Wi-Fi Help Please

bobwokeup on 05/10/2023 - 19:57

We have a ZTE H1600 router that sits in the study. Our issue is that it works perfectly with our new smart TV in the living room but is average with an older TV connected to a newish Apple TV in our room. Both TVs have one inside wall when it comes to line of sight and the weird thing is the TV in our room is a few metres closer than the living room.

Also, we can't move the modem unfortunately as the cables are already stretched from the internet line in the wall. Even the front room with an older smart TV doesn't work well and that's about the same distance as our bedroom.

Any help or suggestions is appreciated ;)

Internet

Comments

  • spackbace on 05/10/2023 - 19:59
    +1

    Time for mesh wifi…

    • coffeeinmyveins on 06/10/2023 - 10:52

      yeah no joke. I thought I could get away with wifi repeater and it was complete ass. Installed a mesh network and literally haven't had to think about it since.

  • SBOB on 05/10/2023 - 20:00
    +1

    Buy a ZTE H3601, which is a mesh/extender suitable for that modem
    Simple solution

    With that modem I'd take a guess you're an exetel customer, and if so, they sell that extender (about $100)

    • bobwokeup on 05/10/2023 - 20:05

      Ahhhh okay. I’ve heard of mesh but know nothing about them, how do they work?

      Close I’m with Superloop but was thinking about changing providers. On another post one member who had similar experiences to me suggested Tangerine so I’m considering that. Sounds like I need to get this first and then see how everything goes…

      • SBOB on 05/10/2023 - 20:15

        Close I’m with Superloop

        owns exetel. I'd see if they sell it, but if not, exetel may sell them to non customers. Or you could switch to exetel and take advantage of another 6 month promo price possibly.

        how do they work?

        just seamlessly extends your existing wifi. I've not set one of the ZTE ones up, but a friend has one (which exetel may have pre configured for their modem as they were exetel customers), but it was pretty much plug it in and bye bye basic wifi range issues.

        • bobwokeup on 05/10/2023 - 22:06

          Block-quote owns exetel. I'd see if they sell it, but if not, exetel may sell them to non customers. Or you could switch to exetel and take advantage of another 6 month promo price possibly.

          Oh I see, thanks did not know that. Yeah good idea I will do that.

          Block-quote just seamlessly extends your existing wifi. I've not set one of the ZTE ones up, but a friend has one (which exetel may have pre configured for their modem as they were exetel customers), but it was pretty much plug it in and bye bye basic wifi range issues.

          Good to know, it does make sense that I stay with the ZTE brand. So would you suggest to put it in our room?

          • SBOB on 06/10/2023 - 10:01
            +1

            @bobwokeup:

            So would you suggest to put it in our room?

            just plugs into a power point.
            Some midway or closer to the centre of your house position will likely be fine, but you can move it around and i think it likely even has some kind of signal strength indicator etc to show some form of visual indicator

      • coffeeinmyveins on 06/10/2023 - 09:48

        I’ve heard of mesh but know nothing about them, how do they work?

        Mesh are just a fancy way of having multiple WIFI points in your home that you don't need to jump between since they do it automatically.

        I have one and it works a treat. Don't bother with wifi repeaters/boosters, they are obsolete tech and won't work properly anyway.

        • bobwokeup on 06/10/2023 - 10:26

          Ah cool okay thanks.

          So either the ZTE H3601 or maybe the Eero 3 pack but that’s WiFi 5 would that be okay?

          • coffeeinmyveins on 06/10/2023 - 10:51

            @bobwokeup: I have the TP-Link AC1200 mesh network (3 units) and it works a treat.

            I can't recall why but I didn't go with Eero for some reason.

            WIfi5 is fine unless you plan on having a million devices connected to it.

            • bobwokeup on 06/10/2023 - 11:56

              @coffeeinmyveins: Could it have been due to the price? Amazon says the Eero was $390

              Good to know thanks. We’re a family of 4 and just the usual devices.

            • daydream on 20/08/2024 - 22:53

              @coffeeinmyveins: Possibly because of the mesh technology used.

              Easymesh (https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-easymesh) is a standard used the TP-Link AC1200 and ZTE H1600 (among others) that is interoperable between devices supporting that standard.

              Eero from Amazon uses a proprietary mesh technology ("TrueMesh").

  • pinchies on 05/10/2023 - 23:45
    +2

    Two ideas:

    1.) You may be able to setup the router to make 2 separate networks, one for 5GHz and one for 2.4GHz. 2.4GHz tends to have better penetration through walls, even though 5GHz is faster over short distances. You can then try the slow TV on both networks, and see which one works better for your location.

    2.) If you have neighbours on the same 2.4GHz wifi channel, that can also cause poor performance, you may be able to change the channel of the 2.4GHz network to improve the connection performance.

  • jakepods on 06/10/2023 - 10:26
    -1

    have you tried turning the router on and off?

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