Router and Range Extension Advice for Spark MaxFibre

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Topic # 222984 6-Sep-2017 17:46

We currently have Spark MaxFibre and a network supplied Huawei HG659B which, while fine for ethernet, seems to have issues with WiFi range, speed and reliability.

A test yesterday returned 338mbps down and 156mbps up while sitting directly in front of the router. I'm not too fussed about these speeds as I gather we should expect significant speed loss over WiFi. Trouble is the above is never consistent and somewhat understandably we get far worse speeds on the other side of our fairly small house.

The other week while trying to troubleshoot with a Spark rep, I got the following results while directly in front of the router:
- 88mbps both down and up on 2.4Ghz
- 230 down and 270 up (higher up speeds than down) on 5Ghz

Today I am in my room on the other side of the house getting the following:
- 1mbps down and 20mbps up (much higher up speeds than the appalling down speed) on 2.4Ghz
- 170 down and 107 up on 5Ghz

The Spark guy said there's nothing wrong from their end so our only solution is to buy new hardware. He kept mentioning a Netgear Nighthawk but wasn't specific about which one. I did a small amount of research and we bought a $350 Netgear Nighthawk D7000 V2 which only made our problems worse. Speeds were lower, range was worse and it would drop connection for extended periods completely at random. I'm not sure if it was faulty or simply incompatible but we have returned it for store credit.

So my question is, what is most likely to fix our issues? Our main requirements are:
- Range
- Speed over WiFi
- Price

We don't really need any fancy features, just decent WiFi that makes it worth having a MaxFibre connection. I have looked at other routers (I believe we probably don't need a modem router and can just buy a router?) and mesh routers but must admit I don't really know what I am looking at.

Options like Ubiquiti AmpliFi look nice but at $500 for the router and an extender plug, I would need to know it's going to work. Google WiFi looks great too but does it work with Spark? Could we just get a different, better router from another brand like ASUS?

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Meow
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Reply # 1859844 6-Sep-2017 17:53

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You're never going to get Gigabit over wireless. The speeds quoted are very good and nothing is wrong with your setup. The Huawei HG659 is an incredibly good router.

You can look at maybe grabbing an access point (like the Grandstream GWN7610) which will boost range but not necessary speed (you're looking at around 300-500Mbit with this AP in an average home environment). If you want speed your only option is to use Ethernet.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
A quick guide to picking the right ISP | The Router Guide | Community UniFi Cloud Controller | Ubiquiti Edgerouter Tutorial

kyhwana2

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Reply # 1859849 6-Sep-2017 18:03

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As per michaelmurfy's comments, you're never going to get gigabit over current wifi. The "zomg 2,700mbit speeds!" you see on all wifi APs/routers is just marketing BS.

You might get ~500mbit tops on 5ghz in the same room with a 802.11ac AP + client where both have a 3x3 MIMO setup AND no interference AND you can pull that from the server AND if you dance around with a dead chicken.. but you're never going to be able to pull anywhere close to gigabit over wireless.

Use an ethernet cable to a client that has a decent CPU + GigE NIC.

sbiddle

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Reply # 1859873 6-Sep-2017 18:09

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Your connection is working perfectly and has no fault. Your hardware is also working perfectly and has no fault.

Maybe you'd like to actually explain what problem needs solving? Because I can't see one.

If your requirements are more than 170Mbps on the other side of the house your solution is to use Ethernet. Your bandwidth requirements are such that you will want full duplex connectivity, and Ethernet is the only way to deliver this.

If you're somehow thinking that anything close to Gigabit is possible over WiFi then you'll be disappointed to know it's not.

Linux

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Reply # 1859877 6-Sep-2017 18:29

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The Spark staff member is correct

Linux

Ex JohnR VodafoneNZ 17 years 4 days

hio77

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Reply # 1859880 6-Sep-2017 18:40

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I'd say these results are right on spec, They Netgears we stock are likely to gain slightly more on 5ghz than the HG659b.

Caveat here is, that is ofcourse enduser device dependant too.

As to the 2.4ghz speeds dropping incredibly low, this will be interference which is typical particularly in urban areas.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

danza

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Reply # 1859895 6-Sep-2017 19:14

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You can try 802.11ad or 60GHz wifi to get near gigabit speed with appropriate hardware on both the transmitting and receiving end with good signal setup.

Supposedly their speed is around 800~900Mbps.

There's one from TPLink, Talon AD7200
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/12/802-11ad-wifi-guide-review/

another from Netgear, probably what the dude was talking about
Netgear Nighthawk X10
https://hothardware.com/reviews/netgear-nighthawk-x10-r9000-ad7200-smart-wi-fi-router-review?page=3

Make sure your device eg. laptop or desktop also has 802.11ad adapter that supports 60GHz wifi, along with line of sight to maximize your speed.

