60Mpbs from router but just 3Mpbs in next room

Sorry an old problem but neither BT nor tp-Link can help.
My BT Smart Hub router Type A is in my small office and I'm happy to receive 60Mpbs BUT in rest of the house, despite having three tp-Links scattered around I can only get 3 maybe 4Mpbs on a good day. I have tried moving the router around but there's not much choice and doesn't make much difference. BT say that "tp-Links may not be compatible with a BT set-up" which I find hard to believe. We have an ordinary brick house of which there must be millions in the UK, surely I am not alone in meeting this problem?

The only thing I can think is that the router in my office is built on the side of the house, ie the signal has to go through an outside wall, but nevertheless is this an insuperable problem?

Most grateful for any advice.

Could you do some think broadband speed tests for us please .. and link them in a post please?

What are the TP-Links?
A model number would help.

How are the TP-links connected to the BT Smart Hub?
Ethernet (the best), WifI (can be OK but often problematic) or HomePlug/Power line adaptors (terrible in my experience).

Any chance that your intervening wall has some cavity insulation that could be a screen? Try moving the router inside the main building to test.

If you really want any benefit from further wireless units, you should connect them with wired ethernet, because if they were themselves receiving good wifi, you would probably not need them.

In reply to a post by cjn:

Any chance that your intervening wall has some cavity insulation that could be a screen? Try moving the router inside the main building to test.

Or perhaps a building in which foil backed plasterboard has been used.

In reply to a post by longedge:

In reply to a post by cjn:

Any chance that your intervening wall has some cavity insulation that could be a screen? Try moving the router inside the main building to test.

Or perhaps a building in which foil backed plasterboard has been used.

Could drill a hole through wall if so and use a cable between .. usual rules about safe zones permitting..

The Tp-Links are WA850RE powered off the ring main. Are you saying I should cable them together off the Smart Hub which is next door? That's going to be difficult.

In reply to a post by FredaBasset100:

The Tp-Links are WA850RE powered off the ring main.

These things are really poor, they will be the cause of your issue. You need another solution.

No cavity wall insulation in that wall, but thank you for your response.

Mm . . .

The latter: plug in to the ring main. Model WA850RE. I presume the same concept as the vaunted BT discs?

Thank you for your interest. Here 'tis. You're allowed to have a laugh. https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/17032646705...

But 60Mbps in my office direct off the router.

In reply to a post by FredaBasset100:

But 60Mbps in my office direct off the router.

Do you not get a WiFi signal from the router in the other room? Poor WiFi will be faster than your repeater, those things are always problematic.

ok is that in the room with the tp extenders ?

or in your office........

p.s the extenders are rubbish. They take the existing wifi, and then retransmit it - often reducing the speed by up to 50%. if you have resently brought them(dsr laws), and you have packaging see if you can take them back.

You said you were only getting 60Mbits/s in the same room as your router. what devices where/are you using.

you can't cable these things up ......... they take the existing wifi and retransmit .....

Yes but a paltry 3 - 4 Mbps which is why I bought the Tp-Links range extenders (so called).

The BT Smart Hub is in my office linked to my main PC. I get a healthy 60Mbps. In the rest of the house I just get 3 - 4 - as I write a miserable 2 off which runs the Smart TV and wife's laptop.

In reply to a post by FredaBasset100:

Yes but a paltry 3 - 4 Mbps which is why I bought the Tp-Links range extenders (so called).

They do what they say, they extend the range of a good signal. Say you had a home with an office at the front and getting 60 Mbps on WiFi there, and in the room 2 away you got 50 Mbps, but in the conservatory you only managed 1 Mbps, the extender would be put in the room with 50 Mbps and it could get the signal to the conservatory at 20-30 Mbps.

They don't solve a room with very poor performance. If you can't get WiFi signals through the walls from the office to where you need it, then you need to look at different options.

* Investigate - see what is causing the poor performance. Is it the construction of the walls, or do you have a lot of interference from another WiFi system outside of your home causing the poor performance. (This is VERY common in the USA where homes are built of different materials to the UK).

