How to improve the range of Huawei ONT Modem?

[vpsj]

Hi, I just got an Airtel FTTH connection today. Everything went fine, the connection was done properly, the speeds I'm getting is perfect, over 100mbps on both upload and download. But the only problem is, I only get these speeds standing close to the modem. If go downstairs, not only does the speed drastically drop, but the connection gets very unstable as well. Even the 2.4Ghz band doesn't always stay connected if I'm away from the router. Because of this, my Firestick keeps getting disconnected from the Internet and it gets very annoying. I don't care if I don't get full 100mbps downstairs while watching some videos(even 40mbps is good enough), but at least the connection should be stable.

Is there a way to make the connection more robust? Should I buy a range extender? Is it possible to use an old ADSL modem/router from TP-Link as a "repeater"? As I said, don't care much about speed, I just want to prioritize the connection stability.

Please help me out if possible.
Thank you

 

[Sushubh]

the router you used on your previous ISP gave good connectivity downstairs?

 

[vpsj]

@Sushubh- Yep. I had(still have) a TP-Link TD-W8961N router, it had excellent connectivity and not once did it disconnect. The Huawei one doesn't even seem to have any antennas (at least not external one, while that TP link had 2).

 

[Sushubh]

not sure if you can use it as a wireless router... someone else might be able to confirm.
one solution is to disable wifi on the Huawei router and add your own wireless router in front of it.

 

[ijsa]

you can use your old router as suggested by @Sushubh.

But even better if you couf have used ethernet cable directly in to your box, but i guess firestick does not have that option.

 

[vpsj]

@ijsa

Yeah firesticks don't have any ethernet port, also my family spends most of their time downstairs and their phones got disconnected a lot today. Can I place the TP-Link router downstairs, run an ethernet cable from the ONT to the modem and have internet that way? In this way, the 2nd floor can still have 5Ghz 100mbps connection(for my laptop), whereas downstairs we can have 40mbps or so which is good enough for youtube/firestick for everyone else.

 

---

[Sushubh]

first check if the TP-Link model can be used solely as a wireless router. and of course if you can drag an ethernet cable from the primary device to the place where you want better coverage... any cheap wireless router would give sufficient coverage in the area. i have three routers in my house all connected through ethernet cables. cheap wireless repeaters are just not good enough.

 

[SINGH30]

@vpsj I UPGRADED my Airtel connection to FTTH last month.I faced same problem.
Then I bought TP-Link RE305 AC1200 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Range Extender
Now I m getting 100Mbps speed every corner of my home and I m getting very stable connection and speed.

 

[ijsa]

Before buying a new router, try the following, if it works for you.

1. Factory reset TP-Link TD-W8961N.
2. Enter Wireless security settings. SSID, wireless password etc...... No modem, LAN, WAN settings to be entered.
3. Put the ethernet cable from the main router in to any of the LAN port of TP-LINK TD-W8961N.
4. I think it should now work as a router/ range extender. You also use the rest of the LAN ports as in a regular router for desktop/ laptop etc through ethernet wire.

 

[varkey]

^ In addition to the above, do ensure you disable the DHCP server on the TP-Link.

Also, assign the TP-Link an IP address in the same subnet as that of your primary Huawei device so that you can continue to manage both the devices.

Say Huawei is 192.168.1.1, then maybe put 192.168.1.2 for TP-Link and ensure the DHCP server's IP pool range excludes 192.168.1.2 (in this case)

 

[varkey]

@ijsa

Yeah firesticks don't have any ethernet port, also my family spends most of their time downstairs and their phones got disconnected a lot today. Can I place the TP-Link router downstairs, run an ethernet cable from the ONT to the modem and have internet that way? In this way, the 2nd floor can still have 5Ghz 100mbps connection(for my laptop), whereas downstairs we can have 40mbps or so which is good enough for youtube/firestick for everyone else.

Yes, if you have an option to run an ethernet cable downstairs that would be the best option, and ensure you connect the cable from the primary router to one of the LAN ports and not the WAN port (in case of your TP-Link, there is no WAN port so its alright)

 

[vpsj]

^ In addition to the above, do ensure you disable the DHCP server on the TP-Link.

Also, assign the TP-Link an IP address in the same subnet as that of your primary Huawei device so that you can continue to manage both the devices.

Say Huawei is 192.168.1.1, then maybe put 192.168.1.2 for TP-Link and ensure the DHCP server's IP pool range excludes 192.168.1.2 (in this case)

I tried to change the default gateway/IP address of the TP Link router as 192.168.1.2 (the Huawei has 192.168.1.1) but the problem is after changing it, I can no longer open the config page of the router. Both 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2 give me error and nothing opens up, until I reset my router back to factory settings. Any idea what can I do? I even changed my ethernet adapter properties and added the IP addresses and the gateaway in the IPv4 settings but to no avail. Tried with DHCP disabled as well, same error. If you have any clue please do reply. Thank you

 

[ijsa]

Once again I will suggest you to stick to the plan I suggested.
It is good that you know the IP address of the secondary router to access the admin page but first it is important to see if it is working.
There are other ways to know the ip address of your secondary router and login.