Also highly discourage any sort of mesh wifi network thing like Google wifi, netgear orbi that uses wifi as their backbone to connect with one another while serving as access point at the same time.
Reason being that they will literally put up many wifi access points on different channels and eat up all the available wireless spectrum.

eg.
Google Wifi AGoogle Wifi BGoogle Wifi CGoogle Wifi D
In order to transfer one file from A to D, from one end of the house to another. It will basically take up 3x the wireless spectrum just to get the single file instead of just using one channel and goes through hardware if you had the more traditional 'wired access points' setup.

kyhwana2

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Reply # 1859917 6-Sep-2017 19:20

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danza: You can try 802.11ad or 60GHz wifi to get near gigabit speed with appropriate hardware on both the transmitting and receiving end with good signal setup.
.

Of course, that means you'll need an AP per room, as 60ghz won't penetrate even a single wall very well it doesn't sound like OP wants to spend that much ;)

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 1859918 6-Sep-2017 19:22

60GHz is a joke. May as well run Ethernet - pure marketing.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
A quick guide to picking the right ISP | The Router Guide | Community UniFi Cloud Controller | Ubiquiti Edgerouter Tutorial

danza

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Reply # 1859921 6-Sep-2017 19:27

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kyhwana2:
danza: You can try 802.11ad or 60GHz wifi to get near gigabit speed with appropriate hardware on both the transmitting and receiving end with good signal setup.
.

Of course, that means you'll need an AP per room, as 60ghz won't penetrate even a single wall very well it doesn't sound like OP wants to spend that much ;)

Yeah but he didn't specify price :b

60GHz AP in every area with good gigabit backbone connecting them all should get him pretty decent 800~900Mbps+ speed.

DarkShadow

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Reply # 1859923 6-Sep-2017 19:27

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OVER:

Ubiquiti AmpliFi

Google WiF

All of these are 802.11ac so won't get anywhere near gigabit speeds. You'll need to get something with 802.11ad (read: spend a lot of money) as mentioned above to get gigabit over wifi. What are you doing anyway that needs gigabit speeds over wifi?

If you just want something to give you stable wifi with a good range, try a Unifi AP from Ubiquiti. Just one covers my whole house nicely.

danza

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Reply # 1859935 6-Sep-2017 19:40

If the primary usage isn't occurring on a hard wired device/desktop and are just mobile devices mostly. Then downgrading to Ultra Fibre (200/20) or 100/20 would be much more worth it.
Since most reasonably priced wifi equipment and widely available devices will only see those speed anyway. Maybe up to 400~500Mbps.

1101

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Reply # 1860168 7-Sep-2017 09:58

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Down the other end of the house: you need to be realistic of what you can actually get with wifi.

In my small 3bedroom house, wifi is almost unusable at the other end of the house.
Just the way things are .

Options are running network cable and adding access points , or a some homeplug wifi units
Trying to get better speed/reliability at the other end of the house via more expensive/powerfull wifi routers/AP may
not give the result you want.

OVER

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Reply # 1860182 7-Sep-2017 10:22

Hey all,

Really appreciate all the replies, it has been pretty helpful.

One thing I probably should have made clearer is that I am not expecting gigabit speeds from WiFi. I wouldn't have made the topic if that were the case because there are many other topics on here that explain it well.

I am happy with the 338mbps down and 156mbps up that I am able to achieve with the Huawei HG659B in our main living area on 5Ghz, but transferring that speed across our relatively small house is more the issue I was hoping to solve. From most of your responses, I can tell this will be tough or not achievable at all.

There are a few spots in our house which are pretty much dead spots for WiFi so I wonder whether you guys think products like Ubiquiti Unifi AP, Ubiquiti AmpliFi, D-Link Powerline might make a difference there? I know someone above was pretty opposed to Mesh WiFi for "eating up all the available wireless spectrum" but what if it were just two access points? Would it be that noticeable?

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 1860290 7-Sep-2017 13:29

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Honestly for the price you can't go wrong with the Grandstream GWN7610 - just attach it to your HG659 and disable WiFi on it. In the future you can look at getting the Grandstream GWN7000 router which pairs very nicely with this AP. No need for a controller and I got far better performance than any other WiFi router and access point I have tested so far.

Would recommend it over the mesh routers and also any all in one router right now. I've been incredibly impressed with the Grandstream gear.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
A quick guide to picking the right ISP | The Router Guide | Community UniFi Cloud Controller | Ubiquiti Edgerouter Tutorial

phrozenpenguin

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Reply # 1860309 7-Sep-2017 14:02

michaelmurfy:

Honestly for the price you can't go wrong with the Grandstream GWN7610 - just attach it to your HG659 and disable WiFi on it. In the future you can look at getting the Grandstream GWN7000 router which pairs very nicely with this AP. No need for a controller and I got far better performance than any other WiFi router and access point I have tested so far.

Would you choose the Grandstream over a Unifi AC Lite - and if so why? I have an ER-X SFP and was looking to get a couple of Unifi AC Lite's for wifi, but not committed yet. Interested in your thoughts and know you are familiar with Ubiquiti gear :-)

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