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Yeah, for something like that, it'll be perfectly fine where it is :D As far as power and overlap goes, the general rule of thumb with ubiquiti APs is to set both the 2.4 and 5Ghz radios to "medium" power in the Unifi controller. "Auto" is poorly labeled—it just sets the radios on high.
The easiest way to check out your RF environment is IMO to grab a laptop and something like NetSpot and do a site survey—walk around and take measurements. That'll show you exactly what your signal looks like (along with interference and noise) all throughout your home. Then you can fine-tune channel selection as needed!
I used Netspot on OSX for mine, gives you the ability to load in a drawing and set the scale so it gives you distance measurements. You walk around with the laptop and sample the signals at a point and it will draw you a heat map of the signals for the various networks it sees. Really nice app and now comes in a Windows version. The "Pro" version is $150 I think.
If you really want coverage done right, particularly in a warehouse, you'll ~~want~~ need to invest in a proper Wifi survey tool like Ekahau or NetSpot. Warehouses can be strange animals, and I've seen and heard of lots of scenarios where you get random dead spots. If you're going to do this, do it right.
You don't want to deploy this based on what 'looks OK' in a wifi planner app.
Also, you don't want to be running and crimping cable yourself. Hire electricians or low-voltage experts to come in and do it. It's a safety issue having an employee do it, particularly in a warehouse, and you want to ensure everything is properly tested and to code. Sysadmins as a rule should never be running cables and crimping.
> with a cheap switch in the middle area
Ugh, no. Get a proper industrial switch, especially given this is a warehouse and it will get dusty. UBNT even has industrial switches.
You'll also want to plan for spare switches and APs, given UBNT has forum-only warranties and slow as shit RMAs. I'm not knocking Unifi (run it at home myself) but appreciate their warranty is neither stellar nor fast. It's not like you're breaking the bank here as is.
You can do things on a budget but you still need to do it right.
> internet utk resort
Go get professional help. Paid professional help.
> Selama ini kita pake router yg bisa 15 user. Tapi ada 1 kamar yg ga kedapetan.
Get your building map and generate your Wi-Fi Heatmap. Check where you want Wi-Fi access on. Check where your Wi-Fi blindspot is.
> We were advised by the internet company utk pasang router baru/router lama yg selama ini ngecover daerah pool/kitchen/co-working lounge didekatkan ke kamar ini. Dan beli perangkat baru utk pool/kitchen/co-working lounge Krn banyak yg kerja di situ skrg.
IMO rather than moving old Wi-Fi AP, you want to add instead. Rather than getting one powerful Wi-Fi AP, you'd be better using multiple weaker (and cheaper) Wi-Fi AP.
> WiFi 6 outdoor
Doesn't matter.
> Please give me recommendations
Get a few SOHO/business level Wi-Fi AP, something like UniFi, Aruba, MikroTik *AP, etc.
Ubiquity used to sell 3-packs of UniFi AP-AC for manageable price, but I think they're sunsetting AP-AC. Their new solutions are kinda expensive, but that sweet sweet Wi-Fi 6 tho.
I know you said "free" but I wanted to post anyway. I too searched for the "best" free wifi tool. Unfortunately, most were for discovering networks and their signals. Once you wanted a site survey things got pretty limited rather quickly. In the end I settled on netspot. You can do a test for 7 days to check it out but it allows surveys where you generate maps of signal strength, 2g vs 5g coverage, signal to noise ratio, upload and download speed, and more. I found it super intuitive and highly useful. You can also generate them per floor of your house.
I did use the unifi mapping on the controller as others have suggested. Took a schematic view of the house, set the scale of a known wall length (important for accurate signal transmission distance calcs) and put the walls in based on their type (wood/brick/drywall). It was good and helpful in placing the AP's initially but not really real world. It didn't account for anomalies like mirrors, odd stuff in the wall, my chimney, etc. It was more of an expected simulation but not what was actually happening and obviously couldn't include interference from neighbors wifi equipment or microwaves.
I ultimately went with the pro version of netspot. It's listed for $149 but you can get it in a bundle for ~$50 and there are other pieces of software included (if you sign up for their mailing list you get a 10% off coupon and the iMazing software is pretty nice to backup you ios messages if you have an iphone). I picked pro over home b/c I wanted more of the graphs to visualize my data.
