[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by carboy

Is the extender's signal stronger than the main one in the main room or equivalent? That's the scenario, I am asking about?

In the main room, it is quite obvious that the main router's signal will be stronger than the extender's.

And as I also mentioned one instance where if I am connected to the extender and walk out to the hall where the main router is, the connection on the extender doesn't drop and the strength decreases only by a small amount.

On the contrary, if I am connected to the main router and then walk into my room, there is every possibility of the signal strength going really week that it almost drops the connection.

And my examples come from using different routers - TP-Link & Netgear. I recently upgraded to a Dual band router but as the specs and reviews say, the 5 G WiFi has lesser range compared to the 2.4 G one.

In my other room, the signal is not always weak enough to not work. It would work 90% of the time, but if I can my position mildly it will drop.

This is exactly the problem that I was facing and I had to pick the extender.

In short, the extender will ensure that the signal strength in the other room is always 100% though the throughput in terms of overall speeds will drop by 30-40% of the speeds you get on the main router. I am easily managing a lot of it by getting only 35-40 Mbps on a 100 Mbps connection through this extender. At least the extender ensures I am always connected and I always get full signal strength.

[binand]

Originally Posted by carboy

When a laptop or a phone has access to two SSIDs (the main router & the extender) would it automatically connected to the stronger one - i.e. depending on the room, I want it connect to either the main one or the extended.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Typically the device upon sensing very weak signal and finding another stronger one would automatically disconnect from the current SSID and connect to the one linked to the extender.

Assuming we are talking of different SSIDs for the main AP and the extender - the order in which they connect is user-configured. There are any number of web references on how you can juggle this order, which is specific to the underlying OS. For example, on Android you need to use third-party apps - eg: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ifiprioritizer

The best technique is to use the same SSID everywhere (which you can do by simply configuring the extender in Repeater mode). This allows seamless AP hopping which helps in cases where switching SSID causes interruptions in your activity (eg: VoIP calls, streaming).

[carboy]

Originally Posted by binand

Assuming we are talking of different SSIDs for the main AP and the extender - the order in which they connect is user-configured.

Order will not really help, right? The right order when you are in one room will not be right order when you are in another room.

Originally Posted by binand

The best technique is to use the same SSID everywhere (which you can do by simply configuring the extender in Repeater mode). This allows seamless AP hopping which helps in cases where switching SSID causes interruptions in your activity (eg: VoIP calls, streaming).

If you have the same SSID - is there a way to know which is the signal the phone or laptop is connected to - or will it take signals from both at the same time?

[binand]

Originally Posted by carboy

Order will not really help, right? The right order when you are in one room will not be right order when you are in another room.

As mentioned, you have to look for OS-specific ways of doing this. I included a link to an Android app that claims to be able to do what you want (I don't use it myself).

Originally Posted by carboy

If you have the same SSID - is there a way to know which is the signal the phone or laptop is connected to

On Linux: iwconfig
On Windows: netsh wlan show interfaces

Look for the BSSID (which is the AP's MAC address).

On Android you need an app for this. I use Wifi Analyzer (but there are several apps by this name; this one claims to be open source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...m.wifianalyzer).

[mithun]

I'm having a strange problem with my D-Link router.

Its connected to a cable internet modem via the network cable and its also connected to my desktop PC via network cable.

When I switch it on, I've to remove and reinsert the network cable from the modem to the router, then only will the Internet work. All other services like Wifi will work except the internet connection.

I had changed the cables, reset the router, updated the firmware; all in vain.

Please help.

[binand]

Originally Posted by mithun

Its connected to a cable internet modem via the network cable and its also connected to my desktop PC via network cable.

When I switch it on, I've to remove and reinsert the network cable from the modem to the router, then only will the Internet work.

Didn't quite understand which device "it" is, the one you are switching on. But the symptoms you describe is that of an issue at the ISP side requiring you to negotiate a new DHCP lease.

[mithun]

Originally Posted by binand

Didn't quite understand which device "it" is, the one you are switching on. But the symptoms you describe is that of an issue at the ISP side requiring you to negotiate a new DHCP lease.

Both the modem & router are switched on simultaneously.


Can you please explain more?

[binand]

Originally Posted by mithun

Both the modem & router are switched on simultaneously.

OK, that changes things. It is possible that the modem takes extra-long time to establish the link to the ISP, longer than it takes DHCP to timeout. Leave the modem on and recycle power of the router and see if it helps.

Originally Posted by mithun

Can you please explain more?

