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  1. #1
    crowie's Avatar
    crowie is offline Life's Good, Enjoy each new day & try to encourage
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    Default Home Wifi Issues

    Home Wifi Issues...

    We have a TP-Link Modem Router with Wifi for the home situated upstairs in the office...
    We also run a plug into the wall TP-Link Expander [new] down stairs...
    The 2 year old Modem Router unit started getting hot with the Wifi was becoming unreliable around the house...
    The local computer people have replaced the Modem Router with a brand new unit...
    Upstairs works well but the Wifi down stair part of the house is worse...
    The computer people have been onsite 3 times and today it's been identified that the Expander isn't talking to the Modem Router.....
    The young computer tech is baffled; I'm ready to pull my hair out....
    The senior computer tech will be onsite Monday afternoon to try to again resolve the issue.....
    Both the Modem Router & the Expander have been used in quite a number of other installation by the computer people but for some reason my house Wifi isn't working they way all the other installations are....

    Does anyone have any possibilities for a solution, thank you...
    Cheers, crowie

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  3. #2
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    Go into the modem router setup and check the channel that the wireless is on.
    Your cordless phones are known to use the same channels and can intefere like mad.

    I had a friend get a new modem and the wireless was useless.
    Telstra came out 4 times to fix and swapped modem each time.

    I fixed it by changing the channel and telstra paid my invoice.

    Changing the channel that the modem is transmitting the signal on can also improve coverage and avoiding interference. . Our preferred channels to try are channels 1, 5, 6, and 11. However, with trial and error, you may find an alternate channel that works best for you.

    From memory his came on Ch 12 and I changed it to 3 (or the other way around)
    Peter

  4. #3
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    Wifi can be affected by a few things.

    Have they checked:

    * if another wifi network is competing for the same channel space?
    * if the firmware of the base unit and repeater are compatible?
    * if there are any dodgy fluorescent lights nearby?
    * placing the base unit in a different location?

    I've seen all of these things make a difference before.

    Hope you get it fixed soon. It's very frustrating.


    cheers,

    ajw

  5. #4
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    Dodgy fluros, CFL bulbs and the pulse width modulation style power supplies for downlights (both halogen and LED) can all kick up a radio frequency storm that can make it hard to get a signal.

    If you have a smartphone/tablet, there are free WiFi testing apps that will tell you how many/what channels are being used in the area, and the strength of the signal. (except this is the sort of testing I'd expect any tech to do).

    Failing that, pull all the fuses in the fuse box except for the circuit that the PC/routers are on and see if that makes a difference.

  6. #5
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    If his old modem worked then there is a channel available to use.
    As long as he has the same items in the house using the same channels as they used before.
    He just needs to work out which one it is that is clear.

    Pulling a fuse for a flouro is not going to help work out the channel to use or provide a solution, is it?
    (this is a question, not a go at the person who proposed it)

    Peter

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    I like cable, far more reliable.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  8. #7
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    I'll tell you about our wifi problems and solution and you may find something of use in that lot.

    We have a brick house with a corrugated iron roof.

    The wifi unit was initially located where the first telephone point was located i.e. on the floor next to an outside front wall at the front of the house
    The wifi signal was detectable on the street and neighbours front yards but only reached about half way into the house and no signal on our back veranda.

    Then we moved the wifi unit to the next phone point on the floor in the very middle of the house .
    Now the signal was no longer detectable on the street, still detectable in the neighbours yards at the side of the house, but still did not reach the front or back veranda.

    Lifting the wifi up near the ceiling (on top of a high cupboard) and suddenly the whole house had a good signal, it no longer reached the neighbours yards and just t gets to the back but not the front veranda.

    I reckon the walls of books on internal walls block the signals, and metal roof acts as a reflector and focuses the signal.

    There was a case in the US college dorm where they put a wifi unit in a storage cupboard full of paper products and it knocked the stuffing out of the signal. Apparently it's not the cellulose component of the paper but the additives that does it.

