AC Wi-Fi

-.- on 19/05/2015 - 15:12

Looking to get AC wifi at my place. My coaxial cable is on the far side of the house and hence that's where the modem and the router is. I currently have a dual band N router and a range extender in the middle of the house. Problem is, now with netflix coming in, internet speeds are horrendously slow during peak hours and it doesn't help with the bad range. I have Optus Cable at my place so a modem router for ADSL won't work.

So.

If price is not an issue…then, would the NightHawk router and be recommended?

http://www.dicksmith.com.au/networking-wireless/netgear-nigh…
http://www.dicksmith.com.au/routers-switches/netgear-nightha…

Interested to hear people's thoughts, or is it better to just relocate the existing router closer to the middle, depending on whether I can see any spare coaxial ports or not.

Computing

Comments

  • spackbace on 19/05/2015 - 15:18
    +2

    Can you run CAT cable up through the ceiling? Might be a little more long term

    • -.- on 19/05/2015 - 15:27

      One story house unfortunately!

      • ProjectZero on 19/05/2015 - 15:33

        I have a one story house and I had someone run the Lan cable from one room to another… shouldn't be an issue… the only issue is finding someone to do it.

        A small job like this wouldn't get you the time of day from most handyman…

      • Davo1111 on 19/05/2015 - 20:38
        +1

        tbh one story is easier.

        I laid a line using the existing tv antenna cable. I taped a thick rope to it, then pulled it into the cieling. Taped the cat cable back to that, then pulled it back through to the bottom.

        Did it at both ends, then cable tied it to the rafters to be clean and tidy.

        20m of premade cable is $19 @ msy.

        • bargainbot12 on 19/05/2015 - 21:40
          +1

          Yes I've done a very similar thing with ethernet and cctv cables!
          Works great, and much cheaper!

  • oringal on 19/05/2015 - 15:20

    Moving it closer to the middle will probably have better results imo. The speeds are still similar towards the edge of the router range, maybe consider bridging your modem with an ethernet cable instead of using a range extender.

  • scotty on 19/05/2015 - 17:46
    +1

    Try Ethernet over Power. I have an AC router (NetGear R7000) but the signal still can't be picked up on the other side of the house separated by 2 brick walls.

  • thatonethere on 19/05/2015 - 18:01
    +1

    Try ethernet over power to run another access point elsewhere in the house - or if you have carpet, try peeling up the edge and putting in a long CAT6 cable (not where people tread as it will break the cable eventually and leave a mark - not good for rental or wife/partner acceptance) and run another access point.

  • swiggity swag on 19/05/2015 - 19:37
    +1

    Wait you can get an air conditioner with WiFi? Where do I buy?
    On a more serious note, Wireless N is still many times faster than your internet connection. Have you tried running an Ethernet cable from your router, has that improved speeds?

    • gimli on 19/05/2015 - 21:14
      +1

      i suggest reverse cycle

  • TRS-80 on 20/05/2015 - 01:04

    802.11ac is 5GHz only, which has poorer penetration through walls than 2.4GHz. So relocation or running wired ethernet through the roof would be best IMHO. Otherwise my personal pick is TP-Link Archer C7.

    • scrimshaw on 20/05/2015 - 01:44
      +1

      I would try EOP first as per Scotty's suggestion before spending money on the router. Ethernet is still heaps better than any kind of 802.11 wifi. The range extender will also kill your speed and increase latency as well.

      I have a Archer D9 (arguably better than D7 or a C7) and while it is a high end router it still cannot solve issues with wifi dead spots — thats only something a good old ethernet cable and POE can overcome.

      Other option is to relocate the router to a more central location where you will encounter less walls between the devices.

  • Brendoo on 20/05/2015 - 11:37

    AC being on the 5GHz band has less range than N on the 2.4GHz band. So this may not help you if you simply replace your router. Depends how bad your current signal/speeds are.

    I was in exactly the same scenario as you. I simply swapped out my N router with an AC then found that the AC radio could not reach parts of the house to AC clients where the old N could. The N radio of the AC router could reach, but that gave me no better performance than the old N router.

    My solution was to run LAN cable to the middle of the house and relocate the router.

    To be honest, for internet (I am on ADSL2+, not NBN) the AC router made no difference to speed whatsoever, but I didnt expect it to. I only got it to speed up my LAN. It made a huge difference there as I sometimes do large video backups between my AC laptop and a backup server, and vice versa.

    You could potentially also relocate the entry point of your cable to another spot in the house, not sure if that would work for you. My other alternative was relocating the phone outlet (single outlet) where ADSL comes into the house.

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