terrible wifi

[03ozwhip]

When I moved into my house over 3 years ago, I had perfect WiFi service, but it's slowly been getting worse. I've gotten Telus to switch out the router and it worked better for a week then went back to being gay.

I got one of those WiFi plug in things and put it on the main floor(2 storey router in the basement) and it didn't work, so I returned it.

nothing is working for me and moving the router is out of the question. Any ideas on routers(modems whatever you wanna call it lol I'm no techy) that will be better than this garbage I have?

[roopi]

Why is moving the router out of the question?

[nzwasp]

get a different router from bestbuy.

I recommend one of those tplink ones with the 5GHz range. install on the dmz port of the telus router, you will need to enable this on the router. Disable wireless on the telus router, problem solved.

If you have a iphone 4s or older you might have to run 2.4Ghz and compete with all your neighbors.

[kenny]

If you use Android you can install inSSIDer on your phone and check to see if which channel is least congested and then go and change it to see if that helps. If not, get a proper router/wifi AP.

Its free.

I'm sure there are other free solutions for Apple/PC as well.

[revelations]

There must be one of these WIFI threads every month - SHAW and TELUS routers are shit. I move all my clients away from these devices for their wireless needs. Asus makes some great products - about 40$ gets you a WAP system that still lets Telus handle the network, but the wireless is done through a separate device.

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX47224

[03ozwhip]

Thanks guys. I have an android but my wife has a BB bold and her WiFi is even worse than mine. I'm gonna pick up one of those things revelations posted. Thanks again.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by revelations
. I move all my clients away from these devices for their wireless needs.

Why the hell did I think you were an EMT?

Anyways, you still need to use their modem though right, even if you just plug a better router in to one port, and bridge the modem?

[rage2]

Was diagnosing this same issue for another beyonder last week. I'm assuming Telus came by and upgraded you to a 2.4 N router/modem, in which case there's no point in trying to find a free channel. N routers automatically find the least congested channel. When using channel bonding modes, I haven't seen a single N router that lets you choose the 2 channels to bond for double speed, it's all automatic.

With that being said, if you have any old devices that do not support N, take them off the wifi to see if your N devices perform better. When using a G device on a N router, it drops everything down to G speeds and sensitivity to interference.

5Ghz N is cool and all, but it's terrible at going through walls, so range will suffer throughout the house. I only use 5 Ghz for stationary devices (Apple TV's, WDTV's etc) where I know it can get a good 2 way reception. I use 2.4Ghz for all phones, ipods that move around the house as the range is much better through several walls.

As for bridge mode, I'm pretty sure Telus doesn't allow that, and you're stuck with their router/modem/wifi all in 1 box. Typically, I'd just add a new wifi router, turn off DHCP, and plug LAN port to LAN port to turn the new router into a wifi Access point.

[faiz999]

Originally posted by rage2
Was diagnosing this same issue for another beyonder last week. I'm assuming Telus came by and upgraded you to a 2.4 N router/modem, in which case there's no point in trying to find a free channel. N routers automatically find the least congested channel. When using channel bonding modes, I haven't seen a single N router that lets you choose the 2 channels to bond for double speed, it's all automatic.

With that being said, if you have any old devices that do not support N, take them off the wifi to see if your N devices perform better. When using a G device on a N router, it drops everything down to G speeds and sensitivity to interference.

5Ghz N is cool and all, but it's terrible at going through walls, so range will suffer throughout the house. I only use 5 Ghz for stationary devices (Apple TV's, WDTV's etc) where I know it can get a good 2 way reception. I use 2.4Ghz for all phones, ipods that move around the house as the range is much better through several walls.

