Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

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peteroldracer
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Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby peteroldracer » Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:49 am

Just got optical fibre installed - supposed to be 600 Mbps but cannot get this anywhere in house testing with iPad - but still cannot get a reading on the top floor of our triplex. I am looking at mesh/powerline/ethernet cable extenders, but I got some coverage with old 12Mbps Wimax broadband. Am I being conned, and what is best way to check speed? I get different readings on smartphone/oldish iPad, oldish laptop/new iPad!
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby olive » Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:18 am

What speed are you getting with a device ( laptop or desktop) connected by ethernet cable?

Last year at my dads in uk, I found the speeds were very low . I changed his bt router to 5 from the default 2,4 and it shot up about tenfold.

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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby Enrique » Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:23 am

Hi perteroldracer,

" Am I being conned"............no

The WiFi coverage in the house will depend on the location of the WiFi router and the type of router......not all routers are created equal.

You had some extenders with the old system :?: ........get them configured for the new router......... :idea:

To get some idea of your setup you will need to Post details (make and model) of the current units and how you have the units currently setup through the house.
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby peteroldracer » Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:46 am

Hi enrique.
We have signed up for optical fibre internet, 600Mbps, they have supplied a Huawei router EG8145V5. I do have a TP-link AC1200 range extender that we used with our previous router with Wimax connection of 12Mbps, and using this on the first floor this gave us some coverage to the top floor, but I cannot get this to pair with the Huawei router as it has no WPS button, and I cannot get it to let me sign on to try and change this.
I had thought to run an ethernet cable to the top floor (where we have a second tv) and have been looking at mesh systems as an alternative, but my feeling is that if there was the promised 600 Mbps at the router I should be able to get a usable internet upstairs without repeaters or extenders? Just checked speed with iPad next to router and got 78.3 down, 95.8 up, with ping 27ms & jitter 0.35ms. A second iPad with Ookla gives 37.1/42.3 and 15ms & jitter 17ms - don’t know why the difference! My old Dell laptop gives figures between the iPad ones.
The router is in the ground floor lounge, connected to the tv with ethernet cable, using tvmucho for viewing.
A direct connection to the laptop using ethernet cable gives 94.64 down, 94.65 up, ping 12ms.
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby Enrique » Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:25 am

Hi,
"as it has no WPS button".............according to the spec it does............it's time to read the manual............. :-)

It doesn't matter on the incoming speed.........its how the WiFi signal gets round the house.

As for Ethernet.........is your laptop Ethernet port Gigabit or 100MB......... :?:

Manual

https://support.huawei.com/enterprise/e ... ing-cables
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby peteroldracer » Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:57 pm

I have found the (almost hidden) WPS button and paired to the RE350 extender. Plugging this in on the 1st floor gives poor wifi on top floor, so will resurrect a pair of powerline extenders TL-WPA4220KIT and try them. The man from Telecable is due to call in so I will again tackle him on the much lower broadband than promised....
As for “ As for Ethernet.........is your laptop Ethernet port Gigabit or 100MB...” I have no idea - is it easy to find this out? ISP man says reason my InSSIDer does not show any 5Ghz is because the laptop is old....is this BS or kosher?
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby Enrique » Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:58 pm

Hi Peter,

In the search box type Device manager -> Network Adapters ........ you may see Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller............ = Gigabit

If the Laptop is old the Ethernet Port will be 100MB, and the WiFi will only be 54Mbps

https://www.netspotapp.com/explaining-w ... dards.html

A summary........these are old

IEEE 802.11g: 802.11g i802.11g offers wireless transmission over distances of 150 feet and speeds up to 54Mbps compared with the 11Mbps of the 802.11b standard. Like 802.11b, 802.11g operates in the 2.4GHz range and therefore is compatible with it.


IEEE 802.11n: . The goal of the 802.11n standard is to significantly increase throughput in both the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz frequency range. The baseline goal of the standard was to reach speeds of 100Mbps, but given the right conditions, it is estimated that the 802.11n speeds might reach a staggering 600Mbps. In practical operation, 802.11n speeds will be much slower.

You really need 802.11ac to take advantage of your new internet speed and connect with 5ghz from the dual band Router.
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby spanish_lad » Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:07 pm

If possible i'd run a cable to the top floor and put another wifi router up there.
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby El Cid » Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:41 pm

That is by far and away the best bet. I have tried almost all combinations and the best by far is a cable. Peter, your RE350 has an ethernet port on it. If you plug your cable into it, it turns it into a wireless access point. I have run a cable from my router to two points in the house and attached a RE450 in each location.

On my iMac, connected to the router via cable or WiFi I get 950mb/s. At the two access points I get about 500mb/s.

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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby peteroldracer » Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:58 pm

Enrique: all I can find is Qualcomm Atheros AR8152 PCI-E Fast Ethernet controller (NDIS 6.30) - no further info on this apart from date installed 1/4/2013 (!). Is this the right gizmo?
or DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-mini card, which shoes 802.1 1h+d in the properties? The rate says 802.1.1b/g with the rate set to "Best rate", options being a range from 18 to 54 in steps of 6.
I have managed to get the TL-WPA4220KIT connected....so far seems to be staying linked so have wifi on top floor. we shall see.....
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby peteroldracer » Mon Feb 22, 2021 3:18 pm

spanish_lad wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:07 pm If possible i'd run a cable to the top floor and put another wifi router up there.
I have thought all along that a cable would be best - either using Sid's suggestion or I do have an old tp-link router somewhere. Problem would be the only house cable access point is across the room from any power point so a bit more head-scratching...
cheaper than buying some mesh pods anyway!
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby El Cid » Mon Feb 22, 2021 4:51 pm

I think Mesh systems are overpriced and are just the same as having a load of Wi-Fi extenders. Their main advantage is ease of setup and no worries about which unit you are connected to. I would prefer powerline adaptors as they are really flexible.

