Internet access and WFH - AIBU to ask for advice?

[Frustratedflatmate]

Hi all,

Have been working from home since start of first lockdown and rely heavily on the Internet/email access to do my job, however my Internet can be pretty poor and unreliable.

The Internet router is on the ground floor, and I’m on the second floor. Although I have an Internet extender in my room (on my desk), my Internet is still really patchy and struggles to consistently connect to Outlook and Teams.

Any tips on how to boost internet connection please? Or how to approach this with landlord (as below)?

For background: I am a lodger in someone’s home, so I pay them monthly rent (all bills included, including Internet).

I have a really good relationship with my landlord, and landlord is very kind and supportive, so wondering if I can let them know about Internet issue and ask how it can be resolved (and say I’d of course be willing to pay more rent to cover higher-cost Internet package, if it comes to that).

Thanks!

the extender should be mid way between the router and your pc to be effective

Your extender is plugged in at the wrong place, it will boost the signal but needs to be close ish to the router to begin with. Move it to the 1st floor and it should get better

How strong is the signal/speed in my nthe first place -ie what internet package do they have?
Could they upgrade?

The extender only takes the signal it finds and broadcasts it out again, so having it in the same room as you means it does nothing. As PP has said, it needs to be where it can get a good signal then transmit it further.

Will your landlord be okay with a powerline adapter. Like this.

Basically one plugs in by the router, and connects to the other you plug in your wall. It delivers Internet through the power, and you can then connect your laptop via an ethernet cable to the adapter.

I think you can even get ones that boost WiFi too, so double benefit.

We have them at home, as the WiFi just doesn't cut it for our gaming.

No affect on the power itself.

Get a couple of homeplug adapters?

Powerline extenders are a great solution. Plug one next to the router, one in your office.

If you can afford it pay for a wireless dongle contract to create your own network that won’t be shared - only good if you have decent mobile signal where you are

Find out what speeds your package is supposed to be delivering. No point getting a booster if the provider is only sending 2mbps.

My husband uses the plug - power line one.
As he customer facing it was causing issues when me and the kids all using Teams/Skype etc for work/school. Since using them he has a very stable connection and really simple to set up .

www.argos.co.uk/product/5742734?istCompanyId=a74d8886-5df9-4baa-b776-166b3bf9111c&istFeedId=30f62ea9-9626-4cac-97c8-9ff3921f8558&istItemId=ixilqwtal&istBid=t&gclsrc=aw.ds&&cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59157|acid:804-627-9544|cid:9606825328|agid:101858977631|tid:pla-1141669897587|crid:424817605179|nw:g|rnd:13831662278019464185|dvc:m|adp:|mt:|loc:1006628&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=9606825328&utm_term=5742734&utm_content=shopping&utm_custom1=101858977631&utm_custom2=804-627-9544&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr9uGudCP7wIVTtPtCh3zUQe7EAQYAyABEgIdqvD_BwE

These are amazing. You can run the internet through the mains and then plug in or have another WiFi broadcaster depending on the one you get

I'd get a bigger data bundle on your mobile and hotspot off it as 4G/5G would probably be more reliable and data isn't as expensive anymore.

We had powerline adapters at our house and they are really good. Last summer when we were all working from home DH had an electrical come to the house and run network cables from the router to our wireless access points. That really solved the problem.

Your extender is too far from the router.

Thanks so much everyone! LL has agreed to move the router to first floor, and the Internet is already much better. Thanks!

@Jimbleyjumb many firms won’t allow hotspot from phone as it’s less secure connection if using sensitive data

[quote VanCleefArpels]@Jimbleyjumb many firms won’t allow hotspot from phone as it’s less secure connection if using sensitive data[/quote]
4G / 5G is encrypted, so not sure where you are getting this from?

We've got the power line things all over the place. They're brilliant, definitely worth investment in.

Instead of an extender you can get an actual set of plugs to give you Ethernet quality
One plug 🔌 goes into actual router
One goes into your PC
They are like twin plugs 🔌
We got one for son and it’s amazing

Second option is ask if you can contribute towards a stronger internet package , ask what they have and can you contribute to the max

Another vote for power line extenders, and hard-wiring as much as you can by using Ethernet cables instead of relying on the WiFi signal. I’ve WFH for 15 years in three houses and this has always solved the problems I’ve had.

I have used powerline extenders extensively for about ten years, and based on my experience I would consider other options. Mine would work OK for weeks at a time, then lose connection completely. To be fair, I think it's like having an extra pair of routers between you and your router, they benefit from being rebooted occasionally.

The first set of powerline adaptors I had would lose their settings a few times a year and I would have to set them up from scratch again so they could connect to each other. The second set didn't have that problem, but still occasionally needed rebooting in order to work..

Once when I was having problems, I browsed my network and saw several devices I didn't recognise, including one labelled raspberry pi, a device I don't own. My powerline network was connecting to the network of one of my (flat) neighbours, something that isn't supposed to be possible. I solved that problem by putting a password on my devices so the two networks couldn't connect.

More recently I tried using extenders, which I'd always shunned as on paper they shouldn't be as good as a powerline. I made the mistake of buying a cheap no-name one at first, but then after more research I bought an ancient TP-Link off ebay which was much more configurable, and I configured it to use 5Ghz between itself and the router at the opposite end of the same floor, while putting out 2.4Ghz to the other floor. By using different bands for different network legs it could be twice as fast, this worked very well.

I no longer need anything because when I had my carpets replaced, I got them to run a network cable under the carpet from near my front door to the mid-point of all household internet connections, and relocated the router there. I also upgraded to a more reliable router with stronger WIFI. Now every device in the house can reach the router directly, the ideal scenario.

For anyone going down the powerline router, remember not to plug them into extension cables, as these can massively downgrade their speed. Plug them into the wall socket the extension cable is plugged into, and the extension into them, if necessary.

I also found that they had massively different speeds even when moved between wall sockets in the same room, so for me there was an element of luck involved in how well they worked.

@BullOx 2 people in this house work variously in law /finance and are prohibited from using mobile data connection into work networks

I have used powerline extenders extensively for about ten years, and based on my experience I would consider other options. Mine would work OK for weeks at a time, then lose connection completely. To be fair, I think it's like having an extra pair of routers between you and your router, they benefit from being rebooted occasionally.

This happened with ours too, although it was more like every month or two that they would slow down and have to be unplugged and plugged back in to reboot them. This wasn't a major problem until lockdown when we were all working and studying from home. That's when we decided to have Cat 6 network cable installed.

Hi all,

Just coming on here to ask for some further advice if okay.

The extender’s now been moved to a different part of the house (closer to the router on the ground floor).

I think the internet’s been worse since then, as I often have poor connectivity (especially in work meetings, where no one can really hear me clearly, especially if I have my camera on).

My landlord has mentioned the house has super fast broadband installed. I think the broadband is (understandably) put under quite a lot of pressure when all of us are using it at the same time - my landlord, my flatmate and I are all working from home right now, and will continue to wfh for the foreseeable future.

Would I be unreasonable to (politely) ask if the broadband could be upgraded or changed (or if someone could come and look at the broadband connection)?

Thanks!