The interference at 2.4 GHz is often from other devices in the home, like cordless landline phones and microwaves: https://www.netspotapp.com/wifi-interference.html
If you have a laptop I'd suggest getting a wifi site survey tool like Netspot (which has a free version as well as various tiers of pro versions). Put the AP's where you think it would make sense, then use the survey tool to test the wifi signal at various locations around your home. It'll give you the ability to visualize just where your wifi is reaching, and how well.
NetSpot is Wi-Fi Site Surveys, Analysis, Troubleshooting also measure WiFi signal strength and they announced that soon it will be for Android (https://www.netspotapp.com/wifi-analyzer-apps-android.html)
You have to start by assuming that the Essential phone has weak WiFi. That cannot be improved or changed by anything you do besides waiting for better firmware. The error above involves VPN. If you aren't using that or an adblocker that uses VPN somehow, it might not apply to you.
> I'm in a single floor apartment
Are you in a denser area with more than 6 WiFi networks within range? You might have an overlapping channel weakening the quality of the signal. You can check that on your laptop using something like https://www.netspotapp.com/
> gradual degradion of the WiFi
That leads me to believe there is some type of interference. It results in slow speeds that get slower.
If all else fails, you can get a WiFi Extender from Amazon for as little as $20. That will boost the signal towards your device making up for error rate, distance, microwave, or a mad scientist neighbor with poor shielding.
> My XYZ phone can handle the WiFi Fine
Paraphrasing a possible follow up reply.
The Essential phone has weak overall wireless connectivity. They are supposedly working on it. We've recently started to see modem upgrades and changes. Bluetooth 5.0 capabilities are on now. Android P could bring more. We don't know. For now, it has weak overall wireless connectivity. You have to mitigate that as best you can.
could you do two things for me:
check on your phone if you see those SSIDs as well
get something like netspot and send me a screenshot of its output (you can dm it to me if you are concerned about your privacy).
Do you use wire or wireless? It is best to use an ethernet cable.
What wifi do you use? Do you use a 2.4Ghz or 5 Ghz? Do you use wireless ac or older standards like abg or n?
You can use netspot(https://www.netspotapp.com/downloads.html) to see how many different networks are present around you. The more the networks on the same channel or intersecting channels the worse your performance will be because of transmission collisions. By performance I mean jitter (ping fluctuation) and bandwidth.
Take a look at my area. Also consider that many apartments around me are empty, most people havent moved in yet. Compare the number of wifi connections.
In my old apartment place I used to get hardly 2 Mbps on 2.4Ghz and the full speed for comcast performance internet on 5Ghz on ac standard.
Maybe your rooter has somehow updated the firmware or reset due to power outage and the Norms being used are not so compatible with your PC as they are with your Phone?
https://www.netspotapp.com/explaining-wifi-standards.html
This can affect coverage.
Other thing you can try is to change the channel of your router. There should be like 11 channels or more to pick from.
Your neighbours wifi might be interefering with your WLAN and affect more one device than another.
Ultimately, make sure that the current power profile on your computer isnt reducing capacity from your WLAN connection.
And now, again, i think i cant really help you much more :)
There are multiple wifi security protocols. Find out which ones Quest supports, and which one you’re using. A mismatch there would explain why your Quest cannot connect to your wifi.
Old WiFi extenders typically cut the throughput in half.
Mesh uses a separate data plane and maintains throughout.
Best solution will be wired (POE) WAPs, if you can do that.
More info re mesh: https://www.netspotapp.com/what-is-mesh-networking.html
Check the interference in the living space. If there are a number of wireless networks, wireless phones, or other interference devices (microwaves, smart devices), and your router is not very good, it can cause this problem. I used to have this issue all the time in one of my old apartments. My solution was:
- bought a new router to replace the cruddy one provided by my ISP (sorry time warner)
- used a wifi interference app (i can't remember which one, this seems to do it though: https://www.netspotapp.com/wifi-interference.html) that could show a live signal drop
- walked around the apartment and identified dead areas
- changed channels on my router until I found an unused one
- updated my network device drivers
Every so often I would need to change the channel if people moved. The signal would change with new people. Hopefully this helps!
I think what you mean is "WiFi heatmap", have a look at these: https://www.netspotapp.com/best-wifi-heatmap-software.html ofc I don't know on what OS you desire to run it, but search for "WiFi heatmap" and thou shall find!
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> When it was just the 2 Ubiquiti APs, devices in the living room actually got a better signal from the downstairs AP than from the main floor AP.
Sounds to me like all you really need to do is tune the power settings on the Unifi AP's a bit. I'd experiment with the power, channel, etc. settings a bit before throwing money at a completely different solution that may very well result in you ending up with the same issues.
