I recently switched to a new ISP and got their tri-band gateway. Indoor coverage is great, but outdoor signal is useless.
The gateway sits in the living room, about 18–20 feet from the patio. Inside, right by the glass door, the signal is strong. But once I step outside and sit a few feet away, it drops to one bar or disconnects entirely. There are no walls in between—only the glass door. Paradoxically, my old provider’s basic router covered most of the backyard effortlessly.
The ISP wants a monthly fee for a Wi-Fi pod, which I’d rather avoid. Is there anything worth checking before I buy my own AP or extender?
Your phone may be hanging onto 6 GHz indoors. It’s fast, but the range is poor and it doesn’t handle obstacles well. Temporarily separate the bands or disable 6 GHz on the phone and test 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz individually.
@J.T.Coulman I turned off 6 GHz and 5 GHz works slightly farther, but it still falls apart right outside the door. On 2.4 GHz I can at least stay connected.
Buying an extender would be a bad idea here, in my opinion. Walk the same route while watching the signal level. NetSpot is handy for this on a laptop or Android device. Its signal graph will show exactly where the drop happens, and you can also check whether nearby networks are crowding your channel. In this case the glass already sounds like the main issue, but it’s still worth checking the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands separately. An outdoor AP mounted under the eave would be a much cleaner fix than putting an extender behind the same glass.
That patio door may be the whole problem. A lot of modern energy-efficient glass has a metallic coating that reflects heat and absolutely murders WiFi.
@UpbeatViolinist891 Wow. With the door open I get almost full signal halfway across the patio. Closed, it drops immediately. Didn’t expect the glass to make that much difference.