So I buy an ac1900 and I still get weak signal in some parts of my house

[SAWYER]

I just set it up and havent did anything other than see what the signal strength was like in my weak areas. I was using a Uverse Motorola NVG510 router before and tried multiple others and in my bedroom and bathroom in my room and a few other places the signal would be 1 bar and nothing at times. I just set this Nighthawk up and in my room it goes from 1 bar to 2 on my phone. What is the deal? I thought these routers were supposed to have insane range, doesnt seem to be giving me anything more than my other old routers I have tried.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

They don't have insane range. In fact, 5GHz range is typically worse than 2.4GHz. Newer models with bigger antennae and more transmission power help some, but that's limited by FCC rules too.

Also, you might have a big house, or brick walls, or a running microwave, or any number of things that interfere with the wifi signal. Saying "some parts of my house" don't get wifi isn't very helpful, since there's no details about the house.

Finally, even you built some totally illegal super-router that could punch a signal through six feet of solid concrete, you would still be limited by your client devices and their ability to transmit data back to the router. (Which obviously doesn't improve just because you bought a new router.)

 

[JackMDS]

I thought these routers were supposed to have insane range, doesnt seem to be giving me anything more than my other old routers I have tried.

If this is so it means that your Environment is Not suitable for a single source and needs multiple APs (as Wireless actually designed for to begin with).

So get more Wireless Routers (one at the time)( as needed lay few cables to surved spot in the house. Install there Wireless Routers configured as Access Point.

Using Wireless Routers (or Modem/Wireless Router) as a Switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

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In general (not intended specifically to the OP).
Yeah but my wife/husband/parent don't want nice hidden extra Cat6 installed.

Ok, that can happened, but then One should look for a Good family Counselor rather then On line Technology Forum.

 

[piasabird]

Maybe it is just how your house is built. Square footage, building materials, interference, Devil Spawn, distance, etc. I live in a 3 bedroom Brick ranch with a basement and I have no problems anywhere with my 802.11n router and my motherboard with the ac wireless Centrino card. Must be the wireless ghost.

This could be caused by geological structure below your house.

 

[Pulsar]

I just set it up and havent did anything other than see what the signal strength was like in my weak areas. I was using a Uverse Motorola NVG510 router before and tried multiple others and in my bedroom and bathroom in my room and a few other places the signal would be 1 bar and nothing at times. I just set this Nighthawk up and in my room it goes from 1 bar to 2 on my phone. What is the deal? I thought these routers were supposed to have insane range, doesnt seem to be giving me anything more than my other old routers I have tried.

Just get a nice bridge, like a DAP-1522, wire it to your router, and set it up in bridge mode at the other end of your house.

 

[SAWYER]

Well I have been testing it today and while the bars show low it seems like the actually connection is better, I was streaming video and music with no issues. I have an old Linksys with ddrtw but I dread messing with it, I figure it might be a nightmare to get working with this setup

 

[VirtualLarry]

What is the deal? I thought these routers were supposed to have insane range, doesnt seem to be giving me anything more than my other old routers I have tried.

Nope, about the same range. But within that range, it can transfer data faster with the 802.11ac standard.

Range is limited by FCC rules, and they've been cracking down recently. Many routers (especially Asus) have their power now hard-limited by their firmware.

 

[stlc8tr]

Nope, about the same range. But within that range, it can transfer data faster with the 802.11ac standard.

Range is limited by FCC rules, and they've been cracking down recently. Many routers (especially Asus) have their power now hard-limited by their firmware.

Yeah, that sucks. But at least you can still flash custom firmware on those Asus units to allow adjustment of TX power (above FCC limits).

Custom fork:

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=18914

Instructions on how to change regions to increase TX power:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19262

 

[azazel1024]

Well I have been testing it today and while the bars show low it seems like the actually connection is better, I was streaming video and music with no issues. I have an old Linksys with ddrtw but I dread messing with it, I figure it might be a nightmare to get working with this setup

The range doesn't change much at all, because of the laws of physics and FCC rules. That said, due to the newer technologies incorporated along with better firmware, what you WILL generally find, even using older clients connected to the newer router, that your performance with the same signal strength/locations/distance has gone up.

As an example, going from a TP-Link WDR3600 to a TP-Link Archer C8 on 2.4GHz (so still using 802.11n protocols) to my laptop, signal strength was pretty similar between the two routers, but the performance jumped by as much as 80% in some locations...even though based on my testing and experience, the WDR3600 is right up there with the best N600 802.11n routers. This INCLUDES very, very far from the router. Up a floor and across my entire house (about 50ft, the floor, a fireplace and 3 walls) transfers from my server to my laptop through my WDR3600 on 2.4GHz were around 2.3-2.5MB/sec. They jumped to 3.5-3.7MB/sec with the Archer C8, even though actual range/signal strength didn't really increase.

At my kitchen table (about 40ft, the floor and 3 walls) my performance went from around 4.5MB/sec to 8-9MB/sec.

That can make a world of difference.

5GHz performance was even more improved than that (even using older 802.11n only devices, I see about a peak 110% improvement, where as on 2.4GHz and 11n, the most I see is about a 100% improvement and in only one location. Average across 6 testing locations I found a 38% average 2.4GHz improvement and an averaged 45% improvement over 5 test locations (location 6 I can't connect on 5GHz) on 5GHz with older 11n only devices. Switching over to 11ac and 5GHz, compared to 11n 5GHz, I see an average 140% improvement across 5 testing locations and that is throwing out the results from location 5, because on 11n and 5GHz I could connect, but it was effectively a zero connection (100-400KB/sec, with drop outs for seconds at a time)...where as with 11ac and 5GHz I see around 3MB/sec.

So, if you have an out and out dead spot, 11ac is likely going to do NOTHING for you, as any actual increases in range are going to be non-existant. Any differences would ONLY be because the router has better antennas and/or more powerful radio (but you can find 11n routers with large antennas and good/powerful radios too). What you will find, because of generally better firmware and often improvements in some component selection, better processors, etc. is that performance at the same locations where you could get a connection before, even with older 11n devices, is going to be quite a bit improved.

In general. It likely will not turn a horrible connection in to blazing fast, but it likely will turn a marginal connection in to an acceptable one (IE if you were getting 1MB/sec before and needed 1.5MB/sec, you might be in luck. If you were getting 1MB/sec before and want/need 10MB/sec, you are SOL).

 

[SAWYER]

my download speeds probably double in the weak spots so I am happy