The router that comes with your broadband is built to a price, and it’s expected to cover the whole house from one spot. In a smaller home, that can be fine. In a bigger one, or one with thick walls and lots of devices, it’s often the weakest part of the network.
Mind you, a new router isn’t always the answer. We start by checking what speed you’re actually getting and where your current setup falls short, so you can decide with the facts in front of you.
Signs it may be time
- Your Wi-Fi slows down or drops out when a few people are online
- You keep having to restart the router
- New devices don’t get anywhere near your broadband speed
- The signal’s poor in rooms that aren’t even far from the router
- You’ve built up a collection of plug-in extenders
Choosing what suits your home
In a smaller property with only a few problem areas, one good router in a sensible, central spot might be all you need.
Bigger homes and awkward layouts usually do better with mesh Wi-Fi. Two or more units around the building make a single network, and your phone or laptop moves between them without you having to reconnect. Mesh Wi-Fi installation mostly comes down to placement. If the units are too far apart, they struggle to talk to each other. If they’re too close, you’ve not gained much.
The most reliable setup is hard-wired mesh. The units connect by network cable, so each one gets a full-speed link and doesn’t have to use its Wi-Fi to pass data along. Even one cable between floors can make a noticeable difference, and we can install the cabling as part of the same job.
What’s included
We’ll set up the new equipment and reconnect your devices. Where we can, we’ll keep your Wi-Fi name and password the same, which saves you updating everything by hand. We’ll also update the firmware, set a strong password on the equipment and turn off anything on the old router that could cause conflicts. Then we’ll test around the property so you can see the results for yourself.
We won’t push a particular brand before we’ve seen the place. What’s right depends on your building, your connection and what you use the network for.
Upgrades for small businesses
A small business may need more than a home router can offer, such as separate networks for staff and guests. We can recommend something suitable and arrange a time to fit it that works around your business.
Find out what your network needs
Send us an enquiry telling us who your broadband provider is, roughly how big the property is and where the problems are. If it’s mainly a few rooms giving you trouble, you might also want to read about extending Wi-Fi to hard-to-reach rooms.