@SophieMay 

Hey

This does sound very very slow, hopefully we can help you!

I have the same device (all be it an earlier v2 model) and get much faster.  

Would you mind logging into the router and sending us a screenshot of how your Wireless is configured at present?   do you know if you are connecting to the 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz frequency?  namely does it say _5G at the end of the name?.

The interface should look something like below if you can send us a screenshot.  Hopefully i can help you some more :)

@Philbert 

Thank you! I believe I'm connected to 2.4GHz, the 5GHz doesn't appear in my list of wireless devices.

My adapter is a PCI adapter that I bought in 2017. It appears PCI adapters can't be bought easily anymore, only PCIe but I don't have a PCIe slot on my motherboard. I thought perhaps this would be the issue but I tried my cheap USB dongle and still only got 2MB that bounced rapidly as the speed test ran. I was receiving 9MB on my previous router with my adapter.

Here is my screenshot:

@SophieMay 

Morning

Perfect thankyou!

This could be one of 2 things, either WiFi isnt allowing you connect at a reasonable speed... or the internet isnt connecting right

Lets start with the WiFi screenshot you posted.

You might want to consider enabling SmartConnect at the top.   This will allow the router to move devices between the 2.4 and 5Ghz ranges as it feels necessary.   The issue with the 2.4Ghz is the airspace, basically its flooded with other things (microwaves, phones, doorbells, etc etc) and this causes a massive reduction in speed. For that reason its better to allow the router to move you automatically onto the 5Ghz as this is much less congested.   SmartConnect will do that for you automatically, worth a try and tell me if that helps.

You can change the network name and passcode if you want, its not required however sometimes easier to remember :)

Encryption and version are perfect

Mode...  change this to N only if you get that option. 

Channel.... as mentioned earlier they are all pretty bad tbh...  try 6 its usually the best of the bunch

Channel Width - try changing the width to 40mhz - see if that helps

do the same for the 5Ghz settings... just set the channel as 44, width as 80 and the mode as N/AC

Smartconnect should set the wifi name and password the same for both 2.4 and 5ghz for you.

One last thing (sorry) can you under advanced > status take a screenshot of DSL connection as shown below?   this will tell us how fast your internet line is and we can check thats ok next.   What speeds are you expecting from your ISP?  do you have a rough idea?

@Philbert 

Well, I don't know what you just suggested but I now have 7-9MB instead of 0.14 haha. Thank you!

I did have the Smart Connect enabled but my partner found his phone would disconnect every time it tried to switch (I assume but not fully tested). I'll re-enable this and try again. I can't see the 5GHz in my connections so I thought this maybe interfered the 2.4 range and why it kept jumping on a speed test.

Changed mode to N only, I chose channel 1 because the rest of our block of flats seem to be on 6 but if you recommend going back to 1?

It's estimated that we should get at least 18MB but our contract is 33MB, when connected with the ethernet we do get 33. I'm happy with now at least having WiFi even if it's the same as before but if there are settings I can apply to improve the speed I'd be more than grateful to know.

Here are my DSL settings:

@SophieMay 

Ah happy days, a step in the right direction!

Your internet looks fine, its connected at the full speed so all good.

Your line is coming in at 35mbps down  8 up so if you are getting 33mbps on the cable that is working perfectly, means it is wireless!

So you are way ahead, if the rest of the block is on 6 then stick to 1 or 11... basically avoid them as you are doing.   Likely the speed increase was the setting to N only / 40mhz as this will force the speed to a much more reasonable rate.   When you scanned the area was the whole place just littered in WiFi signal?  that could be a major issue... if so you could try going to channel 13 if available.  Its not one of the more common channels so can usually be "better" but i have had devices that dont work on 13, could be worth a try for you. 

