4G EE Home router poor signal

[Hay-87]

I have just received my home router and the signal strength is terrible. When I try and watch something on the tv it’s constantly buffering, I get better WiFi signal if I just use the hot spot on my phone but I brought the router so I could stop using my phone. With the router I am getting 3mps download speed and it’s frustrating that I can’t use anything and I’m paying £50 a month for no reason. Is there any way of fixing this issue? I’ve checked if there is any problems in the area and there’s none. I shouldn’t get such poor signal for £50 a month 

[James_B]

Hi @Hay-87,

Welcome to the EE Community. 🙂

Have you tried experimenting with where you position your router, to see if you get a better signal in different parts of your home?

James

[bristolian]

Hello @Hay-87 

Apologies, but I'm not clear what the issue is that you're reporting.

Is it that the received mobile signal on your router isn't matching what your EE mobile receives in the same location?

Or are you saying that a device connected to your router by WiFi, is getting poor WiFi speeds/signal?

[Hay-87]

Hi I’ve tried positioning it in different places and it always has 2 bars of signal. I switched over to using the hot spot on my phone to watch tv last night and it works perfectly. Don’t understand how the router doesn’t work properly 

[Hay-87]

I’m getting 2 bars of signal on my phone and router but when I connect the tv to the router it has poor connection and everything I watch buffers all the time. When I turn the hot spot on with my phone the tv works fine. They are both receiving the same signal so can’t work out why the router gives a poor WiFi strength but my phone is fine to use. 

[wardi]

Hay87.. I have a 4GEE router.  You should get a similar or better speed from your router than your phone.  3Mbps sounds very poor indeed for 2 bars.  I get 2-3 bars, I am a mile away from the nearest transmitter - I regularly get 70-90 Mbps download and 20-30 upload.  It almost sounds like the router has a fault - can you check what speed your phone gives you when tethered? 

[bristolian]

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@wardi wrote:

Hay87.. I have a 4GEE router.  You should get a similar or better speed from your router than your phone.  3Mbps sounds very poor indeed for 2 bars.  I get 2-3 bars, I am a mile away from the nearest transmitter - I regularly get 70-90 Mbps download and 20-30 upload.  It almost sounds like the router has a fault - can you check what speed your phone gives you when tethered? 

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Just on this specific point, the signal bars are not indicative of the speed that can be obtained.

The signal bars are a (rough) indicator of the quality of the received signal, where many factors contribute. The speeds obtained are largely dependent on the amount of spectrum available to use, shared amongst all the devices connected and wanting to use it.

A strong signal from a low-capacity (say, Band 20 only) site would often give lower headline speeds than a weak (but usable) signal from a site with multiple carriers.

I would agree with the suggestion to compare the speed attained from your router, with what you get from a device tethered to your phone.