Better router?

[Murray]

I have the black router and two boosters (it's not a particularly big house, but the power of the wifi is awful, hence the boosters)

I've had issues with the setup for over a year... connection dropping out to next to nothing on some devices (not all) which disconnecting and reconnecting sometimes fixes, sometimes not. I can be in the middle of a call and lose the connection (or it goes on a complete go slow). Multiple re-builds of the router hasn't fixed the problem, and Vodafone are now suggesting sending a new router (which has been done before). Just keep going round the same old loops with support. Desperately frustrated.
SO, my question is, has anyone else got experience of replacing the Vodafone router with something that works well? If so, any recommendations on the process or makes/models?

[Murray]

Should have said, it's the THG3000  router

[Jayach]

Personally I find the Wi-Fi on the THG3000 reasonable. Are the boosters you are using the Vodafone one's or 3rd party?

I don't like "boosters" they can cause more problems than they cure.

Yes you can easily use your own choice of router, Vodafone will give you your PPPoE details, just ask on live chat: https://www.vodafone.co.uk/bbservcd/. However if you are on digital voice, you will loose easy access to the phone line.

In your situation, if it's just that you want better Wi-Fi I would personally look at getting a mesh solution and using it in access point mode. It won't be cheap though.

[CrimsonLiar]

Where you want to go with this also depends to a degree on whether you are on full-fibre (FTTP via OpenReach or CityFibre) with an ONT, or you are on FTTC - VDSL2 and your router plugs into the phone socket.  With the latter you'd either need to just use a WiFi replacement Access-Point or mesh system, or if you wanted to remove the VF router entirely you'd need a modem/router and would need to get your connection username and password from Vodafone.
The other big consideration is going to be the house construction.  Modern houses with mostly partition walls are pretty good for WiFi transmission.  Concrete walls and ceilings tend to be not so good.  Houses built of stone blocks are the worst for transmission between rooms on the same floor, but their ceiling tend to be porous to WiFi.
*True Mesh systems are often much better than WiFi extenders, but there's still a tendency to use too many of them - my own router is a bully, but it still needs a Mesh node to get signal into the service cupboard where the smart heating relays live.  If you go down the Mesh route though, at least go mid-priced!  Cheap Mesh systems are rarely worth the hassle and may not let you fully utilise the bandwidth you'd otherwise have available.

[Jayach]

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@CrimsonLiar wrote:
If you go down the Mesh route though, at least go mid-priced!  Cheap Mesh systems are rarely worth the hassle and may not let you fully utilise the bandwidth you'd otherwise have available.

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@Jayach wrote:
In your situation, if it's just that you want better Wi-Fi I would personally look at getting a mesh solution and using it in access point mode. It won't be cheap though.

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I concur.

[Murray]

Thanks for the input so far. I'm on fftc/vdsl2, (phone line not used). Our house is a mix of construction (built in the 1800s) but the area within which we want to use the WiFi is relatively small and open so I don't think it's that. I may just see if I can borrow a "decent" router and see what difference it makes in the short term. So in that case I need a router that supports AP mode, got it.