Help expanding range of current wifi network setup

[stylez777]

Hello everyone,

I recently moved into a new 1 level house (2nd level is the crawl space attic). I setup my Asus RT-AC66U router in the front of the house where the modem is. The router is elevated off the ground and is situated near the ceiling with the 3 antenna pointed up towards the attic (I have moved the antenna to different position didn't change anything.) I have a hard wired AP in the back of the house that is a Netgear WNDR3700 running the DD-WRT firmware.

The distance between the front and back of the house is maybe 50 feet. This is not a big house at all, yet if I am at the back of the house I get virtually no signal from the Asus Router. Using a wifi analyzer the signal drops to about 90db. Hence why I need the WNDR3700 as an AP. I also find at times when connected to the Asus ac66u my wifi speeds will drop to the 1-2 mbps range and I have to reset the router for speeds to go back to the 30-40 mbps range (when on my wired network I get a constant 100-120 mbps). If I go outside onto the deck and walk another 10 feet away from the house I can barely get signal from the WNDR3700 also.

Other information:
House is brick
Walls are sheetrock with wood studs / some walls insulated some not.
2 walls in between Asus router and back of house

Is there anything I can do to increase the range on the Asus AC66u? Is this router crapping out on me? I have the latest firmware and I have it setup on Channel 1 while my AP is on Channel 11. Any other tests I can run to find problems with range or speed? or to find out of the router is dying on me?

Is it worth upgrading the WNDR3700 to another AC router to use as an access point? Something that may give me more range in the back of the house and outside on the deck?

Any other tips or advice to follow to maximize my wifi network at home? Anything to check into that might be causing the decreased signal and range from both routers? Any and all help is appreciated

 

[Elixer]

Have you tried different channels? The ones you are using may be too congested.
Also, you can boost the power from the AC66u with a 3rd party firmware, like tomato shibby.

 

[stylez777]

Channel 1 and 11 are the most clear that why I picked them.

I didn't look into a 3rd party firmware for the Asus because I didn't think the firmware would affect the range of the router. I'll look into it though.

Would it be worth upgrading the WNDR3700 AP to a better router for stronger singnal / range?

 

[Elixer]

I don't think I would spend more, since, something else is going on.
As you said, 50ft isn't much, so, something must be interfering with the signal.
How did you determine that those channels are the cleanest?

 

[azazel1024]

A newer AC router will likely improve the performance a fair amount, even with older 11n devices. However, it isn't likely to give you much more range (though the WNDR3700 isn't exactly a range champ). Brick walls are a B and a half for wifi signals to penetrate. You only real option if you want much extra range outside is either locate an outdoor AP out there, or locate an AP just inside, and run the antennas through the walls on coax and locate the antennas outside.

That is what I have done. I have a TP-Link WDR3600 on my garage ceiling with the antennas on the end of 3ft coax hung outside under the eves of my garage roof. Gives me coverage over the entire half acre of my backyard (I can just pickup the signal taking a walk in my neighborhood along the road in front of my backyard neighbors house (its about 400-500ft from that road to the back of my house. The signal isn't usable on my tablet and probably wouldn't be on my laptop even at that distance. About -91dBm. Thought that was when I was using 5dBi omnis and not the 7dBi omni's I just swapped on. Probably still too weak to use the signal though).

It does sound like something else might be going on with the Asus.

My house is roughly 65ftx25ft single story rancher with basement. On my main level where I had my AP located it is roughly 40ft to my bedroom bed. Sitting on it with my laptop (this was with the WDR3600 that is now out in the garage) on 2.4GHz I could get about 2.5MB/sec, about 20Mbps.

This wasn't just 50ft though, this was through 3 sheetrock walls and a 4ft thick masonry fireplace with a steel pellet stove that the signal was punching through.

Going the opposite direction, from my router which is a TP-Link Archer C8, which sits in my basement roughly below my bedroom bed., through the same 3 walls, fireplace AND the floor, I could get about 3MB/sec on my laptop. I mean, the signal stunk and it was slow, but it certainly worked okay if I really wanted to use it like that (I don't, which is why I have a router and AP covering my house and an AP in the garage covering the backyard. In the front I just rely on the indoor routers, which works, but isn't great. I've got roughly a bar of signal strength on my phone down at my mailbox 100ft away. About 800KB/sec according to speed test on my phone).

Outside of my house is a mess of brick/cinderblock (basement router has to go through cinderblock to the outside) and vinyl siding or aluminum siding (most of the front is brick or vinyl, the sides and back are aluminum that'll eventually be replaced with vinyl).

 

[stylez777]

Thanks for the replies. Some really good info for em to consider.

I have used the Wifi Analyzer program on my laptop and I have moved around the entire house. It tracks what networks it reads on which channels. In my vicinity Channel 6 is picking up 4-5 other signals. Channel 1 and Channel 11 both have 2 others that come in very faint. Hence why I chose channel 1 and 11.

As for the Asus, when I go to the back of the house the signal on it drops to about -75db. I have not tried to run any speed tests but I can see the visual wifi bars on my laptop drop down to 1. I will give it a speed test tonight to see where it is at.