Neighbors' Google Homes are taking over the internet connection.
Neighbors' Google Homes are taking over the internet connection.
I have a fairly minor issue. The situation is simple: our shared apartment's WiFi is used by four units, and it often becomes sluggish or drops unexpectedly. The router and modem are top-of-the-line, but I think the neighbors with five Google gadgets might be the source of the trouble. A bit of background: about a year ago my wife and I moved into these apartments—owned by my uncle. They’re stacked in a 2x2 layout, located in the upper right corner. The neighbors at the bottom left have the modem and router, and their signal reaches the very bottom left of their unit, which is the farthest from ours. Although both devices are high-end, they should easily manage four households. Still, during the day we often experience interruptions while streaming, scrolling social media, or studying. Loading speeds drop sharply when usage peaks. I’ve dealt with internet issues for these units several times; some have been reported to the ISP, but my uncle has given me access to the router’s login info so I can investigate further. The neighbors who own the hardware aren’t tech-savvy, yet they have five Google devices per room—including a TV visible through the Google Home app. On my Android phone, I keep getting alerts about their speakers and casts, and I often hear a nagging voice reminding me to turn them off. My gut tells me the constant data transfers from those devices are likely slowing down our connection. I could ask my uncle to run Ethernet cables closer to center, but I’m not sure that would solve it. I’m also unsure if tweaking router settings alone will help. I’ve switched to the most open channels on 2.5 and 5 GHz and reserved MAC addresses for key devices. Please share any advice you might have.
Your Wi-Fi is at full capacity. You should switch to Ethernet for all apartments or provide individual ISP connections for each one. Managing four families with many devices can be challenging.
Consider assigning each tenant their own internet connection to resolve the issue. Running Ethernet cables won’t be feasible with just one ISP link.
I’d prefer a dedicated service for my own household. With four families, one router and modem just can’t handle all the devices these days—TVs, computers, phones, consoles, smart devices, tablets, even fridges are all connected. You’re essentially overloading your setup. You have two choices: upgrade the gear and run Ethernet to each apartment with its own access point, or opt for separate services tailored to each unit from the beginning.
Initially, if it's one AP for all apartments, placing it in a corner isn't ideal—it should be centrally located among the four units. Could a communal corridor with ceiling-mounted APs work? This is something I've observed in hotels. Also, grouping all four apartments on the same network segment poses risks; it eliminates security and could allow unauthorized access between units. You definitely want each apartment to have its own SSID or login, keeping their devices isolated within separate VLANs. The mention of premium routers and modems raises concerns—I'd recommend a dedicated business-grade AP instead. The only high-end router/AP I'm aware of that might suit this setup is the Ubiquiti Dream Machine.
I need to explain this clearly. We’re mostly college students, so using the term family might not fit. The four groups are two newly married couples, one with two young children, and a single mom with one child. That makes seven adults instead of the usual set. I think it’s too much for just one access point. These apartments are quite old, and internet speeds are limited to what’s available at that single location. Should we set up a separate router in each apartment or keep everything on one device? Would we need a special modem to support multiple routers? I believe the current modem supports up to 10 gigabits, but I’m not sure how much my landlord is willing to spend since he might be selling soon. Still, I can talk to him about it. There’s an old coaxial cable under our air conditioning, but I doubt it connects to anything now.
The router may be fine, its the WiFi Access Points that generally struggle, especially if its combined in the router. If its genuinely a business-rated device, it should handle hundreds of clients, whereas consumer routers WiFi can fall over at 20 or even less.