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!

If work are expecting you to work from home should they be paying for the expense to make this work for you?

Hi Mum - that’s a very fair point. Unfortunately my work aren’t able to as it’s a public sector job.

The first thing is that the booster shouldn't be near the router or near your desk.

They're supposed to be half way between. The router gets the signal to the booster and the booster sends it on to your device (in very basic terms).

We have a router in sitting room and extender in the kitchen - this gives much better internet upstairs.

Can I throw in a vote for mesh WiFi. An example is the BT WholeHome system which I have, but there are others available. We have a large and rambling house, part of which is effectively a Faraday cage, but we still get full WiFi speeds literally everywhere in the house and in the garden. It is shockingly good and worth every penny.

Thanks Sofia, Oldand and Hankuna - really appreciate your advice.

The extender is now on the first floor, so between the router (which is on the ground floor) and my bedroom (which is on the second floor).

Would anyone have any advice please on how I can broach the wifi issue with my landlord? My landlord pays all the utility bills (they’re included in my rent, so I don’t directly pay any). He lives in the house too, so I’d like to approach this carefully, but equally I do think it needs to be raised as it’s important.

@Frustratedflatmate you need to find out who the service provider is and what product your LL already has. They may already have the fastest available line for your property.

Power line adapters are great, but the best you can do is to get an extension installed in your part of the property. Your LL can ask their service provider to do it get a private electrician/telecoms/aerial type person to install one. This will give you a hard wired connection to the router, which is going to give you the fastest possible speeds. Expect to pay your LL no more than £40 for this.

If you stick with trying to use the WiFi, then take a look at the construction of the property, solid walls, radiators, mirrors, fish tanks etc all absorb the WiFi signal and reduce its strength. When on Teams, turn tour camera off and explain your internet isn't strong enough to carry the signal for audio and video.

Ask your LL to contact the service provider as well to look at congestion on the WiFi channels and manually change the router to a less congested channel.

It might not be an issue with your Internet though so upgrading the package might make no difference. If it works fine near the router but not far away then it is a WiFi issue not an issue with your Internet. That isn't anything to do with the package you are on.

Like previous posters have said you need a powerline adaptor or some other changes your internal network. A WiFi extender isn't going to cut it no matter where you place it.

Powerline adaptors cost about €50 here I don't know how much in the UK but I would try that first as it could be an easy solution.

Thanks very much everyone! This is all really helpful.

My flatmate was near the router when we were both on a joint Skype call today, and when their camera was on, they kept on freezing - so I wonder if it could be an issue with the router. I’m not too sure.

How would I find out if it’s more a router issue or if it’s more an issue with where I work in the house (as I work quite far away from the router)?

It's difficult because you would need your landlord to call the service provider for them to run tests. They need to check the Sync speed to the router and then the throughput as well as the congestion on the WiFi channels. They should also check the router has the most up to date version of firmware. If the router is more than 3 yrs old, I would personally ask for a new one, but they won't necessarily send one for free if they cannot diagnose a fault.

You can download a Speedtest app or visit a Speedtest website to test each device individually.

Some slow speeds can be device specific as well, so be sure you always have the most up to date version of software and operating platforms. Not all devices are capable of achieving the same WiFi speeds. An iPhone 5 will be considerably slower than an iPhone 12, but still faster than a brand new Nokia 1.3; due to the processing speed in the device itself.

Only thing with powerline adapters is that your work room and the router need to be on the same circuit. E.g. my upstairs is on a different circuit to downstairs, so a powerline adapter wouldn't work for me in your circumstances.

@CaptainMerica

Only thing with powerline adapters is that your work room and the router need to be on the same circuit. E.g. my upstairs is on a different circuit to downstairs, so a powerline adapter wouldn't work for me in your circumstances.

When you say on a different circuit, what do you mean exactly?

We use power line adapters for a couple of things upstairs, and the router is downstairs.

Our upstairs and downstairs sockets are different circuits insofar as there are different circuit breakers for the up and down sockets.

Is that different to what you mean?