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Anonymous User
Not applicable

Poor WiFi Signal In Rooms Away From the Hub 2

I’ve just joined nowtv broadband and my experience is not good. The hub doesn’t give good coverage whereas as my sky,bt have. The issue is with the hub and nothing else it works fine if your close to it. I cannot even play Netflix, PS4 in bedrooms upstairs as it doesn’t even show up and my house is small. I’ve called now broadband and went through channel switching and placement of hub( which I already now where the best place is FYI considering all the companies I’ve been with no problems)  which didn’t improve anything. WiFi extenders/boasters don’t work. It makes it worse in my house as I guess the furthest point in the house isn’t far enough and close to the hub. And to get through to technical support is another battle, their wait time isn’t what it says. it will say for example 9mins when it’s literally double that, I timed it last night. It seems they can cut their waiting times in half or more if they make a decent hub and unfortunately it will be at least 2 years before they realise this. I’ve put a switch to virgin on. Still have to live with no Netflix and PS4 for about 2 weeks and nowtv advisor wasn’t interested in helping much after he saw the port request. The poor WiFi coverage echos on the internet.

37 REPLIES 37
chilli2
Elite

I've always been on the opinion that most ISP routers arent that great, and the lower down you go on the budget ISP range the worse the routers get

The simple rule that i have always held is that If you want a good router then you will need to pay for one.

 

For a vast majority of people the supplied kit will be good enough , however for some they will run into issues .

 Before splashing out on a new router and finding one thats compatible  as Now and  Sky use a slightly different system to other ISPs, then setting it up with no support from Now on how to do this, there are a few things you can do to help the situation.

 

1: separate the bands, most routers spit out a signal on 2.4ghz and another on 5ghz.

 2.4 goes a long way but can be congested and can be a little slower

 5Ghz is faster, less prone to congestion but doesnt go that far.

 in most cases 2.4 will suffice however if they have the same network name then your device(s) may lock onto the weaker 5Ghz signal , so go into the router settings and separate the bands calling them different names , if the signal is not split sometimes it can be hard to see what one you are connected to

 

2: use an app such as Wifi analyzer ( android)  to measure the strength round the house

3: look at the placement of the router, is it near a TV, microwave, fish tank, shoved in a cupboard, under the stairs in a window ledge - all of these can have an effect on the signal, if you can place it in an open area

4: property type/construction, if your house is old and has thick stone walls that will degrade the signal, likewise with new properties that may have aluminium backed insulation panels

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Router seems poor quality to me for signal, i use the one at my mums and two rooms and its struggling to find a signal. Never had this issue with a route before with the distance.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

4 months with hub 2 and its the worst router I`ve ever had, Same room cannot use  with chromecast it buffers so bad, walk out of the room signal has no bars, even sat on the sofa 4 ft away 1 bar -UNACCEPTABLE,   shocking just absolutely shocking, customer service wait times needs addressing 37 minutes and still not connected gave up,  even channel changing does zilch nada nothing. poor excuse of a router.  Every night around 7pm the broadband cuts out. Sort it out NOWTV or I leave. !

Anonymous User
Not applicable

The Nowtv Hub and Sky Q hub are the worst pieces of Kit I have ever come across.  the hub is 1.3m away from the LG TV and I get 83% changing channels makes no difference. this is with 1 laptop, 2 phones & 1 TV connected in the network. if you go into another room even through  stud walls, the signal drops to under 70%. This kit is simply not suitable for use other than in the same room as the hub. if you are in a old house with thick walls forget it unless you piggy-back a decent router off the hub. 

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I had the same problem. 

The rooms directly above where the router is would get full bars and full speed as promised but the rooms that were more away horizontally speaking had a poor connection to the router and consequently poorer internet speed. 

I purchased a WiFi booster (I got the netgear universal from Argos- intially bought the tp link but just couldn’t get it to connect to the router, returned it back to Argos and got the netgear and that paired up fine) and I get full speeds now in the WiFi dead zones in my house. 

Definitely recommend purchasing one that you find suitable. I can recommend the one that I bought but I didn’t exactly search that hard or give much though for one. Just bought whatever seemed good  enough. 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Hi,

 

I'm having the same problem with the wifi in my flat. It works out on the street but not in any of the bedrooms. I'm hesitant to purchase a booster as I've read a lot of reviews saying thay they don't work!

Can anyone recommend the one that you bought?

 

Thanks 🙂

Anonymous User
Not applicable

What exactly did you purchase? 
move bought a wifi extender from Argos but it still doesn’t help 

RoyB
Legend

@Anonymous User 

 

Because you need to put the extender very close to the router, or it can’t find any WiFi to extend,

 

Try what I suggested to @Anonymous User here:-

 

https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Setup-Performance/I-need-to-talk-to-an-human-being/m-p/580224/highlight/true#M11977

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.
Anonymous User
Not applicable

New customer too. Having exactly the same issue. Signal 'good' next to router and in my daughters bedroom above but 'fair or marginal' in our bedroom or the room next the router.

Have done the same contacted the support desk, tried and tested the line and changed and tried all the different channels. 

I have been unwell and am outside the cooling off period. 

Purchased a wifi rnage extender for upstairs which had improved the signal strength in our bedroom. But that seems to have stopped working now.

I purchased a new router but was unable to connect to internet as NOWTV was not one of the automatic selections so had to go into 'other' which required lots of info that I had no idea of! Not technical savvy past the basics!

Contacted technical support and they would not give me the info and told me that the router I had purchased (£89) was not compatable with NOWTV broadband!  Luckily was able to get a refund.

 

On talking to a really helpful guy at PC World I have purchased a wifi travel router and a very long 10 metre ethernet cable so that we can place it far away from the phone, radiator etc and near the stairs. Will give this a go tomorrow after work. 

 

Fingers crossed but not holding my breath!!

 

May have to resign myself to poor wifi for the next 11 months 😞

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I'm a little side note. I have the same issue. But....i have a larger than average garden and if I walk to the end my Wi-Fi signal is full! Yet at my back door 5meters from the box...nothing! Anyone else experience this?