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Technophobe needs help

dave891
Investigator
Investigator

Any suggestions welcome! I have recently moved home and had to change internet provider. After the usual sales spiel we went with BT who outsourced us to EE that required work from openreach. Long story short after over 2 months with nothing we now have full fibre broadband. Our experience so far as been hugely disappointing. We were on copper broadband before with a BT Wholehome mesh discs and had more stable internet. I don't think we are heavy users i.e. surf the internet and use a sonos system but have the usual multiple devices connected wirelessly to the internet i.e. tv's/ipads/iphones/sonos. I have managed to connect my BT Wholehome discs and have several devices connected to this, but my sonos system has defaulted to the ee router wi-fi and created a sonos mesh (if that makes sense). The sonos ceiling speakers in our kitchen has regular drop offs as does the ee wireless mini tv hub and our tv's regularly pixulate. An engineer said our house is big (approximately 2900 sqft) and may benefit from extenders? I see from other forums there are compatibility issues with the BT Wholehome disc system. Should i bin these and get some extenders or boosters? I just want a reliable wi-fi connection around my home? Any recommendations/help would be gratefully received my wife is at her wits end trying to speak to EE and get any help. Am i expecting to much from their basic full fibre package its just when we told the salesperson our usage was general surfing and there are only 2 of us they said the package would be more than adequate?

23 REPLIES 23

We have been told directly by EE over the phone and an EE engineer who came out after we complained that our mini wireless tv kept disconnecting, that the problem is that it is to far from the main router. Yet we have run a speed test in the kitchen where the mini tv box is connected wirelessly to the main router and we are getting speeds of 140-150mbps so I don’t understand why the connection would be poor.

After being talked through a “power cycle” by EE the tv issues have settled (pixelating has stopped and connection to mini box doesn’t appear to be dropping off). We have 2 main niggling issues left:

1. Our Sonos system which includes (beam and surround speakers wired to the main router/ then numerous other Sonos speakers connected wirelessly including ceiling speakers connected) these appear to have connected to channel 11 on the router. Most of the speakers all work no problem except the  ceiling speakers which constantly drop off.

2. Then suddenly yesterday our “hive heating receiver” started showing a poor connection and going off line. The hive is connected to the main router via an Ethernet, the receiver is in the kitchen next to the boiler and the thermostat is located halfway between the two. The only thing we changed was added a couple of devices from our BT Wholehome Internet address to the EE Internet address. We’ve since changed these back but still get the intermittent poor connection message on our hive.

I’m happy to be pay extra for faster internet speed and an extender if I new this was the issue but I’ve been round the house and checked the speeds and are getting 140-150mbps. I’ve looked at the EE router hub and advanced settings but am nervous about changing these but imagine that someone who knows what they are doing could configure these to enable a consistent internet connection. No one from EE has ever mentioned changing these settings neither did the engineer when he came out.

JimM11
Brilliant Contributor
Brilliant Contributor

@dave891 But is it connected to the main router or too the wholehome wifi that you set up, easy check, turn the wholehome off. If it stops working then that is how it is going. Your speed test is the same, furthest point away from the router, if you are getting the 150 good, switch off the wholehome, see what you get!

Advanced setting wise, things to look at, WPA would do WPA2 - Personal, 2.4ghz if auto, select either Channel 1,6 or 11.

The 2.4ghz is not as strong signal wise as i have seen on better router's 5Ghz you cannot do nothing with.

If you are an Android user, would download the Netspot app, it is free do NOT pay for anything though it tries hard to get you to do so, and it is excellent at showing how good the signal is, you just have to wait for the updates as it checks where you are, so have to be a little patient, low numbers are good, once you get up in the high 60's you are heading for slowdown.

The jury is out at present on how good the EE Smart wireless extenders are at present, DO not use EE in any format have Asus AI mesh, works well but can be little tricky for setup as did not do well out off the box, just did not want to take the router name, so had to jump in and set name/password to match for the seamless roaming, zero issues after that. Hive is a pain did it at the son's home, found best was ethernet connect the unit, move it as far away from the router as possible cable length wise, and it was happy and liked that position, remote thermo they just put it anywhere most of the time is go find, and boiler i would say is 20' away through 2 walls but seems not a problem to the remote control side. 

JimM11
Brilliant Contributor
Brilliant Contributor

@dave891 If you would like me to send you a PM, can do but you have it set off on your side. Or you can send one to me if that is better for you.

If I new how to I would. I’ve looked in settings but can’t see anything it. It talks about finding the envelope can’t see that anywhere. 

JimM11
Brilliant Contributor
Brilliant Contributor

@dave891 You need to go top right hand side of your screen click on it drop appears My settings : Preferences then option for private messages.

 

dave891
Investigator
Investigator

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dave891
Investigator
Investigator

Can’t see anything that says private messaging just privacy under preferences 

 

JimM11
Brilliant Contributor
Brilliant Contributor

@dave891 It's one more further right of the privacy if you are not seeing it all maybe your browser does not allow

XRaySpeX
EE Community Star
EE Community Star

@JimM11 It's not under Settings or Preferences. That's just for setting some Settings for it.

@dave891 : Just go to Private Messages - The EE Community

It's also under the envelope @ top R or if you can't see that Profile > My Messages.

If you think I helped please feel free to hit the "Thumbs Up" button below.

To phone EE CS: Dial Freephone +44 800 079 8586 - Option 1 for Mobile Phone & Mobile Broadband or Option 2 for Home Broadband & Home Phone

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JimM11
Brilliant Contributor
Brilliant Contributor

@XRaySpeX Thanks👍