Heavy wifi congestion

Hi all having real problems with wifi.

So heavily congested I can only use channel 1 and even that is not realisable. A wired broadband test shows a consistent 11ms ping and 19mbps which is its max sync speed. Fibre coming next month and its time I sort out this congestion.

Im sure I need to use 5ghz but my airport express only stretches across 1 floor and I have 3 floors to cover.

I'd love to cable it all up but that isn't going to happen yet.

How about homeolugs? I think I tried a 250mbps one once and got 50-80mbps. If I add 2 more homeplugs and 2 more 5ghz airport express connected to the plugs will this speed be cut even more?

Can anyone think of suitable 5ghz solution that I could use to cover 3 floors and try to get at least 50mbps from each floor please.

Thank you

Have you tried swapping/changing your wireless access point? "Wireless congestion" is not as big of a problem in homes as is often made out. You may find if you buy a new AP then the problems will go away.

Remember you can mix and match 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz - you will have to play around with it. You can have 4 non-overlapping 5Ghz 20Mhz channels but you might even be able to get away with it on 40Mhz i.e. ground floor 36+40, middle floor 44+48, top floor 36+40 again or vice versa.

Whether you want to include home plugs in the design to deliver the data to the wireless access points or act as the wireless access your points is your choice too!

Have you used a wi-fi channel scanner such as inSSIDer to see what APs/routers are within range? If there are none, then the problem is with your AP/router.

Sorry guys should have said I did use inssider to check the wifi points around me.

Every single channel was rammed with 2 points that were runnig 40mhz cross over (where they span over 1 and 6). If I had to estimate it I would say there were at least 10-14 points found and enough with a strong signal to interfere with mine.

I tried different routers and its always the same.

Does the homeplug speed reduce the more plugs you have on your powerlines? Or do they all run at full speed apart from when they all want to talk at once?

The only way to connect airport expresses together without halving the speed in repeater mode is homeplugs right?

I think the best solution is wireless home plugs. One wirelse's router downstairs covering it with wifi then two home plugs to broadcast wireless on each floor.

Something like http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/tp-link-av500-500-mbps-pow... You'll need another wireless plug but some kits come with 2.

This is how I solved a similar issue in a 4 story terrace suffering from similar issues.

I know next to nothing about home-plugs (and nothing at all about Apple kit.) There seem to be a lot of different standards so I should do some research before you splash out. I would make sure that you get home-plugs with ethernet connections as well as wireless (assuming you want wireless). Others will be able to give you more focussed advice. You've come to the right forum.

Edited by micksharpe (Sat 27-Sep-14 17:58:47)

Have a read of this:

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/multiuser/t/4349588...

which is a previous post I did a month and a bit ago on this topic. As others have already said though, if your 2.4GHz spectrum is really that crowded, your only option left will be homeplugs with APs on each level.

Thank you, just having a read now

I just ran a site survey and this is the wifi around me

[img]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3928/15370837181_c806...[/img]

(not sure how to post an inline pic)

Eden and Pacha are my access points. At the time of the screen shot Pacha had a big drop in signal strength. It is currently sitting at 30% signal.

pings are 11ms with huge spikes and pack loss very occasionally. Eden on 5ghz is a solid 14ms with some small movements up to 20ms occasionally. I think the home plug adds a little latency.

Edited by oldskool (Sun 28-Sep-14 00:31:35)

I ran the utility this morning and it finds the two plugs I already have and measures them at 150mbps and 138mbps

Not sure if that means full duplex potential max or about 70mbps potential max. I know the port caps out at 100mbps anyway.

What do you think of the wifi survey I posted? Is many homeplugs and 5ghz the right way to go?

Direct ethernet cables would be best but homeplugs are a good 2nd.

I would use Apple Airport Expresses like you plan to, especially if you have a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme.

Later Homeplugs such as AV600/650 give more bandwidth as they can use the earth terminal, but I think that only works if they are the same type. However, they will interoperate with AV200s.