Recommendations for improving network coverage? - eviltoast

So my mother currently just has the default router provided by her ISP which is not providing enough coverage throughout her ground floor flat.

I’ve been looking for replacements in order to improve the situation, but unfortunately I’m not very proficient with networking solutions and I’m getting a tad overwhelmed with all the options, so I was hoping that somebody with a bit more knowledge might have some recommendations.

She doesn’t have any ethernet ports (aside from where the router is of course), and no coax either, so MoCa is out of the question. I was thinking perhaps getting an Eero network and just using wireless backhaul, since she’s not a techy and I don’t want to be called up constantly to help with issues.

Really just looking for something that requires no/very little maintenance and would be able to reliably cover her two bed, ground floor flat. Cheaper would be better, not really flush with money unfortunately!

  • NetDork@alien.topBEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Before buying new equipment you can try making some adjustments.

    First, get the wireless access point (the ISP router) up high. Put it on a high shelf.

    If the router has external antennas, make sure all of them are pointing straight up and parallel to each other. If the antennas are internal, leave the device in the orientation for which it was designed - if it’s made to stand on end like a book don’t lay it down.

    If you have access to the configuration page see if you can set the wireless channels to auto, and the channel width to 40 MHz for the 5 GHz band and 20 MHz for the 2.4 GHz band. You can even try 20 MHz on both. Those smaller channel widths will give lower bandwidth but improve coverage due to hitting less interference. (Since you said a flat, I’m assuming lots of other residents with their own devices so we want to avoid interference.)

    If auto channel isn’t an option, get an app like Wifi Analyzer and see what channels have the fewest other networks on them and set the channels to one of those.