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MarkRom
Advocate

Wifi Range

Hi all

 

My internet went live yesterday on my NowTV Hub Two. I have the router in the lounge room and the TV and my Laptop work fine, but in the next room (literally 5 feet away) the wifi has one bar and cuts out. Is this normal? Do I have a faulty router? Do I need to purchase a range extender?

 

I've never had such poor range from a router before and am concerned about making the decision to sign up with now.

 

Cheers

Mark

6 REPLIES 6
gavs82008
Legend 5
Legend 5

@MarkRom 

You could try to split the Wi-fi bands, however this will probably improve your speeds.

Step 4: Split your Wi-Fi bands

https://help.nowtv.com/article/improve-broadband-speed

 

NOW doesn't supply Wi-fi extenders, this will be have be sourced by yourself out your own pocket. 

FYI that I do not work for NOW, just a NOW customer trying to help
RoyB
Legend

@MarkRom 

 

For the rationale behind splitting the bands, and what this does and doesn’t achieve, read:-

https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Setup-Performance/Coverage/m-p/572737/highlight/true#M10227

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.
Geluk
Expert 2

Try using your old router with NOW's settings, if that had better range

Anonymous User
Not applicable

The Hub Two router is of inferior quality with regard to wifi range. After being sent a replacement router which would not even authenticate. No other router is available from them. It was cheekily suggested that I fit an extender and or alter router settings. A potential customer is unaware of these pitfalls and the situation should be rectified immediately. 
My eventual solution is that I have returned to my original supplier EE and they are kindly paying for my early termination fee up to £50.  The fee is £22 but I even get to keep the £28 change!
chilli2
Elite

Since the early days of Broadband and trying to deal with the alcatel frog ( anyone remember that) I have alway6s been of the opinion that ISP supplied kit by and large is fecal matter .

 Some ISPs do supply good kit, but at the budget end of the market occupied by the likes of Now, Plus net, Talk Talk etc you shouldn't expect wondrous wifi or any other frills.

 

For most people the supplied kit will do the job ( just about) however there are a few things that you can do to get the most out of the connection :

Download an android app called wifi analyzer and use this to see what wifi networks are in your areas as well as signal strengths etc

 

 If your router supports 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz wifi separate the bands - go to the router settings and you should be able to do this. 2.4 goes further but is a fraction slower  although it will be more than  fast enough for almost all things, 2.4 can also be more congested -  pick a good channel and you should be fine. 5Ghz is a little faster and less congested, however speeds will slow down significantly the further you move away and where there are more objects in the way, sometimes if the bands are not separate a device may lock onto a 5Ghz signal when it would be better on 2.4.

 to make it easy to spot give the 5Ghz network a different name - ie add 5Ghz to the end

 

Next location, whee is the router located? putting it in a cupboard, on the floor, by a TV,a microwave, a fishtank or even in a window ledge can affect the signal  if you can place the router away from any obstructions and keep it centrally located. Also if you can plug it into the master socket - you can upgrade your master socket by fitting a NTE5 filtered face plate if you are OK with doing basic DIy stuff - there is a guide here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noILk3xBP2U   make sure that the face plate is compatible with the mastersocket and never go beyond the customer end of the wiring - a filtered faceplate will also mean that you no longer have to use microfilters, but you can only plug the modem/router in to that socket

 

So youve tried all of that that you can and its still a load of fecal matter - as mentioned ISP supplied kit isnt generally upto much so go out and buy your own router modem - i did just that as my previous ISP supplied kit from plusnet wasnt all that good ( to say the least) I use a TP link Archer VR2800 and have no issues whatsoever with the wifi which is usable all over the property, down a long but narrow garden and beyond.

 You will need to check that the router you want to buy is compatible with Now /Sky ( not all are) - search this forum for own router for more - but i certainly wouldnt consider switching ISP for the reason the supplied router is rubbish - if you use your own router always keep the one you got form the ISP as you may need it if there is a technical problem with your line - also some ISPs ask for the router to be returned if/when you leave/change ISP

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Hi,

 

I had a similar problem, the wifi cut off in one bedroom. I went onto the router settings (192.168.0.1) and unsynced the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, the 2.4GHz has larger range than the 5GHz and works in all rooms. However the speed wasn't optimal. So I bought a cheapish (18.99) wireless access point from Amazon and connected that via ethernet cable to the router and put that access point in the low wifi room, now I have full connectivity across each room with no problems.