NowTV Broadband Hub Weak Signal

[Lisa1970]

Please help not had now broadband long and won’t be much longer if this is not sorted .. signal is really weak apart from the room where the hub is .. can’t even connect my lads smart telly we live in a bungalow .. please help

[olio123]

Hi,

Can you send me similar instructions please to change the channel on the router?

My router doesn't seem to be able to send the signal through walls that I know are just plasterboard stud walls and the bedrooms are not receiving a signal.

Thank you

[RoyB]

@olio123 @Lisa1970 

If you have an Android phone, I recommend you download a free app called WiFi Analyzer from the Google Play store , and try its various options with your setup.

What does the View/Signal meter show, for instance, right up by the router, and progressively further away? 

Does your broadband stand head and shoulders above other neighbouring signals on View/Channel graph, or is it swamped by them?

Can you move to the best channel shown by View/Channel rating, if you are not already on it, and does that make an improvement?

WiFi Analyzer is a tool I would not be without, and it is a great shame that there can be no comparable tool on iOS devices, due to the restrictions Apple put on what apps in their AppStore can and can’t do.

[TonyTimmington]

The NOW TV wifi signal is very weak. Far weaker that my previous Talk Talk router which is several years old.

I now have a TP-Link AV500 wifi extender. How do I connect it?

Does the NOW TV router have a wifi button?

[RoyB]

@TonyTimmington 

I now have a TP-Link AV500 wifi extender. How do I connect it?

You read the instructions that came with it, and do what they say.

They probably tell you to plug it in near to the router, connect in a browser to the Extender, and configure it by giving details of the router - SSID and password most likely, so it can connect to it.

Does the NOW TV router have a wifi button?

Probably, but don’t touch it, as the router is almost certainly delivered with WiFi turned on.

It’s possible you mean WPS, by which you put the Extender in searching mode, and press the WPS button on the router, which authorises it to connect to anything out there that is searching, saving you having to give SSID and password.

Once the two devices are connected, you then move the Extender to a mains socket about halfway between the router and the thing it can’t currently reach.

if the Extender can’t see the router from there, move the Extender the minimum distance nearer to the router that allows it to connect, and hope that the Extender makes a better fist of WiFi than the router does, so the remote location can still see the Extender.

Hopefully, the Extender will rebroadcast the same SSID as the router; but if it doesn’t, you will have to connect the remote device to the SSID of the Extender.

If any or all of this seems like gibberish to you, ask around your friends until you find one who understands it, and let him/her set it up for you. Once set up, it should be pretty straightforward to use.

And then take them out for a decent drink of their choice.....

[ukbobboy]

@RoyB 

Hi Roy

I too recently installed a TP Link Extender which, by the way, has three separate methods of being connected to a router.

The first and easiest method, of using WPS, didn't work for me, but the second method, using TP Link Tether app, worked like a charm.

However, the third method, which I am grateful I did not have to use, requires a laptop with an Internet port, a length of RJ45 cable with plugs at both ends and wi-fi connection to the internet.

And yes, I do believe you are correct that if the easier methods do not work then Tony will have to call in outside help.

UK Bob

[RoyB]

Cheers for that @ukbobboy 

Did it use the same SSID as the router, or a variant?

[ukbobboy]

@RoyB 

Hey Roy

Yeah, I used the same SSID, but I do know some other brands of extenders insist on using a variant name.

UK Bob