I'd also suggest you invest in a wifi analyzer app like Netspot (available for both Mac & Windows). With it you can actually visualize what your wifi looks like throughout your house, and what doing things like changing the power settings actually does.
For the heat maps I used a software called NetSpot Pro. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but for quick maps its great. They offer a few different options depending on your needs, including windows versions.
You start by loading / drawing a layout of your space and defining the distance. Once you've done that you can start measuring. You have to walk to spots, click measure, stand still for 10 seconds or so, then repeat in a different spot 10 feet or so away. Once you've got some nice data, you can visualize all sorts of things.
For the rack I used Photoshop CC. If you just need quick and dirty drafts like mine, it doesn't take too long. You don't need PS; any other image processing app should work just fine.
- 1) Download head on pictures of all the parts you plan on using
- 2) Convert to PNG format and remove the white/colored background from every image. If you have a Mac, 'Preview' has this function.
- 3) Layer the different images onto each other and resize as needed. Make sure to keep the 'rack' image layer set back, and your equipment layer set to the front/top. This ensures that the equipment will be placed in front of the rack, not behind.
I've used https://www.netspotapp.com/ with some success. It at least can do some nice heatmaps and let you see where coverage is bad. I found a lot of issues with placement at some of our larger sites with it anyhow.
wifi heat mapping, survey, site survey, analysis sounds like what you are describing. there are tools for this. for osx, https://www.netspotapp.com/
some nice scripting could produce good output as well.
On the iPhone check the wifi settings and make sure “private Wi-Fi address” is turned off. That’s Apple’s version of a free VPN and I have found it absolutely cripples my speed just like you’re seeing. Turned it off and speeds suddenly made sense.
One thing you might want to try for the MacBook (even though it’s counterintuitive) is moving further away from the router. Closer doesn’t always equal better - it’s about optimal signal range.
You could also be having a problem with wifi interference. Try changing the channel your router is using and see if it helps. Stick with channels 1, 6 and 11 (see here for why).
I don't have god tier internet and have only had a couple of minor moments of lag in one game out of like 100 or so, also on an iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Perhaps there is something interfering with your wifi causing jitter and package loss, might be worth doing something like this - https://www.netspotapp.com/wifi-analyzer/best-wifi-analyzer-for-iphone.html
Logon to your router, there in the wifi settings you will have a channel set, or it will be set as auto.
Logon to your router, their in the wifi settings you will have a channel set, or be set as auto.
Download https://www.netspotapp.com/ and check what channels are the least crowded and change from auto to a non crowded channel.
If you have 5ghz and 2.4ghz setup you can try disabling 5ghz, sometimes that can cause issues as well as devices try to go for speed instead of stability (5g has less range than 2.4g)
Good luck :)
P.s before picking a channel, be sure to google that the channel is legal for you to use in your country, in some countries certain channels are illegal to use due to be reserved for other things by the government.
Way less expensive channel analyzers...
Windows -
NetSurveyor, Acrylic WiFi, inSSIDer, Wi-Fi Scanner (Lizard Systems).
Mac -
www.netspotapp.com/best-wifi-analyzer-mac.html
For a mesh system, a heat map is pretty useful...
That has no bearing on the issue. He can use the best iptv provider in the the world and if he's getting interference from something in the house on the same frequency and interfering, you'll get a buffering issue. Only other option is hard wire but pita with firesticks and chromecast. Here is a list of items on the 2.4 frequency microwaves, baby monitors, and garage door openers portable phones etc. Give these a read.
https://www.netspotapp.com/wifi-interference.html
https://eyenetworks.no/en/10-things-that-disturb-and-block-wi-fi-signals/
I know there are apps for you phone that can show this. This is the one I use: https://www.netspotapp.com/
Edit: a lot of "systems" (router, whatever) will try to pick a "good" choice, but maybe it made a choice at one time and today it's not a good choice (?)
Check your router settings. You need to check whether the TCP/UDP ports are calibrated to twitch’s ports.
https://www.netspotapp.com/how-to-change-router-settings.html
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-port-forward-4163829
https://www.portforwardinghub.com/softwares/twitch-port-forwarding/
Try these steps
Nope. Testing on a 2020 Macbook pro and an iPhone 11 pro
Macbook advanced settings show 5ghz. Shows 1300mbps tx rate next to main node... and 866mbps tx rate on other side of apt
The devices can talk to the access points with plenty of speed. But the internet speed delivered by Google Wifi is just slow
It would be great if Android devices can monitor whole WiFi band in real-time but unfortunately it's not possible. Android devices scan for nearby wifi APs only if some app asks for the scan or if the signal is weaker than some signal level and the device is looking for other possible APs to connect to them. This background scanning decreases the WiFi throughput significantly so that Android limits how often it can run (from Android 9, it's maximum 4 scans in 2 minutes - it's possible to disable this wifi throttling - https://www.netspotapp.com/help/how-to-disable-wi-fi-throttling-on-android-10/).
