BT full fiber, poor wifi

[FIL903]

Hi, hoping someone can help as BT obviously cannot.

Had full fiber fitted and receiving into the SH2 great 925mbps speed.  Issue is the SH2 is nowhere near where my devices (laptops, gaming PCs, consoles)  so I'm having to use WI-FI through the BT provided black discs.  Tried TP-Link powerline 2gb and they were worse speeds only hitting 90mbps.

Through the discs I'm lucky to receive 150mbps from the BT discs to my devices (the discs lights are blue and showing good connection). 

I've complained several times, after all I'm paying for 900mbps speed, but because I'm receiving into the SH2 the 925mbps speed BT are saying all is good.  BT did send 2 engineers, 1 a WIFI expert and stated all setup correctly and nothing can be done apart from hardwire round side of house into the SH2.  That's not going to happen due to complexity so I'm stuck using WIFI as the powerline very disappointing.  

I was told I could buy the BT mesh disks and look at an alternative vendor with a WIFI6 router with mesh as BT do not provide these yet, however I would still need to use the SH2 as the router as this provides the Digital Voice.  I wasn't expecting WIFI to be hitting anywhere near the full 925, but somewhere around 500mbps would of expected 

After reading the SH3 (which I'm expecting to fix the WIFI speed problems) has been delayed into next year has anyone got any advise on how to proceed or am I stuck with substandard speeds paying full price for broadband that I will never be able to use to full potential?

[russelk]

You will need a 3rd party mesh solution to run in conjunction with your superhub, which is what I do. Don't forget to disable the wireless radios on the superhub.

Unfortunately something that will do justice to your 925mbit connection will not be cheap. I'm using a Netgear Orbi RBK753, which comes with 3 units. It cost around £400 and it tops out at 350mbit in my property. To get higher speeds you'll need a more expensive solution.

My brother has the same mesh in his house but he gets almost 500mbit.

[spile]

You cannot change the laws of physics. Wired is the way for both reliability and maximum speed.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@FIL903 You are unlikely to get anything like the full speed over wireless, on a single device.

It was never intended that people get 900mb on all devices, especially on a wireless connection. The intention is to allow that bandwidth to be shared among family members and multiple devices, without each user noticing any slowdown.

Here is a quote from old post by @SeanD  on 18/06/2021

"I think for the first time ever we are in a situation whereby the speed you can now get through Full Fibre outperforms the capabilities of many devices.  

The Smart hub 2 does not come with Wi-Fi 6 but this is something we are looking to include in our next generation of Hub.  I don't have any info as to when we will launch a new router by Wi-Fi 6 will bring some improvement.

As an example of what I mean in terms of devices not being able to support the full breadth of speed available on Full Fibre 900, take a look at the table below.  This is just for a couple of Apple Smart Phones and Tablets along with  popular Samsung models,

Apple (Smartphones)	Dualband (2.4 & 5Ghz)	Theoretical Max speed on 2.4Ghz connection	Theoretical Max speed on 5Ghz connection
IPHONE SE	Yes	60mbps	300mbps
IPHONE SE 2020	Yes	135mbps	600mbps

Samsung (Smartphones)	Dualband (2.4 & 5Ghz)	Theoretical Max speed on 2.4Ghz connection	Theoretical Max speed on 5Ghz connection
galaxy-s10e	Yes	135mbps	600mbps
galaxy-s10-5g	Yes	135mbps	600mbps

Apple (Tablets)	Dualband (2.4 & 5Ghz)	Theoretical Max speed on 2.4Ghz connection	Theoretical Max speed on 5Ghz connection
IPAD pro 3rd gen (Nov 2018)	Yes	135mbps	600mbps
IPAD pro 4th gen (March 2020)	Yes	135mbps	600mbps

Samsung (Tablet)	Dualband (2.4 & 5Ghz)	Theoretical Max speed on 2.4Ghz connection	Theoretical Max speed on 5Ghz connection
galaxy-tab-s5e	Yes	100mbps	300mbps
galaxy-tab-s6	Yes	60mbps	600mbps

Ethernet should ensure you get the maximum possible speed but I also appreciate that connecting this way is not always possible"  End of Quote

[FIL903]

Yes but when there are only 4 WIFI devices in house, and the main PC can run a WIFI link speed of 1200mbps I would of expected more than 150mbps on this device?

[rbz5416]

I suspect the main limitation is the discs. An alternative has already been suggested & you've dismissed running ethernet, so I'm not sure what else you're expecting in the way of responses?

Unless you are routinely downloading huge files & moving them around the network, even 150mb is going to cover most needs.

[spile]

A big issue with wireless is that interference and congestion can severely limit through put. I always use the mantra…

If it can be wired, then wire it.

[FIL903]

My only option is WIFI, i cannot cable outside around the house and pulling floorboards up or running wires around the skirting boards is not an option.  

From reading up on forums i am required to use BT SH2 due to the BT digital voice that only works with the SH2.

WIFI6 users seem to get around 400-600mbps,  Therefore can some one correct me if I'm wrong and before i spend hard earned £££  Answer to above i transfer very large files around my home network, 2-5gb every few hours.

If I purchase a WIFI6 APs to use in mesh around the house such as TP-Link X60 AX3000 turn of WIFI from my BT SH2 and use the APs as the WIFI network will this work, and will the BT Digital Voice phones still work? 

TP-Link Deco X60 AX3000 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System, Up to 7,000 Sq ft Coverage, 1 GHz Quad-Core CPU, Compatible with Amazon Alexa, HomeCare Antivirus and Parental Controls, Pack of 3

Does anyone have a better WIFI solution?

[Keith_Beddoe]

How about https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/powerline/tl-wpa4220-kit/

Speed would depend on how good your mains wiring is. You would also need additional remot units.

Digital voice uses DECT not Wi-Fi , and is transmitted from the SH2, or you can connect directly to the SH2.

This would be a cheaper mesh https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/deco/deco-m5/

[FIL903]

I've already tried the TL-PA9020P AV2000 adapters (wasted £200), and had a tech call for over 2hrs to TP-LINK who were unable to resolve the adapters never receiving above 100mbps on internet, even when attached in the same socket as the BT SH2. So that ruled out my goto option which I thought purchasing the 2000mbps adapters as a fail, hence still stuck with WIFI.