Google Wifi

[jerichoholicninja]

Looking to increase the range of my wifi and had a "techy" friend tell me Google Wifi was the way to go. Just doing some quick research on it, it looks like there may be (or may have been and those are now fixed) some issues with Spectrum internet. I don't know to enough to even know what I don't know about this stuff. Anyone have experience with Google Wifi and Spectrum they can share.

[nate82]

Haven't used Google Wifi.

 

I have this setup in my house:

 

[LouisEly]

Range is a function of the hardware (i.e. wifi router) you are using and the structure of your dwelling (wood, concrete, brick, etc.), not the provider. Don't use the wifi routers that the cable company provides, they are crap - purchase your own. (You'll need to use the cable company's cable modem to decode the signal, but disable the wifi. Better yet, purchase your own cable modem and stop paying their ridiculous rental fees.)

 

You want a wifi router that has at least three antenna and beam-forming technology. For something economical, this is what I use:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IUDUJE0/

 

Ones with four or more antenna will likely cost over $100.

 

The other thing you can do is use range extenders. They're kind of a pain because technically they are a different signal and you have to switch your devices to that signal when you need to use them, but they are easy in that they plug into an outlet. A decent refurbished one on eBay will run around $30 or so. Get the dual band ones (2.4GHz and 5 GHz) so you can take advantage of the faster speeds of the 5GHz signal.

 

As for the structure of your dwelling, if you live in wood framed housing then the signal will carry, but if you have concrete/brick walls then it won't carry. I have a long, narrow condo flat with a concrete stairway in the middle and the signal does not carry from one end to the other because of that. Oh, also are you in a single family home or multi-unit building? If multi-unit, your signal may be on the same channel as your neighbors which will cut down your range. All you need to do is go into your wi-fi router and see what channels nearby signals are on and choose a channel that isn't used by your neighbors.

[RobDeer 45]

I use eero, which I believe is like google's. I have been in two houses and they have worked really well. We have the base unit, which would replace your wireless router. We then have two plugins that extend the range. We have one in the basement and one in the living room (router upstairs). The system switches you to the best signal automatically. It's worked really well. Without it, both houses had quite a few dead zones.

 

This is funny, while typing this, and listening to the radio, a eero commercial came on. Ha!