Why is my WiFi slow when I have fibre?

First: is it the fibre or the WiFi?

Plug a computer directly into the router with a cable and run a speed test. If you get your contracted speed over cable but not over WiFi, the fibre is working perfectly: the bottleneck is the wireless network.

1. Walls, floors and materials

Stone and concrete construction, so common in Andorra, blocks the signal heavily. A single router rarely covers a multi-storey home well, let alone the garage, terrace or garden.

2. Where the router is

The router usually sits where the fibre comes in: inside a cupboard, in the hallway or at one end of the house. From there, the signal has to pass through walls and doors to reach the rooms where it's actually used.

3. Consumer extenders

They extend coverage, but they use the same channel to receive and retransmit, so real speed drops. Daisy-chain them and it gets worse.

4. Bands and interference

The 2.4 GHz band reaches further but is slow and crowded; 5 GHz (and 6 GHz on recent equipment) is much faster but has shorter range. In apartment blocks, neighbours' networks interfere.

5. Too many devices on a home router

Phones, TVs, cameras, smart plugs and consoles: a consumer router isn't designed to manage dozens of devices with priorities.

The professional solution

• Wired access points in each area instead of extenders: every point gets full speed over the cable.
• Seamless roaming: your phone moves between points without dropping.
• Separate networks for guests and smart-home devices.
• Cable where it counts: TV, home office, console or work computer.

If there's no cable to each floor, an existing conduit can often be used or a discreet cable run. We assess it on a site visit.

How to test properly

1. Plug a computer directly into the router by cable and run a speed test. That's the real speed reaching your home.
2. Repeat the test over WiFi next to the router, then in the problem rooms.
3. Note the results at different times: if it only gets worse in the evening, it may be device congestion or interference from neighbours.

If it's fine by cable and poor over WiFi, the problem is the indoor network, not the fibre.

Mesh WiFi or wired access points

• Wireless mesh: the nodes talk to each other by radio. Easy to install, but each hop cuts speed and it relies on the nodes "seeing" each other well.
• Wired access points: each one gets the network by cable. Full speed on every floor and much more stable behaviour. This is the professional solution.

If the home already has conduits or network cabling, wiring is almost always worth it. In stone houses or homes with thick floor slabs, common in Andorra, wireless mesh usually falls short.

What a faster plan won't fix

Upgrading your plan doesn't improve coverage: if the signal doesn't reach the bedroom, it still won't with more megabits. It only makes sense to upgrade the fibre when the wired test already shows the speed is too low for the household.

Signs you need a professional network

• Video calls that drop as you move around the house.
• TVs or cameras that lose their connection.
• More than 30 or 40 connected devices across phones, automation, TVs and appliances.
• Several floors, outbuildings, a garage or a garden.
• Remote work or a business that depends on the connection.

What a diagnosis includes

We measure coverage room by room, check the router, existing cabling and interference, and deliver a proposal showing where the access points go and what cabling is needed, which can be carried out in phases.