At the ISP end there is a system called RADIUS that allocates IP address, applies rules, initializes traffic counting etc. I thought that system could be misbehaving.

[mithun]

Originally Posted by binand

OK, that changes things. It is possible that the modem takes extra-long time to establish the link to the ISP, longer than it takes DHCP to timeout. Leave the modem on and recycle power of the router and see if it helps.



At the ISP end there is a system called RADIUS that allocates IP address, applies rules, initializes traffic counting etc. I thought that system could be misbehaving.

I was having another router which worked fine.


I've configured to use custom DNS, is it because of that?


Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/vthb0k4.png

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by mithun

I've configured to use custom DNS, is it because of that?

Try the same scenario with a laptop with the laptop's wifi disabled and use its ethernet port like you do the desktop. See if you get the same issue. It might the DNS that you have configured, not sure though.

[mithun]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Try the same scenario with a laptop with the laptop's wifi disabled and use its ethernet port like you do the desktop. See if you get the same issue. It might the DNS that you have configured, not sure though.

Will try this.

Originally Posted by binand

OK, that changes things. It is possible that the modem takes extra-long time to establish the link to the ISP, longer than it takes DHCP to timeout. Leave the modem on and recycle power of the router and see if it helps.

I've tried it and worked 2-3 times. Thanks.

My previous router was working fine with the same modem. Any other fixes?

[audioholic]

We have an airtel VDSL broadband connection at home along with their own modem router which is a Huawei branded device. The connection speed is 80MBPS but lately, though download speeds remain at 5MBPS or above, there is quite some delay in streaming services as well as apps like Instagram and YouTube. Also, the number of wireless devices at home has increased. Currently we have 5 phones, 2 iPad, 3 laptops, a Chromecast and a printer which is connected to the wireless network. Barring the laptops, the other devices are mostly ON all the time. I am not sure whether the router is a bottleneck or there is some issue in the internet connection itself. Should I buy a separate router and use the existing modem without wifi or shall I create another wifi network with a router and leave the modem router still running? Any suggestions to analyze where the bottleneck lies?

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by audioholic

We have an airtel VDSL broadband connection at home along with their own modem router which is a Huawei branded device. The connection speed is 80MBPS but lately, though download speeds remain at 5MBPS or above, there is quite some delay in streaming services as well as apps like Instagram and YouTube. Also, the number of wireless devices at home has increased. Currently, we have 5 phones, 2 iPad, 3 laptops, a Chromecast and a printer which is connected to the wireless network. Barring the laptops, the other devices are mostly ON all the time. I am not sure whether the router is a bottleneck or there is some issue in the internet connection itself. Should I buy a separate router and use the existing modem without wifi or shall I create another wifi network with a router and leave the modem router still running? Any suggestions to analyze where the bottleneck lies?

Which VDSL modem+router are you using? The lower range ones become a bottleneck if more than 5 devices start accessing them simultaneously for high bandwidth. For starters, you cut down on the number of devices connected and see if there is an improvement in the performance. If there is, then you know the router is the bottleneck. Based on that you can take a call.

One more point is, check the wifi channel that your router is broadcasting on. If there are few other routers nearby that are using the same channel, then the performance will go down. There are android apps that you can use to analyze the wifi channel congestion and choose the channel that is least congested.

[vinit.merchant]

Dear friends,

Need help here.

Currently I am on Airtel 8 mbps plan which was quite sufficient till now, but an upgrade to V-fibre is being offered free of cost, what with Jio lanch just around the corner. So I am tempted to upgrade.
But till now, i was using the Dlink 2750 something ADSL modem/router. This, I understand, will not work with the newer V-fibre. The newer setup will require VDSL modem/router. The last time I checked, Airtel was providing Binatone modem/router, and on reading reviews, it seems to have a few issues, including the range.

But VDSL modem/routers seem to be quite expensive. The ones I could see on Amazon were all quoting north of 7k and I am not keen on spending so much on a modem/router.
Can someone suggest cheaper options for the same?

I do not know, but heard that in such cases, there is a separate modem and router installed. But I have no clue on installation or compatibility.

Please suggest good cheap option for the setup. My house is a 2bhk ~800 sq ft carpet.

[batish]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

The last time I checked, Airtel was providing Binatone modem/router, and on reading reviews, it seems to have a few issues, including the range.

My house is a 2bhk ~800 sq ft carpet.

Airtel has several options for routers. Check which one they're supplying now. I got Huawei one free of cost on upgrading to v-fibre.

I don't think you'll have any range issues. Just hang your router at height on the wall. You won't have ANY range problems.