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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby Enrique » Mon Feb 22, 2021 5:16 pm

Hi Peter,
From your Post your Adapters are of the slow type. Fast Ethernet is only 100Mbps

I've the Tp-Link TL-WPA4220KIT .....connected the sender unit to the router Gigabit LAN port with Cat5e or Cat6 Ethernet cable.

Fitted Powerline WiFi unit 30mtr away ( It's a Bungalow elderly couple ) this is showing 186Mbps connection, another unit in a room halfway between is is displaying 202Mbps. These are AV500 units so not the latest spec but had them in my parts bin . On this Network its not an issue as the the Incoming Connection Broadband speed is only 18Mbps. :!:

TP-Link Utility............

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/down ... t/#Utility

The WiFi units have Ethernet Ports (2) 100Mbps , so you could connect Ethernet on the top floor without having to run a cable up there.
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby markwilding » Tue Feb 23, 2021 10:56 am

I have Mesh extenders which for my needs does the job. As they were quite cheap, they don't give the full speeds i get using my main router but they do what is needed, which is to give me functional internet upstairs in the opposite corner of the house. Occasionally I use it to watch TV and it works with no buffering.
When I had a problem one day, I mention to the visiting engineer that I didn't get the supposed speeds over WIFI. He explained that it was only possible using the 5G band of the router. The other band is limited to about 100mbs but has a far greater reach so I suppose that it's not possible to have 600mbs if the gadget cannot see the 5G band because it is too far away. Unless of course, you install some kind of extender with the higher bandwidth capacities,

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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby peteroldracer » Tue Feb 23, 2021 11:29 am

I have looked up the details of my laptop: bought November 2010 from Dell with the assistance of El Cid who had a contact in Dell who made sure the Windows & keyboard were English....cost €684.68! It is time to replace it but I am terrified that I will lose stuff like apps, digital certificates etc on transferring to a new one. As should be obvious I am far from being tech-savvy.
It does explain why I cannot get readings of 5Mhz bands on InSSIDer or any like with a smartphone or iPad.
The plc is working, but just gives enough speed to use the smart tv on the top floor when the readings at the router are good. I do need to be able to show that the supply is well short of the contracted 600Mbps ( best I have seen on a 1-year old iPad using Ookla is 136 up & 158 down, with today 98.6/88.0. - good but way short of 600!
What are you using Mark to check your broadband at the router?
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby Enrique » Tue Feb 23, 2021 12:48 pm

Hi Peter,
The way forward...........

Make a list of all your Apps/programs that you currently use, unless you have bought a License for any, they can be downloaded for free
Buy a 2TB external USB3 disk....... Either Seagate or Toshiba
Download Macrium Reflect Free ..........make two Image backups to the external disk.
As you're keeping the old Laptop that gives you three copies.
Buy new Laptop

Back to today..........

Most modern Routers you can login using a Browser and look at the Stats, this displays the connection speed from the ISP and when it last connected to the ISP. Plenty more info but that's all you're interested in at the moment.

I'm betting you don't have copies of your Digital Signature........sitting on a 10 year old Laptop........disk fail comes to mind. :evil:
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby peteroldracer » Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:20 pm

Last first - I do remember copying the signatures to a memory stick - will dig it out & check I have the right one!
I cannot login to the router - used to do this with the previous tp-link one but for some reason this will not let me.

As you can imagine, on the old laptop where data started out on a desktop, then moved it to laptop, operating system changed from W7 to W10 with updates...there is a lot of clutter that I dare not remove, but would not want to transfer. I assume that if Windows is pre-installed the language can be changed to English, but what about the keyboard? I can switch between keyboards on this but the keys are UK...they are so worn I cannot see which is the "i" and which is the "o"!
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby Enrique » Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:45 pm

Hi,
Look on base of Router for login details.

Possibly .......... username Epuser and password userEp

on your laptop . in the search type cmd this brings up a black window

type ipconfig

look for Wireless LAN adapter WiFi: ............... you're interested in the Gateway common one 192.168.1.1

then in a Browser type the Gateway IP this will bring up the Router login window........ login

More info..........

https://support.huawei.com/enterprise/e ... 7384f/faqs
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby peteroldracer » Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:55 pm

Login details on base of router gives IP address 192.168.100.1 and username root, password adminHW but these come up with “incorrect”. Ipconfig confirms the IP.
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Re: Does greater bandwidth give coverage further from router?

Postby markwilding » Wed Feb 24, 2021 10:22 pm

peteroldracer wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 11:29 am
What are you using Mark to check your broadband at the router?
These days it's very difficult to test real speeds in the router because hardly anything has an ethernet connection any more. To test speeds I use the most popular speed test site over WiFi
https://www.speedtest.net/
Due to the current restrictions I have to do the last class online so for the last hour have been using Zoom. If I am still connected to the downstairs router, I notice lag but as soon as I connect to the mesh network, I get no problems. I am upstairs now and have just checked the speed and got the 60mbs I normally get up here. Downstairs when connected to the 5G bandwidth, I get almost the full 600mps.sat on the sofa about 4 metres from the router.


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