​
Android can measure real-time signal of currently connected AP but not the other APs. We have some plans to fix this but it's not yet ready.
Yes,
you'll see names and relative strengths across all channels.
If you're an Apple person and have a Mac, you can run Netspot on your Mac. Same information (more detailed actually). They have a free version. There might be other software for Mac.
https://www.netspotapp.com/netspotpro.html
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You can also run the excellent WinFi if you have a Windows box:
This is most commonly seen in situations where someone is using a third-party antivirus/firewall product, or has run one of the many "debloater" scripts purporting to disable Windows telemetry.
If you have done neither of those things, you will have several hours of diagnostics ahead of you. You need to establish whether the loss of connectivity is constant, sporadic, DNS, device-specific, network-wide, and so on.
Try to open the text file at http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt
If unsuccessful, ping www.msftncsi.com from a PowerShell prompt. What error is returned?
If unsuccessful, change DNS server assigned by DHCP, refresh/renew lease, test ping to www.msftncsi.com.
If all tests are successful, problem may be sporadic and not constant. Run NetSpot (free edition) for several hours, this will identify whether your wifi signal is dropping at time of loss; that would indicate either wifi NIC or router/AP failure. Run PingPlotter against target www.msftncsi.com for several hours; assuming there is no interruption of WLAN connectivity, this will identify if there is a loss of routing or connectivity elsewhere along the route to msftncsi.com
I have one in my driveway and another one in my backyard. Works flawlessly. You can run a wifi monitoring tool like NetSpot to get good mapping of your wifi signal strength before you decide on where to put it and where to put/add wifi access points.
Here’s a basic wifi signal analyser you can use on Android: https://www.netspotapp.com/images/upload/articles/wifi-analyze/[email protected] He has a fancy version on his PC. Or What he might be doing is running a simulation that uses a lot of CPU power to model some behaviour with specific parameters. http://www.inforshell.com/data_trend_analysis.html
![https://www.netspotapp.com/images/upload/articles/wifi-analyze/[email protected]](https://www.netspotapp.com/images/upload/articles/wifi-analyze/WiFi_analyzer@2x.png){kind=link}
This is a topic about how to visualise data like that: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24573653/matlab-3d-dose-array-visualization As soon as you have the design, enough data from the target room you can visualise it and plan the execution. It’s not really necessary though in real life but is fun if you are visual minded like me.
It’s hard to tell what he was using but the show is pretty well designed so they both might be actual softwares but it’s probably part of the set design :)
Check the channel on your router settings. I use NetSpot, to check my surrounding wifi channels. If you're on the same channel as others around you, commonly people are on 6, switch it to channel 11. Might help ya.
but with VD you can see your link rate connected @, so what else is required?
also any mobile phone you can select the network and view the properties/link rate. for testing purposes. Natively, no app required.
aside from that if your worried about wifi channels and crowding, there are wifi sniffer apps for that.
https://www.netspotapp.com/best-wifi-channel-scanner-apps-windows.html
NetSpot had a free mode that lets you see APs and channel use.
For iOS, the free native Apple Airport utility has a WiFi scan mode as well.
If you can't afford someone to come out, doing your own survey is not hard with something like https://www.netspotapp.com/netspotpro.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwlbr8BRA0EiwAnt4MTinNCDfN5g5yB-0UEq8lgXpqITEnz9MjCBPHCYurs0Czh7YxYI3RexoCqEkQAvD_BwE
If you send it to meraki they will help you plan as well (at least they did in the past)
You can also monitor your WiFi quality with free tools like these to improve its connection. https://www.netspotapp.com/best-apps-to-measure-wifi-signal-strength-windows.html
Try this one. https://www.netspotapp.com/help/netspot-and-chrome-os/ Might be your other devices are using a different channel.
> Hmm 50Mbps is still quite slow for 5ghz?
That's not the raw speed. It's the Speedtest speed which I'm measuring against an server on the internet.
"bars" are arbitrary, and change between device manufacturers. What matters is a number called RSSI, which stands for received signal strength indication. Those numbers represent how well your device can hear your Wi-Fi access point.
