How can you extend Wi-Fi to the other side of my house?

 Google’s Wi-Fi router, available soon. Photograph: Google

Jack Schofield

Thursday 27 October 2016 09.50 BSTLast modified on Thursday 27 October 2016 09.52 BST

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I’ve just switched from slow ADSL broadband, where the router was outside my office, to fast Virgin broadband, where the router is on the other side of the house. Unfortunately, my computer is struggling to pick-up the Wi-Fi signal. In the past, I’ve tried Wi-Fi extenders from Netgear and Belkin but not had much luck with them. I found that if I placed them where they got a strong enough signal, they didn’t actually extend the signal much further. Will Google’s Wi-Fimesh routers be the solution, and if so, do you know of any routers like that that can be bought in the UK? Stephen Wi-Fi is never as fast, and never as reliable, as a wired internet connection. In the old days, before DECT and mobile phones, many people had wires running to landline phones, and it’s still not that hard to do with bulkier Cat5E (E for “enhanced”) or Cat6 cable. Cat6A can deliver 10 gigabits per second over 100 metres of Ethernet cable, which would solve the speed problem for the foreseeable future.

Failing that, the best answer is HomePlug, which is what I use.
HomePlug was developed to send broadband internet traffic across a home’s – or an office’s – mains electricity cables. The system is overseen by the HomePlug Alliance, which is much like the Wi-Fi Alliance that looks after Wi-Fi. The first HomePlugs were shipped in 2001, and the latest versions are HomePlug AV (2005) and AV2 (2012). The latest AV2 HomePlugs offer MIMO (multiple input multiple output) operation instead of SISO (single input single output). This should provide much better throughput.

HomePlug AV includes 128-bit encryption, in case your mains signals stray onto next door’s wiring.

HomePlug networks are usually sold with two paired devices. There’s a sender, which you connect to your router via an Ethernet cable and RJ-45 socket. There’s a receiver plug that connects to your local device. The pair may be hard-wired with a unique password to talk to one another. If the devices ship with common default passwords, you should change them, following the instructions in the manual. This may be as simple as holding down the reset button for a couple of seconds on each device.

Some HomePlug devices offer Wi-Fi as well. That is to say, the receiver has a small Wi-Fi transmitter as well as one or more RJ-45 ports for wired connections. In my experience with a Devolo dLan 1200+ Wi-Fi ac Starter Kit, this works well.
The disadvantage is that a HomePlug usually creates its own separate Wi-Fi network. The Devolo dLan 1200+ gets round this by including “Wi-Fi Move Technology” that lets you use your existing router’s SSID and password to create a single network. Some systems have a “Wi-Fi Extender” mode instead.
HomePlug speedsAs with Wi-Fi, the specified speeds of HomePlug devices are nothing like the actual speeds. For example, an 802.11n Wi-Fi router may have a theoretical maximum speed of 600Mbps, but you may well get only 40-50Mbps. It depends partly on the distance from the router, your walls and floors, interference from other networks, and the number of devices sharing your bandwidth.

Similarly, a HomePlug AV system has a theoretical speed of 200Mbps, but you’re more likely to get 30-60Mbps, sometimes less. In this case, it depends on the distance from the router, wiring quality, and the amount of noise present. Noise can be created by other electrical products from fridges to smartphone chargers. If you have problems with a HomePlug connection, try turning off other devices and see if you can find the culprit.
Some HomePlug devices may work better when plugged directly into a wall socket than when plugged into a multi-way adaptor. Most HomePlugs have a pass-through connection so you don’t actually lose a socket.

Either way, my ancient Solwise 85Mbps HomePlug Turbo package was more than fast enough to handle BBC iPlayer. I would expect any decent HomePlug AV or AV2 system to meet your needs.

Router changes
Before you invest in some HomePlugs, try to improve the performance of your current system. Rather than leave your router in a corner or on the floor, try to position it as high as possible, perhaps on a shelf, with lots of space around it. Move it away from the TV set and other large household appliances.
See if it’s possible to add one or more high-gain antennas to increase the signal strength.

You may also get better performance if you use a different channel from any strong Wi-Fi networks nearby. There are lots of ways to find out which channels your neighbours are using, but in Microsoft Windows, you can open a command prompt and type (or paste in): netsh wlan show allMany PC programs and smartphone apps will give you a list of all the networks within range, and tell you which channel they are using, among other things. Examples include the paid-for inSSIDer (Windows, Mac and Android), and free ones such as Acrylic WiFi Home (Windows), WiFi Scanner (Mac, though there’s a scanner built in now) and Amped Wireless (Windows, Android). There’s also a free version of Netspot (Windows, Mac), which lets you create a heatmap of your Wi-Fi signal, if you upload a floorplan.

In the UK, routers frequently use channels 1, 6 and 11, so these are more likely to be congested. You may get better results by disabling channel bonding and using a different single channel. Remember to reduce the channel width to 20MHz.
Unfortunately, switching from the overcrowded 2.4GHz baby alarm band to 5GHz, if available, probably won’t help. The 5GHz signal doesn’t travel as far.

The ultimate router fix is just to use a better router. However, Virgin Media does not support third-party replacements, so I won’t go into it here, but there are guides online.

Google Mesh
I first came across a consumer mesh network in the form of a Russian handheld gaming and messaging handheld called Cybiko, in 2001 (The gadget that came in from the cold). 

However, you could set one up using existing comms equipment, if you knew how. The problems are that it’s tricky to do and, unless you live in a mansion, you really don’t need one.

The sites that can benefit from mesh networks include stadiums, small towns, large clubs, restaurant chains and so on. Hotels are ideal. Open Mesh supplies these markets, and includes a cloud-based network controller called CloudTrax.
A few companies have seen the potential for simplifying mesh networking for home users. These include Eero, Luma and, most recently, Google. They all take the same approach: you can buy a single device or a three-pack to set up a mesh. All three have designed their products to look nothing like routers, which is where they differ from Open Mesh. (The prices are not that different.)

In the US, Eero sells a router for $199 and a three-pack for $499. Luma’s three-pack costs $399. Google announced waiting-list prices of $129 for one and $299 for a three-pack, but at the time of writing, the product has disappeared from the Google Store.

I don’t know of anyone who sells consumer-style mesh networks in the UK, but Open Mesh has a global network of distributors. UK sources include Utility Networks and MS (Distribution) UK Ltd.