Solved Could a single glass door cause Wi-Fi dropouts?

I have a Plusnet Hub Two router and the Wi-Fi connection to my TV is generally good. I see dropouts (because it affects my on-demand viewing) perhaps once every 10 to 14 days. Dropouts probably happen more than this but unless I am watching on-demand content on TV I don't see them.
The TV is dual band and I can see from the router Wi-Fi logs that it does switch between the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. I know band steering is not always perfect and I wonder if it is stuck on the 2.4GHz band whether channel interference happens sometimes.
Now to the subject of this thread: -
The router and TV are (almost) in line of sight of each other and only 5.8m apart. I say 'almost' because there is a single-glazed mottled glass door in-between the router and TV. See photos.
I could slide the glass door backwards into the open position which would remove the glass from the line of sight but I would prefer to leave it closed for comfort purposes. I'll experiment with the door open now that the weather is getting warmer.

Question: Am I right that Wi-Fi dropouts would still happen even in a perfect, unobstructed, line-of-sight Wi-Fi path due to other reasons? I was wondering if the mottled glass door is the most significant factor and, if so I will strive to leave the door open unless too cold for comfort.

It’s generally not recommended to place your router next to a window or a mirror. WiFi signals can’t pass through windows, glass, and mirrors.

Wireless/Wi-Fi is essentially a two-way communication radio and as such many things can affect it. The type of material can make a big difference and 'designer' glass versus plain glass can disrupt the signals.

wiganken said:

Am I right that Wi-Fi dropouts would still happen even in a perfect, unobstructed, line-of-sight Wi-Fi path due to other reasons? I was wondering if the mottled glass door is the most significant factor....

Click to expand...

Ordinary glass is relatively transparent to WiFi signals, tinted glass not so much as it's usually a metal that created the tint....

Materials such as drywall, plywood, other kinds of wood and glass can be easily penetrated by wireless signals. However, materials such as brick, plaster, cement, metal, stone, and double-glazed glass may cause problems.

Click to expand...

The top 'other factors' reason for poor WiFi range is interference from your neighbours' WiFi that's on the same or adjoining channels. If so, changing your router to use a different channel may help.

Bree said:

Ordinary glass is relatively transparent to WiFi signals,

Click to expand...

Yes, it is ordinary glass and only single glazed apart from the mottling. No metal tinting.

wiganken said:

Yes, it is ordinary glass apart from the mottling. No metal tinting.

Click to expand...

Is your cellphone/smartphone affected by the door glass? If radio signals can't go through glass how does a cellphone work in things like a car with all the metal and windows closed. I just took this Notebook outside, about 40 feet from the Router and got a good signal even with the steel-clad main door closed.

FreeBooter said:

WiFi signals can’t pass through windows, glass, and mirrors

Click to expand...

There's a bus caught in a queue outside my living room window.
My laptop & my smartphone, situated inside my living room window, can detect that bus's WiFi network.


Denis

Berton said:

Is your cellphone/smartphone affected by the door glass?

Click to expand...

It doesn't seem to be but then I do not use my phone for streaming over a 1 to 2 hour period like I do with TV.
My phone has the 'WiFi Heatmap' app and that shows a strong signal -52dBm and a link speed of 390 Mbps at the TV location but I wouldn't know if this would be maintained over a 1 to 2 hour steaming period.

I reckon I'll just have to accept that dropouts are going to happen and not over-think it. There are too many variables at play when using Wi-Fi and I can always slide the door back open if needed.
The dropouts don't happen often and the TV always reconnects so it is just a matter of waiting a short while. It's just annoying when they do happen.

I'll call this 'Solved' and thank you all for your input.

The best solution is to run a short ethernet cable from router to a discreet wifi access point other side of door (a flat cat 6 cable will easily slip under the gap at bottom of door).

You can use an old router as the wifi access point.

If that is not feasible, you could try powerline adaptors.

cereberus said:

The best solution is to run a short ethernet cable from router to a discreet wifi access point

Click to expand...

cereberus said:

You can use an old router as the wifi access point.

Click to expand...

Yes, it cuts out the glass door element but it is still Wi-Fi and may still suffer from dropouts due to other things. Neighbour's Wi-Fi interference as well as router and TV's handling of the Wi-Fi signal.
Thanks for the suggestion though. It is not something I had considered.

I carried out a test using the 'WiFi Heatmap' app on my phone and the signal strength (-53dBm) and link speed were the same (390Mbps) at the TV location with the door open and closed. This was only a short term test but I think it shows the door is not a big factor. I think.

If it happens too often then I will consider connecting to TV via Ethernet cable but that is a last resort.