Home wifi router help

Adman513

All-Conference
May 29, 2001
4,740
4,234
113
I need some help figuring out what's wrong with my wifi signal/strength in my house. I have a pretty old router (Linksys 24 GHz, 54 Mpbs, Model WRT54G V. 4), and it's all the way on the south end of our house (a little over 2500 sq ft home). I also bought a wireless booster (of course, I didn't write down the model number with me, so I can't explain which one it is right now) this summer, and placed it more in the center of the home which I thought helped--at least, for my devices it seemed to. However, we have an HP 4500 printer in my son's room located on the far NW end of the house, and it ALWAYS registers a "low signal" and takes forever to print. Obviously--this makes doing homework a bigger pain in the *** for my kids than it already is.

If I got an updated router, would that help? Do I have to move the damn printer all the way into another side of the house (where it's not convenient at all and will be in some random spot?)

I'm really surprised the wireless booster didn't seem to help much with overall connections, and my boys and wife still complain about "the wireless sucks in this house," but my iphone and ipad never seem to have the connection issues they once did before I bought the booster. I'm not sure if this matters, but any at any given time, we would have the following devices connected to our wireless (most likely not "on" all at once, but on occasion--nearly all of them!): 4 phones, 3 ipads, 2 computers, 1 PS4, 1 PS3, smart TV, and 1 printer (to say nothing of friends' phones if they're over).

I thought about calling a Geek Squad person, but I honestly don't know about their qualify of service as well as knowledge vs. just trying to sell me something I may not necessarily need. So--I thought I'd turn to you knowledgeable folk. :) ANY help would be MUCH appreciated!
 
May 29, 2001
23,736
23,582
113
I need some help figuring out what's wrong with my wifi signal/strength in my house. I have a pretty old router (Linksys 24 GHz, 54 Mpbs, Model WRT54G V. 4), and it's all the way on the south end of our house (a little over 2500 sq ft home). I also bought a wireless booster (of course, I didn't write down the model number with me, so I can't explain which one it is right now) this summer, and placed it more in the center of the home which I thought helped--at least, for my devices it seemed to. However, we have an HP 4500 printer in my son's room located on the far NW end of the house, and it ALWAYS registers a "low signal" and takes forever to print. Obviously--this makes doing homework a bigger pain in the *** for my kids than it already is.

If I got an updated router, would that help? Do I have to move the damn printer all the way into another side of the house (where it's not convenient at all and will be in some random spot?)

I'm really surprised the wireless booster didn't seem to help much with overall connections, and my boys and wife still complain about "the wireless sucks in this house," but my iphone and ipad never seem to have the connection issues they once did before I bought the booster. I'm not sure if this matters, but any at any given time, we would have the following devices connected to our wireless (most likely not "on" all at once, but on occasion--nearly all of them!): 4 phones, 3 ipads, 2 computers, 1 PS4, 1 PS3, smart TV, and 1 printer (to say nothing of friends' phones if they're over).

I thought about calling a Geek Squad person, but I honestly don't know about their qualify of service as well as knowledge vs. just trying to sell me something I may not necessarily need. So--I thought I'd turn to you knowledgeable folk. :) ANY help would be MUCH appreciated!
Yes you need a new router. I'd call your service provider and inquire if it would cost anything, they may do a free upgrade due to its age.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Adman513

The Duke

Heisman
May 29, 2001
16,792
51,944
103
Google WiFi extender is awesome fwiw. I have 4 nodes in our house and we went from 50% coverage to not only full indoor coverage but our back yard entertainment areas as well.
 

OSUIvan

All-Conference
Dec 10, 2002
9,079
2,058
0
Any mesh system is going to be a must now days unless you live ina small house/apartment. Google wifi is good like Duke said, I personally did a lot of research and went with the Netgear Orbi system because it has a dedicated band to talk to satellite stations instead of sharing the band that you're on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ctdub

EvilPOKES

Heisman
Apr 23, 2008
109,377
17,966
113
Any mesh system is going to be a must now days unless you live ina small house/apartment. Google wifi is good like Duke said, I personally did a lot of research and went with the Netgear Orbi system because it has a dedicated band to talk to satellite stations instead of sharing the band that you're on.
Seconded!

The Orbi system is awesome! Google's products are quite nice, too.
 

cableok_rivals

All-Conference
Nov 7, 2002
2,642
1,830
0
Agree on mesh system, but....

A good new router should be able to cover a 2500 square foot home if you place it in a central location. Besides choosing the WiFi router, the most important thing is putting the router as high as you can in central location.
 

Adman513

All-Conference
May 29, 2001
4,740
4,234
113
Thanks for all of the advice, guys--I'm not sure I'm smart enough to follow along all of the tech talk, but I really appreciate the feedback! Looking into getting a new router since I already have a NetGear extender. Good tip about placing the router in a higher location as well.

Again--thanks for the help!
 

EvilPOKES

Heisman
Apr 23, 2008
109,377
17,966
113
Thanks for all of the advice, guys--I'm not sure I'm smart enough to follow along all of the tech talk, but I really appreciate the feedback! Looking into getting a new router since I already have a NetGear extender. Good tip about placing the router in a higher location as well.

Again--thanks for the help!
I find the Netgear setup software to be the most user-friendly if that is helpful. I recently replaced my old TP-Link (also a brand I like) with a Netgear Nighthawk and the setup was, literally, scanning a QR Code and making my own adjustments.
 

OrangePhish

Freshman
Apr 6, 2002
97
71
0
I find the Netgear setup software to be the most user-friendly if that is helpful. I recently replaced my old TP-Link (also a brand I like) with a Netgear Nighthawk and the setup was, literally, scanning a QR Code and making my own adjustments.

Word for word, ditto.

The difference was night/day.
 

wyomingosualum

Heisman
Sep 2, 2005
9,041
14,937
108
Linksys node setup here. One upstairs, one downstairs. And the one upstairs reaches to the node in the shop which is maybe 150 feet away. Paid more than I wanted to, but the results are worthwhile.
 
  • Like
Reactions: davidallen

davidallen

Heisman
Aug 15, 2006
29,433
14,442
0
Google WiFi extender is awesome fwiw. I have 4 nodes in our house and we went from 50% coverage to not only full indoor coverage but our back yard entertainment areas as well.
The mesh products (Google or eero) are awesome...