RSSI is a negative scale, starting at zero and going down. To get a usable Wi-Fi signal you usually want to be above -70 or -75. Something in the -60s is good, -50s is better and -40s or above is usually too high.
If you're using windows, you will need some Wi-Fi analyzer app to be able to view the actual RSSI number. There are a bunch of options, but I like Netspot. With a Wi-Fi analyzer you'll also be able to see which channels are in use around you, and other Wi-Fi information.
Oh, and Netspot has a good article on what RSSI is and what it means.
Just a newer wifi standard(faster, deals with congestion better), will need a fairly new router for it to provide any benefit. Right now prices are still pretty high on 802.11 AX(aka Wifi 6) routers, but they will come down. I personally don't have one yet, but glad it is future proofed for when I do.
Do a speed test with nothing else connected to your router (so they can’t affect the outcome of your test.)
What is the max speed of your NIC on your PC? what is the max speed on your router’s wifi band? what is your theoretical maximum of your ISP connection?
If the speed you got from your test isn’t close to the maximum of one of those 3 throughputs you have a problem, if it is reaching close to the maximum of one of those then you are having no issue and you now know where your bottle neck is (if you ever want to increase your speed in the future).
Also if you have the option of a multiple band connection. try connecting to the other band as 2.4 GHz has a greater distance before falling off, but 5 GHz band will have fewer devices that could cause interference.
If you need to connect to a specific band then download a network analyzer and see if there are a ton of networks on that band and change the channel on your router. This will help your router get a clearer signal to your devices.
As i feel like you are a home user and not in the enterprise grade networking, as well i hope you are not because this is pretty basic overall.
https://www.netspotapp.com/wifi-encryption-and-security.html
Wpa-3 with aes-512 or whatever wifi6 will have.
Prueba con: User - Admin
User - (sin contraseña)
Admin - Admin
User - User
Admin - (sin contraseña).
Eso son los más comunes.
Depends a great deal on the age of the construction. I live in a 100+ year old plaster & lathe home. I have 4 Unifi AP's strategically placed and they provide good coverage on all 3 floors.
What I did was temporarily place a single AP then used a wifi survey tool (I used the free version from Netspot) to see how much I could cover with it. After moving the AP around the house & scanning each location I easily figured out the best locations to maximize coverage with the fewest number of AP's. Took a bit of time to do the whole process but in the end I'm very happy with the coverage we have.
I've used Netspot on a laptop (they have both free & paid versions - free is likely enough). It's worked really nicely for me, especially since I had a PDF floor plan I was able to import to help with visualizing my coverage.
Yes there are free WiFi Analysers, this one has a free version under the paid ones
https://www.netspotapp.com/best-wifi-analyzer-windows-apps.html
I'm just thinking back to when I tried connecting to my phones 5GHz and can vaguely remember a similar problem, it did show 5GHz and I did connect to it, but after a while it disconnected and would not show again
I just used USB tethering instead for the PC, way less hassle
A good way to figure out coverage is to use a site survey tool like Netspot. You basically install it on your laptop, walk around your house, and have it scan your wifi. It'll build out a map showing you the quality of your wifi coverage, which you can use as a guide to fill in AP's or move them around to improve locations where you have poor coverage. Netspot has a free version as well as various paid versions with additional features.
There are many free heatmap tools. Aerohive has an online one. SolarWinds (I wouldn't give them a real phone number if I were you)
Map where your WiFi signal is weak, weak signal + more devices = bad time. https://www.netspotapp.com
Metal and water block WiFi. Any of it near your ps4 and router? Move it.
And make sure your router doesn’t have any kind of power saving on.
Run a wireless scan and see how congested your apartment's airwaves are.
Android: WiFi Analyzer iOS: Don't have one cause Apple closed off API access. OSX: https://www.netspotapp.com/best-wifi-analyzer-mac.html Windows: https://www.netspotapp.com/best-wifi-analyzer-windows-apps.html
Use cat6a cable, mostly if the runs are longer than 10m and you want full gigabit bandwidth/upgrade to 10g at somw point in future. There are two standards you can use for terminating them, as long as you use the same at each end you should be fine (A to A or B to B) https://acuitysupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/210113548-What-is-the-difference-between-T568A-T568B-?mobile_site=true
Regarding what to deploy on regards of hw, will depend on your budget. For home use Id use unify by ubiquiti which will make things easy and simple for you. https://unifi-network.ui.com/
There are cheaper solutions but are not so home user friendly/plug and play as what unifi offers for the price.
