Quick answer
Wi-Fi complaints almost always arrive as one sentence: the internet is slow. Usually the internet is fine and the last fifteen metres are the problem. It is worth separating the two before spending anything.
Check the line before blaming the router
Plug a laptop into the router with a cable and run a speed test. If the wired result matches what you pay for, your connection is fine and the fix is a coverage problem. If the wired result is also poor, that is a conversation with your ISP, not a hardware purchase.
Concrete and steel are the local reality
Reinforced concrete floors and brick partitions absorb a great deal of signal. One router in the corner of a three-storey building will not cover it, regardless of how many antennas it has or what the box claims. Signal does not go through a stairwell wall because the packaging says 1200 Mbps.
Symptoms and what they usually mean
- Fast near the router, unusable two rooms away: coverage problem. Add an access point, do not replace the router.
- Fine all day, unusable in the evening: channel congestion from neighbouring networks. Move to 5 GHz and fix the channel.
- Drops for a few seconds, repeatedly: usually a device roaming between two access points that are not configured as one network, or a failing power adapter.
- Only one device is slow: it is the device, not the network.
When to stop buying extenders
A repeater halves throughput for everything behind it, and two repeaters chained together will disappoint everyone. The point to switch approach is roughly: more than one floor, more than about ten devices, or any business where a stall at the counter costs money. At that point you want access points wired back to a switch, each with a cable run, sharing one network name.
That is a cabling job rather than a shopping trip, and it is the only fix that keeps working as you add devices.
Before you call anyone
- Note which rooms are affected and at what times.
- Note whether it is one device or all of them.
- Count the devices actually connected, including cameras, TVs and phones.
That information turns a vague callout into a quick diagnosis.
Tell us what you have already tried. That helps our technician arrive prepared.