As for bridge mode, I'm pretty sure Telus doesn't allow that, and you're stuck with their router/modem/wifi all in 1 box. Typically, I'd just add a new wifi router, turn off DHCP, and plug LAN port to LAN port to turn the new router into a wifi Access point.


i bridged the old Siemens wireless router telus gave me until my router shat the bed.

not sure about the new ones that telus are giving out tho

[wtf im nameless]

Originally posted by rage2
As for bridge mode, I'm pretty sure Telus doesn't allow that, and you're stuck with their router/modem/wifi all in 1 box. Typically, I'd just add a new wifi router, turn off DHCP, and plug LAN port to LAN port to turn the new router into a wifi Access point.

If you have Telus TV and have their all-in-one box, they claim it will not work on their network in bridge mode. The only resolution, which literally took my years to find someone at Telus that was both willing and able to help, is this: I now have a contact at Telus who will give my clients an ADSL modem with two IPs, the modem goes into a network switch, one ethernet cable goes to the TelusTV all-in-one, the other goes to a router of your choice. This way both devices work properly and you can eliminate the POS telus router while keeping your Telus TV. If anyone here needs to do this and can't get tech support to help them out, PM me and I can check with my contact for you.

[rage2]

According to this post:

http://telusinternet.blogspot.ca/2013/07/bridged-mode-and-opik-tv-easy-way.html

Everyone gets 2 IPs. The tips and router passwords for setting up bridge, turning off WIFI etc are here:

http://telusinternet.blogspot.ca/2012/10/using-your-own-router-in-tandem-with.html

Good thing I googled it, the ability to turn off the default wifi is a good thing.

[ExtraSlow]

Originally posted by rage2
As for bridge mode, I'm pretty sure Telus doesn't allow that, and you're stuck with their router/modem/wifi all in 1 box. Typically, I'd just add a new wifi router, turn off DHCP, and plug LAN port to LAN port to turn the new router into a wifi Access point. exactly what I'm running my house now with the Telus router.

[wtf im nameless]

Awesome, glad to see it's changed since I looked into it last. I see people have now also figured out how to do the same thing with their Zyxel router/modems too. Can't wait to try it out, I hope it still works.

[revelations]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Why the hell did I think you were an EMT?

Anyways, you still need to use their modem though right, even if you just plug a better router in to one port, and bridge the modem?

:dunno:

- former RCMP
- former jet engine mechanic
- former land surveyor
- now IT and technical consultant

Yea your stuck with their (old) ActionTec modem/router, but plugging a router into the DMZ, else a WAP into the switch, are both common solutions.

[03ozwhip]

I'm fuckin confused guys, I have no idea what you guys are telling me now, will what revelations told me work or not lol I don't know your lingo, I just want better WiFi upstairs on my laptop and my phones when the router is in the basement.

[revelations]

Just grab that device, plug it into one of the yellow ports on your Telus router/modem, go through the steps on your laptop to set it up (the CD helps) and youre suddenly connected everywhere.

I use one of these devices in my detached garage, acting as a bridge.

[kenny]

Originally posted by rage2
5Ghz N is cool and all, but it's terrible at going through walls, so range will suffer throughout the house. I only use 5 Ghz for stationary devices (Apple TV's, WDTV's etc) where I know it can get a good 2 way reception. I use 2.4Ghz for all phones, ipods that move around the house as the range is much better through several walls.

I use 5ghz N for my phone wifi and run a separate 2.4 network as well. You're right about range as I go from full to 2 bars just leaving the room the AP is in, but from my experience, 1 bar of 5Ghz N outperforms full bars of 2.4Ghz in terms of throughput. Might be the wrong way to determine which is better though. Not techy enough to measure stuff like latency.

[DeleriousZ]

That inSSIDer is a pretty cool app, thanks for recommending it!

[V6-BoI]

Is it all around the house, or just certain spots? I bought another dual band AC wireless router because the factory telus one had issues when I was in my living room. Turned out to be my sound bar interfering with my wifi signal. Heard sometimes the 2.4 GHz cordless phones can do that too.

[03ozwhip]

Ya in all places of the house, sometimes even the basement it's not very good. It's weird because it use to be fine.

