Virgin router replacement

[phenomlab]

@JAC said in Virgin router replacement:

He said he was getting speeds of 780 on his iPhone and 1030 direct from the hub, sounds much better but yet to be confirmed or tested.

If he’s getting that speed directly from the hub, then the cabling etc isn’t the issue - the hub itself is the problem - but but the modem side. The WiFi capabilities of the Virginil Media hubs has always been well below par, and the only way to resolve that is to place the hub into bypass mode and let another device (such as the Archer I pointed out in this thread) handle the WiFi side of things.

Are your dividing walls inside the house solid (brick) or hollow (stud walls or breeze block)? You’ll know the answer to this quite easily by how easy it is to bang a nail into the wall for example. This makes all the difference when it comes to determining which equipment and frequencies should be in use.

Let’s start with the WiFi issue first and then work outwards to the shield box.

[JAC]

@phenomlab Thanks for the info Mark.

The walls are hollow… if cabling isn’t the issue, could moving the router to the middle of the house be a solution?

If not I will look into the box, it’s a shame we have to do this sort of thing .

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Virgin router replacement:

then the cabling etc isn’t the issue -

Is there any cabling you would recommend though?

[phenomlab]

@JAC no, because you’re using WiFi. Moving the hub elsewhere in the house will fix one issue and create another, so you’ll effectively gain nothing in the long run.

[phenomlab]

@JAC said in Virgin router replacement:

The walls are hollow…

This is a good indicator as it means you won’t have to worry about castle keep walls where radio signals will simply bounce off the walls.

[JAC]

Thanks for the advice Mark, so generally you would say go for the router?

Anything you recommend other than that one?

[JAC]

Just out of interest how much did you buy it for? - interesting to say if the price has decreased much over time.

Currently down to £142, was expecting to pay more, pretty sure I’ve seen it for close to £200 when I last looked.

[phenomlab]

@JAC yes, go for that router. However, see if you can one on eBay first - not necessarily that specific model - this is more about keeping the costs same whilst we work towards a solution.

Something like this is ideal to start

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235225096895

It’s not the top end model, and honestly, it doesn’t need to be. The point here is that we need to remove the WiFi side of things from the Virgin Hub and let the new router take care of that. You’ll get a lot more control over the WiFi taking this route as most of the settings we’ll need to modify aren’t exposed by the hub whereas once the router assumes that task, they will be.

I’m not saying that this is going to be the holy grail, but it will certainly make life much easier and provide more flexibility.

[phenomlab]

@JAC said in Virgin router replacement:

Currently down to £142, was expecting to pay more, pretty sure I’ve seen it for close to £200 when I last looked.

Good price, but let’s start low and slow here. You can then move up when you’re ready once we improve things.

[JAC]

@phenomlab Thanks again for the advice Mark throughout the evening.

I am just looking into this now. If for example I take this route will we have to reinsert WiFi codes etc?

I’ve seen many Virgin customers do this, so I know it clearly improves their WiFi, shame on Virgin hey!

Should I be worried the product is ‘end of line’

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-c1200/

[phenomlab]

@JAC said in Virgin router replacement:

I am just looking into this now. If for example I take this route will we have to reinsert WiFi codes etc?

Yes, because the router will take over this role.

[phenomlab]

@JAC said in Virgin router replacement:

Should I be worried the product is ‘end of line’

For the short term, no. If it resolves the issue you’re experiencing, then later down the line, you upgrade to something more suitable and that new device also receives updates etc. Provided it’s secured, which being a stateful device, it will be and your WiFi has a strong password, plus uses modern encryption methods, then the risk is low.

Obviously, over time that risk would increase, but it’s not something to worry about overnight. The priority here is to get to a stage where you’re actually getting the speeds you are paying for. After that, spending a bit more on what then becomes a permanent setup is less of a pill to swallow because you know it’s going to work.

TP-Link, whilst not “the best” on the market works very well and will certainly meet your needs and beyond.

[JAC]

@phenomlab

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275000178296

would you recommend getting something refurbished?

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Virgin router replacement:

The priority here is to get to a stage where you’re actually getting the speeds you are paying for.

Thanks again for all the advice Mark.

Absolutely this for me, 100%

[phenomlab]

@JAC Yes, if this is the route you’d like to take. There are no moving parts inside that units - they are 100% solid state, so rarely go wrong.

[JAC]

@phenomlab Thanks.

I really hope this will do the trick!

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Virgin router replacement:

This is the same router as I have. Zero issues

Just out of interest what speeds were you getting with the virgin router, compared with the speeds you see now?

[phenomlab]

@JAC Easily double. The WiFi range is also very poor on the hub no matter what frequencies you use etc.

For example, the hub is in my office upstairs (first floor) and the main TV is in the lounge. As the crow flies, they are less than 30ft apart and yet the TV would lose WiFi connection midway through films etc which was very frustrating.

Used the Archer, and now it works flawlessly. I have 350Mbps to the hub, and around 290Mbps to the TV which is more than enough. Obviously, you’ll never get the full value but somewhere near it is a good indicator.

[JAC]

@phenomlab thanks for the continued info Mark.

The Mrs on her phone upstairs (where the shield is) got 312mbps last night, is this a device issue do you think?

For example on my Samsung A53 I get probably 40/50mbps in that room tops.

[phenomlab]

@JAC Yes, very likely to be hardware related, so we’d need to see what the settings are. Can you ask your wife to do the same test but via

https://speedof.me

The thing with the Virgin Hub is that it will mix both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz signals together under the same SSID, so you can’t tell the difference between the two networks, and the hub then decides which one you’ll use. Once the Archer is in place, it will split the two networks, so you can connect to each one to see which performs the best, and then use that going foward.

5Ghz is good for close proximity and will deliver high speeds to those devices that support it, whereas 2.4Ghz is much better when distance is an issue but will deliver a slower speed by comparison. Each of these frequencies have different use cases and the Archer will provide detailed information on each.