If you cant see the 5ghz its likely the device doesnt support it, what device is it you are using?  from that we can determine the WiFi card

In relation to your partners phone.. iphone by any chance?   SmartConnect can on occasion with Iphones disconnect when it tries to move you to the faster 5ghz, if that is happening turn off smart connect and stick to separating them again.   Get your partner to test this on 5ghz if his phone connects and see what the speed is there.   Should your partner be getting much faster its the airspace on 2.4 causing this for you, in a block of flats it could simply be too much WiFi.

@Philbert 

It seems I spoke to soon. We're now back using the Plusnet because we both work from home and as soon as my partner started using the internet it cut me off completely. I then plugged in my PC with the ethernet and this cut him off. We can't use two PC's at the same time.

My adapter is a TP-LINK TL-WN851ND. It's pretty outdated but one of the very few adapters that fit my motherboard.

My partner has a Sony phone, however, it's pretty bad. Although he actually said yesterday it's really fast on his phone now whereas before it struggled to pick up the signal.

@SophieMay 

Hey

Yeah the  TL-WN851ND  is a 2.4ghz card so that is why you wont be able to see the 5Ghz.     You could upgrade to a USB adaptor for your computer that would certainly help, especially if you can then move to the 5Ghz..  Something like the Archer T9UH should work for you.    There are cheaper cards out there, just the first that came to mind

Personally i like the usb adaptors that have some cable and dont plug straight into the USB port, find they tend to have a better signal as you can move them away from the PC itself (which is a source of interference).     Something around 1200/1300 speeds should be more than enough for you.

If your partner is having issues with the disconnection then SmartConnect isnt going to work for you, it doesn't work for everyone so better to have it off in your case.  Least now we know :)

Get your partner to reconnect to the 5Ghz once smart connect is off and you see the 2x separate WiFi Signals again.  The speed he gets on 5Ghz will tell us if a new WiFi card is a good call for you.

If you want to try channel 13 / 14 for the 2.4ghz   it may help speed you up also..    however its not 100% supported by all devices in all countries (im UK)  so if you lose the wifi completely on 2.4 (can no longer see it) then go back.    Just thinking the 13 channel is a bit further away from everyone else and may help.  

@Philbert 

Thank you, I did look at the adapters but your cable version suggestion sounds better. If it works I don't mind spending a bit more.

We still have the issue where only one PC works at a time. I can use my tablet while he's on his PC but as soon as we both use the internet on desktops only one seems to have priority and the other gets >1MB. Is there a setting which shares the signal and not just gives it all completely to one PC? I'll try his 5GHz later as his PC is able to detect it but I'll have to stick to the Plusnet router for the rest of the day until we can both use the WiFi at the same time.

@SophieMay 

You should be able to connect multiple devices at once to the wireless and it should somewhat evenly spread the load between them.   What you seeing again points towards the 2.4 congestion

If you can get your partner on the 5Ghz and you on 2.4 then they should not interfere in any way.   Get the feeling 5Ghz is the answer for you

Just worth noting... on 2.4Ghz channels they bleed into eachother (see diagram below) so channel 6 technically interferes with 4-8... you get the idea.    The 5Ghz doesnt do this, if you are on 36, the next 40 is totally seperate.   Do what you done earlier on the 5Ghz and see what your neighbours are doing, pick the least congested channel for you (possibly 48 is a good start)

best of luck

@Philbert 

I really don't know what is going on now but I've tried to connect my partners PC wirelessly but it states it's unable to connect to the 5GHz and in properties it says it's only a 2.4GHz network. It won't even detect the 2.4GHz network now. 

However, I checked the ethernet cable and it was plugged in the LAN/WAN port rather than just a LAN. Since switching this my partner while plugged in via ethernet and my Wireless work together with good speeds. However, we wanted to get rid of the ethernet cable across our living room but we still have his computer unable to connect wireless although I'm sure I did it yesterday with 15MB speed.

I'm sceptical about this being partially fixed and will see if we are both able to use the internet together tomorrow morning.. if we are then I can only assume we both need an update of adapters.

Would having the ethernet cable plugged into that specific port caused an issue?