* Ethernet wiring - this is the best and the most future proof. If the devices that need internet are not Ethernet enabled, then you can get small access points that connect to ethernet and create a local WiFi hot spot.

* Mesh wifi - this is the "more complex" version of your extender concept, you have multiple units around the home, one is conneted to the original router (Smart Hub). Then your devices can pick up any of the units to provide internet access. TP-Link's Decco range are an example of a mesh system, there are different types at different price points. Mesh can't fix a problem where there is solid metal in the walls.

* Relocate the BT router - one of my friends has extended the Openreach line to the loft, and the WiFi systems are in the loft pointing downwards. This works much better than expected, and gives better coverage than going between rooms through solid brick walls. Lofts are not an easy solution, and can do wrong in hot summers and cold winters.

I'm grateful for that. I think I'll go for the easier option and try moving the router inside the house and then somehow providing a feed back into my office for the PC.

In reply to a post by FredaBasset100:

I'm grateful for that. I think I'll go for the easier option and try moving the router inside the house and then somehow providing a feed back into my office for the PC.

Worth a try; if your phone line is available and you have enough microfilters you can try this, see if you get similar speeds.

The outside wall of many homes (depending on age) has been either cavity wall filled, or has some other insulation that may impact the WiFi transmissions.

In reply to a post by FredaBasset100:

The latter: plug in to the ring main. Model WA850RE. I presume the same concept as the vaunted BT discs?

No I don't think they are.

We have some BT discs and they mesh together and are smart while I think the WA850RE are basically signal amplifiers.

We do have our BT discs wired back to our ISP router and the overall effect is wonderful. High speed roaming WiFi through the whole house.

It does sound as if your external wall is quite the WiFi blocker.

Put one of these, a TP-Link EAP245 on the adjoining wall to your Office room, high up. Cable it in, Cat 6, through the cavity to your BT Router. This should transmit the full 60Mb over Wifi to the rest of the house.
If the signal is not sufficient for the whole house, then add an additional Wifi extender from this EAP to rebroadcast possibly 30Mb onwards.

Edited by Adduxi (Sat 23-Dec-23 10:12:54)

Before I read your post - thank you - I shot to Screwfix and bought 10m of ethernet cable, plugged into my router, strung it round the house and plugged into another TP-Link I had, WA860RE, which to my great disappointment has effected NO improvement whatsoever even though I can hold the laptop within a foot of it. All lights are showing. (Connected the end of the ethernet to my laptop I do of course get 60Mbps). Presumably the WA860RE is just a cheaper version of your suggestion, which I see costs £100 or so.
So more baffled than before . . .
Happy Christmas to all my readers.

In reply to a post by FredaBasset100:

WA860RE, which to my great disappointment has effected NO improvement whatsoever even though I can hold the laptop within a foot of it.

Given your laptop connected directly to the Ethernet shows 60 Mbps, then this implies there is an issue with either the WA860RE or the WiFi adaptor in the laptop is incompatible with the WA860RE.

Check for WiFi driver updates on the laptop.

Edited by jchamier (Sat 23-Dec-23 11:26:47)

In reply to a post by FredaBasset100:

I shot to Screwfix and bought 10m of ethernet cable, plugged into my router, strung it round the house and plugged into another TP-Link I had, WA860RE

I thought the ethernet connection on the bottom of the WA860RE didn't support connection to a router (only used for connection to a device like a computer), on the right hand side of the WA860RE are some signal strength leds what strength did they show?

Edit: just read you can reconfigure it for access point mode

Edited by PCJM40 (Sat 23-Dec-23 10:46:59)

Well done Sir. I've been running nearly all my thinkbroadband tests on either my office PC or laptop. I've just tried running the test on my Fire Tablet and now see 28Mbps which I'm very happy with. Many thanks.

Just retested this via my Fire Tablet and am getting 38Mbps, which I am extremely happy with. Thanks for your help.