wireless connection distance help with virgin superhub

[Linny40]

Having problems getting connected to wireless items whilst in the garden.

I have been told by Virgin that the superhub can carry a connection upto 200 meters away from the hub. But each time i try to take say laptop ipad or iphone into garden and use my home wireless i cannot get a connection.
my hub is in my room ( 2nd floor left hand side of house/front of house) garden is back of house and aprox 150 long. But as soon as i step out of the house i loose connection. I have spoken to vm and they said to test each channel as different channels give a greater/lesser range, but to stay away from channel 6 - he also mentioned that apple products do not like channels 12 & 13.

Has anyone got any other help or tips that i can try to get me a connection in my garden. Before i had the superhub i had a belkin N+150 which worked in the garden no problem.

The guy also mentioned that my wireless printer could be causing problems as its so close to the hub. Turned that off but no difference. Cant really move the hub by much due to cable not being long enough. ( and yes we made cable longer and hid it under floor so there is just enough cable to reach from floor to desktop as connection box was no where near pc)

 

[jodav]

I have not had experiemce with the superhub, but it does sound like that is the problem to me judging by your post. Sounds like they are trying to fog you off Linny.

 

[dan-ger-ous]

I would see if they could send you out another one Linny. If you dont have issues with a new one then your current superhub may be faulty. I personally have found that the Superhub is stronger than my previous Dynamode router, but my guess is that the Belkin N+150 router you had is probably more superior than the SuperHub. Its signal might not be as strong as the Belkin router, especially considering that there are no external antennas on the Superhub.

As for the advise VM have given you. Its just generic advise that they'll throw at anyone, they wont just say, it could be that the walls in your home are too thick and this may affect the signal of the Superhub heading towards your garden. But instead they'll like to take you around in circles.

I would ask for a new one, and demand that no extra charges are to take place.

 

[Linny40]

Thanks! Over the next few days im going to try and rearrange the desk and see if i can move the hub to the other side of the screen and see if it makes any difference. I also get fed up with the lights on it having a disco at night they are constantly blinking after about 11pm.

I did think their advice was poop which is why i turned to you guys. I dont know much about the channels and how it works but cant see that changing channels will make an awful lot of difference. 200 meters is a heck of a long way and my house is 2 rooms downstairs so say aprox 40-50ft long and garden is around 100-150 ft so i expect my wireless to reach 80-100 ft away from the router with at least a half decent signal. But seems as soon as i get about 2 ft away from back door it goes off. Maybe by trying to put the hub nearer the window might help and Dan yes as you say my belkin has 2 antennas this has none that you can see .

 

[j4v3d]

i wouldnt trust VM devices, when they go up the paddle they just fob you off and when you want a replacement they have the cheek to ask for money

Linny seems to me the Hub could be faulty. If the N150 works fine with everything as it was before then the HUB should be working fine only faster. I can use my router in my garden, picks up the signal, i have a large house but manages to pick it up and is alright to browse considering the router is 3 floors up in the sky lol

 

[Linny40]

yes think ill ring them back next week when i got more time and energy and complain im getting hardly any signal in the garden. i can pick up a few bt/sky wi-fis but obviously cannot access them, and the ones i pick up are not even neighbours as i know their SSID names

 

[leemoo]

If your going to call VM maybe worth checking to see what firmware the hub is on and checking if there is an update for it or if one is due out?

 

[dan-ger-ous]

I know there is a R27 update coming out and that the VM Superhub automatically downloads and installs the update on the SuperHub so the customer does not need to do anything. But this R27 update has been anticipated for a very long time, it was supposed to be out in May/June but trust Virgin to delay things every furthur.

Linny you could find what firmware you on by logging into the superhub, and then go to advanced settings, it should be listed there. i.e. R2*

Also the R27 update was supposed to implement bridge mode meaning you can connect your exisiting router into the Superhub, whilst its something that can fix your problem Linny, I dont think you'd want something as big as the SuperHub and treat it as a modem only, and then have your Belkin router next to it, its going to take quite abit of space.

 

[Linny40]

Dan ive just checked and im on R26. Ive not yet had a chance to check other channels to see if i get a better connection. Have managed to move the hub to LHS of my screen so its near window. Need 2 people here really 1 in garden with a wireless connection and me by the pc so i can change channel.But might jsut ring them anyways and tell them ive tried all channels etc etc and see what they say.

 

[dan-ger-ous]

The good thing about the SuperHub is that it'll change these channels on request without any furthur reboots necessary. I guess you could always change the channel, and then go back to the garden, and then back upstairs and then back in the garden again.. lol


R26 is also the firmware I am on at the moment, so you are up-to-date. Moving it next to a window will certainly help in my opinion, hope this does the trick for you. :)

 

[Linny40]

nope didnt work and i rang them and i got told to change settings from 2.4 to 5 ghz - well all that did was make things worse as the iphone could not pick it up, even when it was next to hub. He suggested i turn off the wireless and add my belkin back to see if i still get signal in the garden and as usual blamed thick walls, plumbing electrics etc. oh and he also told me that it does not reach 200mtrs - might get somewhere near IF its flat IE no house in the way, basically move to a bungalow put hub in back room then go in garden to get wireless WTF??? He also said if nothing works ring them again - yh then what they gonna say??
OK so i dont want to go out in the garden very often BUT if i go next door or in the garden i should be able to pick up my home network. I pick up lots of other peoples networks so they must have a strong signals.

 

[dan-ger-ous]

I think the SuperHub is inferior when compared to your Belkin N1 router. It might not be as powerful to go through everything that is in the way to get to the garden. Are you able to not pick up a signal whatsoever?

 

[Linny40]

no Dan as soon as i get out of the house with in a foot or so i get nothing. Next week as ive got people at home i will get them all outside with the laptop iphone and ipad and see if any of them get anything whilst i sit up here. Then if i get nothing ill add the belkin back and turn off the hubs wireless and see if it makes a difference. Then will complain to them see if i can get some sort of refund LOL!!! ok so i know i probably got no chance but depends on what mood im in when i ring them next week i might tell them to stick their hub :)

 

[dan-ger-ous]

no Dan as soon as i get out of the house with in a foot or so i get nothing. Next week as ive got people at home i will get them all outside with the laptop iphone and ipad and see if any of them get anything whilst i sit up here. Then if i get nothing ill add the belkin back and turn off the hubs wireless and see if it makes a difference. Then will complain to them see if i can get some sort of refund LOL!!! ok so i know i probably got no chance but depends on what mood im in when i ring them next week i might tell them to stick their hub :)

I hope that R27 update comes out quick then for your sake Linny. :)

I do know what you mean about the disco effect the SuperHub gives up at night. Seems as though its playing laser quest. lol

With the old modem I would just normally put a piece of card infront of the lights to block it from being bright, but theres no workaround for the SuperHub, I turn it off during the night anyway, dont have a habbit of having it on if i'm not using it. Then again i'm the only person who uses the net in my home most of the time.

I'm not quite sure how easy it would be to set your Belkin router up to the Superhub without that firmware not being rolled out yet. Maybe some tweaks in the Superhub might be able to forward all traffic to your belkin router. Might be a little complicated but ill have a look around. :)