If you have the budget, get a switch from them as well. In any case, POE switches tend to be on the expensive end, no matter the brand.
About the access points number, you would need to do a survey. It will depend on how the APs are positioned, materials of construction, thickness of walls... and many other factors. Start with as few as possible placed in the furthest ends of your home and work inwards, adding as many APs as you may need. There are many apps like this one that will help you visualize and understand your coverage needs. https://www.netspotapp.com/landings/100.html?gclid=CjwKCAiA8K7uBRBBEiwACOm4d4jx_UtwrTzQAoWTYhmqzi2KnnWd-X5vMf0tYUKdg7B6HK_jRGbqshoC7PYQAvD_BwE
I believe that the unifi interface also allows you to do some sort of survey/map as well.
Well this time on the main unit, I have a Vornado pointed 6 feet away, on a different electrical circuit -- that is cooling the room and Eero at the same time. Circulating the air, and bringing heat away from it the Eero connected to the modem. So, different story. Different solution. Not using a micro usb fan. But... ok... more upvotes for Kramer... so my voice doesnt need to be heard and can be drowned out by... whoever is overseeing these forums. I honestly dont get it... Im just trying to help... and this is an issue across the board, with Eeros giving off ALOT of heat.... So why NOT actively cool it in some measure? Im seeing immediate results. Ive been an Eero Customer for several years. Im not saying its bad at all. On the contrary, Im just trying to help with others that might be having problems with speeds and latencies.
Also putting an active motor is not an issue. Its no different than a laptop having a fan to dissapate heat. As long as the lines arent crossed this isn't causing an issue?
https://www.google.com/search?q=eero+heat+issues+site:www.reddit.com
So reading through all of the replies here, it definitely seems like this is an issue being caused by conflicting 2.4 GHz signals. The first thing I would recommend is seeing if you can test other WiFi channels, as there may just be too much traffic on the channel you're on.
Here is an article that describes changing WiFi channels - it may be a bit 'generic', so you may need to do a bit of digging if you're unable to follow the article exactly.
If changing to a different channel does not help, then the recommendation that I would give is to test out 5 GHz signals. If you have a friend with a device that can utilize 5 GHz signals, it would be a great start to test. If 5 GHz does work, you may want to consider upgrading your phone to a model that supports 5 GHz WiFi signals. If it sounds overkill to replace your phone to fix this, it kinda is, but the phone replacement is going to be cheaper than that fiber installation you mentioned.
Thanks, I can totally follow you. I wish I could enjoy the same results. I may end up calling Netgear for troubleshooting and try to exchange with my warranty from Assurion. But I imagine this is a full day task.
I found a program for home users called Netspot (https://www.netspotapp.com/netspotpro.html) that generates a heat map. If I nerd out - I may try it for $49.
I moved my printer and my signal jumped to an average signal of 40 mbps at a about 28 feet away and 2 drywall walls with no shielding. I do have a 50 inch tv mounted on one wall through the direct line of sight.
If my printer caused interference, would a tv do the same??
You might be having some interference from other wifi networks in your area. Ideally the best thing to do is to try a wired connection directly from your modem to the computer just to make sure that you are truly getting the promised speeds. Then you know that it is a router issue and not a modem issue.
You might download a wifi analyzer program to see if there might be some interference from other networks or other sources. Here is a more detailed explanation and potential software
https://www.netspotapp.com/best-apps-to-measure-wifi-signal-strength-windows.html
If you determine there is interference from another wifi network, you can change your channel and see if the issue goes away. You make the changes on your router generally through a browser by going to the routers ip address, which you can find on a label somewhere on the router. For your 2.4Ghz network the best channels are usually 1,6, or 11 unless they are already in use by someone nearby and causing the interference. For 5Ghz a wifi analyzer program will probably give you that answer based on what is around you.
Remember too that while the 5Ghz band is faster the 2.4Ghz band gives you better range, so each has its advantages.
Do you know what model of router you have?
At a guess, sounds like it might be an issue with the authentication type that's setup.
If your router supports it, setting up dual band may help (A separate 2.4ghz and 5ghz wifi network).
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Will be able to provide further support once the router model is provided.
> Do you think one of these is sufficient
Best way to do this is by testing. Go get some wifi site survey software (Netspot has a free one for both Windows & Mac as well an Android version & various levels of commercial versions). Install it on a laptop then go around your house and map out just how well your network coverage is.
if you do go with the Ubiquiti hardware you can always buy one AP first and see what kind of coverage you get with a site survey tool, then buy another one if you think you need it to expand your coverage.
