Computer repairs in Clyde & Clyde North

Why new houses have worse Wi-Fi than old ones

Clyde North is one of the fastest-growing places in the country, and almost everything we are called to here is in a house less than ten years old. That should mean fewer problems. In practice new builds are harder to cover than old ones, for three reasons that have nothing to do with your internet plan.

• The footprint is larger — double-storey on a decent block puts real distance between the router and the far bedrooms
• Modern insulation and foil-backed sarking are very good at stopping radio signal as well as heat
• The NBN box goes wherever the builder ran the conduit, usually a front study or the garage, which is the worst possible spot for coverage

Put those together and you get the classic Clyde North call: brand new home, expensive plan, and the kids cannot hold a video call in the upstairs bedroom.

What a mesh system actually does

A mesh is two or three units that broadcast the same network name and hand your device between them as you move. That handover is the part that matters. A cheap range extender creates a second network with "-EXT" on the end, and your phone clings to the weak original signal rather than switching — which is why extenders so often seem to do nothing.

A proper mesh install for a double-storey home is usually $150–250 including the hardware placement and configuration. We work out where the nodes need to sit by measuring, not by guessing from a floor plan.

The router your provider sent you

Most retail providers ship a basic router with their plans. It is adequate for a small apartment and genuinely not adequate for a four-bedroom double-storey. There is no conspiracy in that — it is a cost decision — but it does mean a lot of Clyde North homes are running excellent fibre through hardware that cannot make use of it.

We will tell you when your existing router is fine and the problem is placement, because that costs you nothing to fix. When it genuinely needs replacing we will say what to buy and why, and you are welcome to buy it yourself.

New builds and new machines

The other half of our Clyde North work is setup. New house, new desk, new computer, and a pile of files on an old laptop that need to come across. A transfer and setup runs $80–160 and covers moving your documents, photos, browser bookmarks and saved passwords, getting the printer talking to every device, and making sure the backup actually runs rather than just being switched on.

Worth doing while we are there

• A backup that runs by itself, so a failed drive is an inconvenience rather than a disaster
• Guest Wi-Fi separated from the network your work laptop is on
• Automatic updates configured so you are not clicking "remind me later" for a year

Where we cover

Clyde, Clyde North, Casey Fields and Berwick Waters, all at the same price with no call-out fee. Because so much of the work here is coverage-related we usually ask for the rough size and layout of the house when you book, so we arrive with the right gear.