[rage2]

Originally posted by kenny
I use 5ghz N for my phone wifi and run a separate 2.4 network as well. You're right about range as I go from full to 2 bars just leaving the room the AP is in, but from my experience, 1 bar of 5Ghz N outperforms full bars of 2.4Ghz in terms of throughput. Might be the wrong way to determine which is better though. Not techy enough to measure stuff like latency.
Not even talking about latency. If there are 4 walls/floors between me and the access point (when I'm in my garage), that's a difference between 5mbit of usable internet on 2.4Ghz vs can't connect to internet on 5Ghz.

You're right though, in closer range, 5Ghz works great. It just dies off a lot quicker than 2.4Ghz when walls are involved.

[rage2]

Originally posted by 03ozwhip
Ya in all places of the house, sometimes even the basement it's not very good. It's weird because it use to be fine.
Have you tried turning off all Wifi devices, and just enabling your newest one (which I hope is new enough to support wireless N) to see if that improves?

[Strider]

Since this topic has steered a bit towards Telus hardware, I've got the old Telus D-Link box with an Asus router behind it for my PC, NAS, and wireless.

Is there a better configuration? I've noticed my wireless doesn't seem to perform as well as I think it should.

Should I try to get Telus to upgrade me to a newer box and set up proper bridged mode?

I've got an older wireless printer that's definitely not 802.11n. I'll try taking that that off the network tonight to see if my wireless improves.

[ExtraSlow]

Not sure if you CAN set up bridged mode on the newer telus hardware. They certainly don't encourage it, so you'll be flashing to modified or older firmware, and even then you may not succeed.

I'm not expert, but I run my telus actiontec as-is and run the second Wifi router as an access point, located elsewhere in my house. That's currently working well for me.

[rage2]

For all intents and purposes, I don't think anyone really *needs* bridge mode. Shaw users needed bridge mode back in the day because the router/cablemodem combo that was used was a POS that crashed all the time, especially when you're doing torrenting or any high packet rate usage. That's why people were getting Shaw to turn on bridge mode so they can put in a better router to handle that type of traffic. Shaw's now using Cisco router/cablemodem boxes so that problem has been addressed. I don't think I've seen people bitch about the routers from Telus at all, so you might as well just use it as the router.

On the wireless side, the Telus boxes come with 2.4Ghz non bonded N wireless, which is pretty old. Shaw, not sure what they come with, but I'll assume the same. All you really need is to add a new wireless access point with the latest and greatest N, AC or whatever $$$ you want to spend on technology, and you're good to go.

[Strider]

Originally posted by Strider
I've got an older wireless printer that's definitely not 802.11n. I'll try taking that that off the network tonight to see if my wireless improves.



Originally posted by rage2
On the wireless side, the Telus boxes come with 2.4Ghz non bonded N wireless, which is pretty old. Shaw, not sure what they come with, but I'll assume the same. All you really need is to add a new wireless access point with the latest and greatest N, AC or whatever $$$ you want to spend on technology, and you're good to go.

Thanks!
Is there an easy way to tell if I'm connected on N?

[rage2]

If you can login to the access point, some will tell you connected clients, and what they're connected on (G or N).

Subsequently, you can also force your access point to only connect N clients and disable B/G compatibility.

[clem24]

I am on Shaw... I ended up with an SMC wireless router after I upgraded to BB50 (and 1 month too early for the Cisco's). The router has been good but noticed that the signal has been dying. But then I realized that I had stack some junk on a rack directly above where the router was located. I just moved the router like 4 feet and the difference is night and day. Might try just calling your provider and see if they can move the router to a different area or get a new one altogether.

[supe]

Originally posted by rage2
All you really need is to add a new wireless access point with the latest and greatest N, AC or whatever $$$ you want to spend on technology, and you're good to go.

AC is the way to go. Main reason why wifi sucks is because the 2.4 spectrum is loaded. At home I see up to 15 different networks all jamming up on the same frequency. AC being new I am the only one and am laughing.

Keep in mind you need AC compatible devices so too bad for all you iPhone users.