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The original was posted on /r/homenetworking by /u/Craftingcraftera on 2023-07-18 01:51:17+00:00.
So we've been running our generic Spectrum Internet Ultra wifi setup for too long to remember, and now that the hubby and I are BOTH working from home full time, we HAVE to make some changes before we drive each other up the wall.
Right now, we are both connected to wifi only, but he does have the router and modem right on his desk so he can easily plug in. I, however, am on the other side of the house and now seem to be struggling to remain connected on my work computer, which is REQUIRED to be connected via VPN. He has only been working from home for a little over a week, and up until last Friday, I hadn't experienced any connection issues. Today, I couldn't stay in a Teams meeting for work to save my life. My VPN was constantly disconnecting and reconnecting if I tried to access anything more than my Outlook email. We did switch VPN providers through work about two weeks ago, so I'm not sure if that really has anything to do with it or not, but I can't keep missing these meetings, so I HAVE to get something figured out.
Being summer... we also have at least four of our six kids home almost all day on their various wifi connected devices, a few of them with multiple devices. I don't want to limit their wifi access, as they're keeping up on their chores and such, and I don't want the fact that we're both home full-time now to feel like a punishment to them. The oldest has also been struggling to keep their PC, located in the basement, connected to the wifi for gaming since we moved in, but hasn't had any issues with the XBOX connection in the same room.
I've run multiple speed tests on multiple devices in almost every location in the house and got similar results, all stating we should have a sufficient connection to handle multiple devices streaming HD videos, video conferencing, and gaming at the same time. I just tested it as I'm typing this and got 271 Mbps download and 22 Mbps upload with 37 ms latency sitting in the exact location I work from every day.
We rent our house, and it isn't huge by any means with only the first floor and basement to travel through, but we can't get all crazy drilling holes and running ethernet cables. I bought a Linksys RE6300 extender and haven't been able to get anything even resembling a "boost" out of it at all. We've been considering installing a mesh system but are trying to find the least expensive option. I stumbled across some info on a MoCA and am considering that but wondered if there's a chance someone with a little more experience may have some suggestions. I'm willing to try anything, I just don't want to waste a bunch of time and money if I don't have to. Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to try and provide as much info as possible. Any suggestions anyone has are more than appreciated. Thank you all for your time!