For anyone who was hoping this would be an actual thing you can use, it kind of is.
https://www.netspotapp.com/best-wifi-heatmap-software.html
Can't guarantee they use the same equations, but at least it maps your wifi.
Your router should have more channels than that. I think you might be getting “Frequency” and “Channel” mixed up.
2.4GHz frequency band can use a total of 14 different channels to broadcast the signal.
5GHz frequency band has even more than that.
Apparently a lot of different routers default to the same channels, but you should be able to change it in your router’s settings. You just need to figure out which channel would work best for your area.
I’d google the model router you have and search how to change its channels.
This website does a decent job explaining why interference is caused: https://www.netspotapp.com/wifi-channel-scanner.html
Analyzing your wi-fi channels for any interference would be the first thing to start. Something like https://www.netspotapp.com/best-wifi-analyzer-windows-apps.html should get the job done
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Just seeing the floor plan isn't going to tell you everything, at least not without know what is in the walls.
Just looking at square footage 2 devices is probably fine. Signal degredation may be an issue depending on what is in the walls though. For example on the second floor It seems basically all the central walls probably have water piping in them which could cause issues.
I'd start out with 2 then throw this floor plan into a mapping tool, something like netspot may be able to perform some more basic testing using an android device. See where performance is weak and if you feel you need more in that area.
I'd suspect with only 2 units you're going to struggle with either the master bedroom or the 'new bedroom'.
1) Usually USB 3.0 ports are blue while USB 2.0 ports aren't colored, sometimes white. It also just depends on your computer. If they are same color, try looking in the manual or Google your model number.
2) USB 3.0 can potentially have issues with anything in the 2.4 GHz spectrum, meaning wifi or Bluetooth. Other things like your router, walls, metal objects, microwaves, etc could also be interfering. But it is also possible the specific keyboard you're using is more prone to it. I recommend trying with USB 2.0 port, and maybe even with another keyboard if you can. Make sure you're not too far and in sight of the receiver also. If you can, you could even try another location in your building. That website is for routers, but it's a similar concept.
WiFi is always weird. It will get hung up on insulation, walls, other electronic devices, etc.
I would download a WiFi scanner app -- NetSpot is a good one. And walk around the house and see what the WiFi is like. Your desktop might be in a deadzone, and you'll need an AP or bridge in between the Router and your Desktop.
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-router/
The Synology probably best for your needs, 2600AC.
>There are about 3 machines in my house that sometimes use the internet simultaneously.
Hard wire them if you can, WAY better.
>I would just go with a ethernet cable, but it would be a pain to pull the cables though the house.
This will probably be worth it, though, if you want to take full advantage of your fibre speed.
>My question is, how do I know what actual speeds I will get out of a given router to utilize as much as possible of the speeds I am paying for?
It depends on
the router
the wireless adapters in your machines
local conditions i.e. other networks in range, obstructions, other interference, etc. Brick and cement are good at blocking wireless signals. Drywall less so. Also it depends on how far away your devices are from the router, even in open air.
You also don't say how big your house is. If it's spread out, you may been access points if you choose to go wireless:
https://www.netspotapp.com/images/upload/screens/wifiHeatmapReadyScreen3.jpg
That far room in the diagram gets lousy speed.
how many you use depends on your layout honestly. I would think 3 or 4 should suffice, but if your house is built in the right way, you may only need 2 to cover where people will be hanging out. If you want to do it right, use something like netspot to plan your AP placement.
As for google wifi, it will definitely be simpler to setup, but you will not get the same performance. You only connect the main google wifi node to a wire, and the rest you just plug into power, and they talk to each other in a mesh wirelessly. You'll take 2 performance hits because of that. First, Wireless is inherently slower than wire for a bunch or reasons, including the fact that wireless is much more prone to interference. the second hit is the fact that the wifi mesh has to communicate with each other over the same channels you are talking over. Wireless is half-duplex, which means communication can only go one way at a time, and that means every packet has an extra half duplex stop on the way to the main node. (modern) Wire networks can communicate in both directions at the same time. You can be uploading and downloading packets at the same time, so an AP doesn't have that middle hop that mesh systems have. That's why when you see mesh systems recommended here, the recommendation is Orbi, since it has a dedicated wireless backhaul for the nodes. It still is over wireless, but at least you're not losing speed on communication between the main and satellites.
