi adapters are concerned, power management is best disabled if running in Windows to keep a reliable Wi-Fi connection working at full speed. Once you have made the changes outlined below, it is probably best to restart the PC.

Windows Power Management issues. To check this in Windows 10 or 11, open Device Manager and expand Network adapters. Then right-click your WiFi card & select Properties. Next, click on the Power Management tab and untick Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power. If the adapter is connected via USB, then expand the USB section in Device Manager and the same option can be found in the Power Management tab in most Root Hubs and USB Controllers. Untick it in there as well.

[KeithFrench]

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 to me in a PM (to protect your privacy), which 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. 

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi

optimisation is off for this router.

Thanks  

Karl. 

[KeithFrench]

I'll ask TT to disable it then.

[Diljit]

Keith, sorry I have no idea if the WiFi optimisation is disabled or not. How do I find this please. Happy for this to be disabled.

Please send the guide.

[KeithFrench]

Thanks for that.

Have you had TalkTalk’s Wi-Fi optimisation disabled on your Sagemcom FAST5364/5464 router? When this is enabled, as it is by default, it has the power to override any Wi-Fi configuration changes that I might suggest that you need to make. This will not help rectify this type of problem if Wi-Fi Optimisation is allowed to change my suggested settings. Only TalkTalk can do this for you, you cannot do it yourself. If not, just request they disable this for you in your reply.


The next stage involves sending out a guide to you to help you get me some important diagnostic results so that I can analyse them for you and recommend changes to your router configuration to solve them.

I only send this out to people who request it.

[Diljit]

Hi Keith, the Router is Sagemoom - Devise Ver: FAST 5464 - 2 74.

[KeithFrench]

Slow speed, intermittent dropouts, breaks in the signal, no signal on some or all devices or no internet access might be caused by Wi-Fi interference from other local networks, which can also lead to a permanent reduction in speed. No ISP can be responsible for your local environment, this is mainly a byproduct of the popularity of Wi-Fi.

Generally speaking, the 2.4GHz band suffers much more from interference than the 5GHz band, but the 2.4GHz one can sometimes have a better range, but this all depends on your local area.

If you would like me to help you, please can you specify the make/model of TalkTalk router that you are using?

[Diljit]

Thank you Keith. Basically our WiFi drops periodically in some parts of the house. The reception is sometimes slow in some rooms. We have had these issues for quite some time. In 2019 we upgraded to Fibre 65 package and were provided with a WiFi Extender kit. Same problem still. The router was replace in 2022. Made no difference. We have had multipool engineers. The connection to the router is fine and location of router is fine (according to the engineers).   The engineer who attended last week show the location where the extender was situated. He noted the slow connection which made no difference to the speed when he plugged his lap top to the extender. This prompted my question about best extenders. 
Thank you very much for your help and advice.  

[KeithFrench]

Hi @Diljit 

@Michelle-TalkTalk has asked me for my advice on WiFi extenders. I have never even heard of Xtra Boost extenders. I can't give you any recommendations on 3rd party equipment, unless I have tested them, which in this case I haven't. However, before some generic advice, have you ever looked into the cause of your WiFi reception, just adding extenders etc can actually make things worse, rather than better. If you want assistance with this, I can offer a lot of help on the subject.

Now to WiFi Extenders & repeaters.

Repeaters connect back to the router via the router's Wi-Fi, whereas an extender connects back via Ethernet cable or powerline technology to a LAN port on the router. The repeater needs to be sited in a good position to receive a decent WiFi signal from the router, which may mean it still cannot reach the area you require. In addition to this, the repeater broadcasts out a fresh copy of the Wi-Fi signal in all directions, including back to the router. A repeater normally uses the same Wi-Fi channel as the router and this can cause the router's Wi-Fi signal to be cancelled out, leaving the repeater with no connection to the router. In addition to this, a repeater can cut your download & upload speeds by 50%, because the repeater has to serve both the router and the device.

Therefore a much better approach is to use a true Extender. These are often available in a kit of two units that connect over your electricity, back to the router. However, you may have problems with this sort of scenario if the two units are connected to different electrical ring main circuits. Some people have issues like this & others do not, so it is impossible for me to predict if this will be OK for you.

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

@KeithFrench Would you be able to offer any advice please?

Thanks

Michelle