I know this isn’t a WiFi forum, but I want to ask all you smart folks for help anyway.
I have a Comcast modem/wireless router. 3 years, great speed over WiFi in my office. Next to router 700 mbps download, office 360 mbps. Very happy with it. A bit over a month ago, my Teams calls started breaking up and losing connection. Speedtest now shows 10mbps in my office and around 1-2 upload. I got a replacement modem, same model, same performance. I am having the basement finished, so I thought maybe that could be it. So I bought a tp-link 7800 beast, mounted it within my basement storage much closer to my office. Now I tested 100 mbps, then later 20. My ask is, what is the best long range WiFi router under $250? Must I go to a mesh setup?
I think that is the best way forward. I don't know what your home network setup is like. In the event you don't have ethernet running throughout the house, I recommend considering the Unifi Express mesh system.
If you have both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz on the same SSID it is possible your laptop has decided to switch over to the 2.4Ghz band for some reason. Mine was doing that at times so I created a separate "guest" network for 5Ghz only and connected certain devices to that, making them forget the other SSID. I kept the original SSID as dual band for roaming devices like phones.
I think without knowing a bit more about your setup it is hard to answer. What @jtp10181 said is a good suggestion though.
Generally speaking to hundreds of mbps speed you will need to be on a band other the 2.4 ghz
So here are some questions to answer to help us get to the bottom of it.
What band is your office device using to connect?
Can you check a wifi analyser to see how much overlap you have in your house or area?
Has anything changed recently that could add interference like new appliances or people moving in recently.
What is the speed like when connected directly to the router with ethernet?
A mesh system could be a good upgrade but if you have a interference problem it not help much. It could help bay moving your backhaul to a different band like 6ghz, but you could still have issue talking to the closest AP. Preferably it would be meshed with a wired backhaul between AP's. The advantage of a mesh system is they can be lower powered and still provide good coverage because of the backhaul.
Interference can come in a variety of ways. It can be how the house is constructed, appliances that put off EMI, ect. So you may need to run a few tests to find out whst is causing the interference.
This. First check what's going on using a wired connection to the modem. You mention Comcast and modem so I'm guessing that it might be a connection delivered over coax cable? I'm on similar in the UK and connections can be very temperamental if the power levels on the cable fall outside of optimum for the Docsis specification.
If you do choose to look into a low cost mesh style solution, I personally use tplink omada.
I bought the hardware controller for about £60, two discs for about £120 each, hardwired them through bog standard gigabit switches and used my existing old router to handle the actual routing (WiFi entirely from the 2x omada discs).
I have a 3 story home and the WiFi works perfectly. Garden is slow, and I could really do with adding one in the shed (or buy a legit external one), but I'm really happy with it.
If you really start looking into mesh just be careful with what you select. It seems in many cases Mesh is more of a marketing term then following standards.
I use the original Google Wif which is super simple to use and has been rock solid. But it isn't the most performant. I think that hold true for the newest Google mesh systems.
I have recently been looking at Ubiquity Unifi products as a upgrade. They are very nice but with a slightly higher cost of entry. The piece of kit @aaiyar mentioned is part of that and they have some great options as you expand into their environment more. The only issue with the Unifi Express is that if you get over 5 Unifi devices it may not be able to manage them.
This thing has caught my eye before. Do you have to be whole hog into Unfi to use it? Or can it work with my current router (ASUS) until I get into a bigger overhaul project. Essentially this could be the first step.
Thanks so much to all of you. Now less than 24 hours after install, having changed nothing, I decided to test from my office again. 650 mbps! Furthest point in the house from it, 360 mbps. Apparently it takes several hours to acclimate.
If it were me and i had a good device like a asus router that could be a good AP i woul start with the ultra. It is a little bit cheaper then the express and will control 6 times the unifi devices than the express will. It goes from 5 to 30. Then just conver your asus gear to a AP until you upgrade to a unifi AP.
The express includes a AP and has 2 ports similar to a Google Wifi. The Ultra doesn't include the AP and has 5 ethernet ports. One dedicated WAN port, one of which can be a lan or wan port, and then 3 dedicated LAN ports.
While it's undoubtedly true that the Unifi equipment is the best around, if you already have an asus router, then most other asus routers will act as a mesh network setup with AiMesh.
You should get a wifi analyzer app. Try to stay away from the same bands your neighbors are using, while avoiding Zigbee overlap. Many "smart"(actually stupid) routers will auto change channels depending on your environment, which can wreak havoc if all your neighbors have the same stupid routers, it becomes a game of musical chairs with WiFi