Besides that, google wifi doesn't give you much of any ability to customize anything (last I heard, you couldn't even choose an IP address for it). You may want something that's just plug n play like that, but most of us here making recommendations are computer geeks, and we'd never want to be that limited in what we can do with our devices. That's more of a mesh vs mesh system comparison though. If you can run wires, mesh shouldn't be a consideration.
It could be just simple wireless interference between multiple devices. Thing is what most of them including Bluetooth using the same frequency spectrum (which is near 2.4 GHz) and as most devices decides exact frequency on theirs own, they often interfere with each other. I have a WiFi router working on 2.4 GHz spectrum, wireless headphones, wireless keyboard, Steam controller and BT 4.0 adapter for WMR controllers and all that into direct vicinity. Of course it's conflicting and you might have the same issue. Try the following:
1) If you're using WiFi router at home and it's near yours PC, try to change the wireless channel on it. Do the same for other wireless devices if they're supporting such feature. Many wireless headphones for example has ability to search for clear frequency range and adjust to it.
2) If you have multiple wireless devices, move theirs receivers apart as far as possible to have at least half of the meter between them.
Here is troubleshooting guide for WiFi interference: https://www.netspotapp.com/wifi-interference.html
Course of actions there is almost the same as the one which should be with troubleshooting Bluetooth connectivity. Follow it and check everything out. Also there is similar guide from Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201542
NetSpot (latest = 2.7.1.590)
Windows (and mac, but i need windows)
NetSpot is the only professional app for wireless site surveys, Wi-Fi analysis, and troubleshooting on Mac OS X and Windows.
Analyze network in workspace
I’m not the poster you replied to, but have you tried a tool to perform a wireless site survey to check for dead spots and interference? There’s good paid ones like Chanalyzer, but that’s expensive, and there’s some free ones I haven’t tried, like NetSpot (first thing that popped up in search). There’s a free version and a $49 home version.
Hey thanks for the Gold!
I went and tested my own speeds with and without the AirPort Extreme radio on again out of curiosity.
What's nice about the Google WiFi app is that you can selectively test not only the overall bandwidth to the Internet but then between mesh points and the points to devices (the 3 separate options under Network Check).
I haven't had the patience to try NetSpot though (for Mac or Windows) to formally map out the WiFi signal across the house, but it's probably worth doing if you have the chance. Their site is pretty handy on its own too, e.g. material types vs WiFi permeability. For example I hadn't realized that mirrors were very high-interference to WiFi signals (which explains a lot of why one room of our house with a large set of mirrors on one wall has such low signal).
I know one tool that will help you to improve wifi signal strength . Use NetSpot app, https://www.netspotapp.com/wifi-signal-strength.html . Once you have completed your test, there are three WiFi heatmap visualizations you will want to view. Signal Level will show you the WLAN signal level throughout the area you surveyed.
I think you have it backwards: https://www.netspotapp.com/help/noise-level/
Other 802.11 devices are considered interference, noise is any non 802.11 RF on the same channel.
What OP should really be looking at is channel utilization at the AP.
Edit: unless ruckus defines noise difference it then Aruba or CWNP.
Can you see what the actual channel utilization is inside the ruckus UI? Noise is the consistent background level of RF, if another wifi AP is utilizing the RF it will cause utilization, but my understanding was that would not count as Noise?
Also if you have consultant noise at -83, depending your adapters receive sensitivity it might consider the channel busy the entire time, and can only send data much less often then it could if there is no noise. A wifi device will only transmit when it considers the channel clear, so if you have consistent noise above a certain threshold when the devices tries to send, it will wait for its next opportunity.
See here: https://www.netspotapp.com/help/noise-level/
Other WiFi networks are not considered noise, but rather interference.
if you have a laptop you can map out your home wifi to see if you even have decent signal where your desktop is placed
Sometimes there is interference with my connection and I can see that pinging my router has terrible latency, just the struggles of wifi...
Also one time I realized that my latency to the router was consistently instant, dropped packet, instant, dropped packet. I was tearing everything apart until I replaced the antenna and it worked
Netspot makes a free heatmapper which is decent at triangulating WiFi sources. If you have a laptop running MacOS or Windows and about 15-30 minutes to walk through the house you can probably find where the signal is originating.
You might benefit from running netspot - https://www.netspotapp.com. You might be able to turn down the transmitting power on some of your APs and solve this problem for you.
I'd also suggest looking at your console and looking for network messages.
Alt-click the wifi menubar icon will also give you more detailed information about your current network.
Finally, just plug it in while you're working.