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by _fly_ View Post
    Pulling a fuse for a flouro is not going to help work out the channel to use or provide a solution, is it?
    Well, it helps you find out what the problem actually is, rather than just hoping that some random button mashing will fix it.

    At the end of the day, the proper solution might be "use an ISP that has techs that have a skillset higher than 'maintains body temperature' " or "don't live next door to an aluminium smelter", but until you've figured out what the issue is, you can't really say you've fixed it.

  10. #9
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    I had a wifi router and it kept going off the air and I would have to switch it off and on again anything up to 6 times a day and was driving me nuts. I went to Optus and they suggested I buy a wifi modem for $99.00 that came with 5 gig of data which is pre-paid. when the data ran out I put my original sim card in it that has 20 gig monthly on a post paid account.

    I mounted it on the wall in the office which is about in the middle of the house. I can get signal anywhere in the house as well as outside the house and you can connect up to 9 wifi items to it and it runs 4G. Comes with its own battery that lasts about 12 hours but I have it permanently plugged into a Belkin 2 port usb surge protector. I use it to power two laptops, two tablets and two android phones.

    I have a steel framed house with a steel roof. The best part about it is when I go to town I take the wifi modem with me and because I only have a wifi tablet I can use it in town. The other thing is that it has created a network for me to connect the two computers together.

    As Cliff says he would prefer a hard wired set up which I have in the house but has become redundant. I also had an external aerial for the wifi router but that has also become redundant because I get four bars of signal on the modem and I am about 15 klms from the optus tower that I connect to at home. So when they turn the 4G on which has been installed on the tower NBN can go jump.

  11. #10
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    We have mobile broadband & it was good up til mid last year, the tower that we are on is now over loaded.
    We take the modem with us when we travel & it is much faster in some places & much slower in others so I reckon it the speed of the mobile broadband depends on where you live.
    The Wifi connection in the modem is very good.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  12. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers View Post
    We have mobile broadband & it was good up til mid last year, the tower that we are on is now over loaded.
    We take the modem with us when we travel & it is much faster in some places & much slower in others so I reckon it the speed of the mobile broadband depends on where you live.
    The Wifi connection in the modem is very good.
    I suppose I have a bit of an advantage because the tower that I connect to is probably about 20 klms to the nearest town and it is only accessed by passing motorists on the mobile phone and the odd farmer in the area so we don't have the nerd element or gamers connecting to it so the speeds are pretty constant and in town they have 4G.

  13. #12
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    We are in a remote area but the tower near us services a lot of area with a lot of small farms in it.
    The only way most of them can get internet is by mobile or satelite & mobile is better than satelite if you can get it.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  14. #13
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    I think his issue is not from modem to provider (wheather its cable or mobile SIM to a tower),
    But the router portion of his modem servicing the house wirelessly.

    As I said before the channel can be effected by home cordless mobile phones (not mobiles), Not saying it is the problem but if the modem/router unit has been swapped out its a good place to start.

    If you search google for "telstra modem wireless channel" it will come up with a lot of pages on changing channels.

    This page has a reasonable explanation.
    http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21132...reless-signal/

  15. #14
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    First things first, update the firmware in the modem and what is trying to connect to it. Everyone has a WiFi/network story and we had a complete network re-build, new CAT6 right through the house, new switch, new wireless modem etc. In the end we could only access the NAS from one computer and as I had no hair to tear out blood was oozing from my scalp. No one had an answer my friend who does this stuff for a living and uses the same NAS was stumped. We decided to up date all the firmware and voila! everything worked. It was the bloody firmware in the switch for some reason. The best location I found for a wireless modem is in the roof cavity, brilliant reception everywhere. I thought the heat would kill it but that has not happened.
    CHRIS

  16. #15
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    Not sure if this helps or hinders but I was reading an article on LEDs which have a wifi extender built in. For what it is worth...

    http://www.cnet.com/products/sengled...00000000097354
    Regards,
    Bob

    Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

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