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Wii U Gamepad: User Feedback & Distance Limitations
- Thread starter Superblatt
- Start date
What's wrong with a wood house, theres wood houses hundreds of years old in the USA.
assuming your wifi is 2.4GHz, that'll have more range than 5GHz. My router supports 5GHz and I wanted to use it to avoid congestion (lots of neighbour wifi access points), but the range wasn't enough to cover the house. With 2.4 I'm fine
It'll work better with thin partition walls (plaster and wood) and not so well through concrete/block/brick.
It'd be interesting to see someone do a decent test using different substances as range attenuators. I'd also like to see angle tests - i.e is the signal stronger coming out of the front of the gamepad or is it equal in all directions? Can range be increased in a particular direction using foil behind to reflect the signal forwards?
ZedIndyLil
Member
It's also possible that the relative location of your WiFi router plays a role, so maybe that should be taken into account. My router is right by the seating in front of our TV, so I'm concerned about interference.
Shining Sunshine
Banned
I get 12-15 feet (4-5 metres) with no walls or doors.
BS. That's the range of an entire house.
BS. That's the range of an entire house.
Works fine in my apartment. Walking from the living room to our bedroom there are frame drops as the controller is pointed away from the console. Once in bed and pointing in the general direction of the console through a couple of walls/other electronics it's just fine. Both bathrooms are further away than the bedroom, however one is BEHIND the console. I'll test that out tonight to see how playing while on the throne works out.
:lol
:lol
Wifi doesn't require high data integrity and low latency like the Gamepad.
Steve Youngblood
Member
The range seems fine in open space. Between walls however it's pretty spotty. Currently, it's not in the tv stand, and when I take it into the bedroom, it's very hit or miss. I don't have measurements for what this range is, but just as a reference point, my house is a 2,000 foot ranch-style house. So, the distance I'm talking about isn't insignificant. Because of that, I'm not terribly disappointed. But simply pointing out that this thing certainly doesn't cover the whole range of the house. If I really wanted to play this thing reliably in bed, I'd need to move the console.
This. Not to mention other wireless devices that may cause interference, and not just your wireless devices either.
Twilight Princess
Member
10 meters (33 ft)
wii u is in the living room, i can go upstairs and still get a stable connection.
no signal behind a brick wall tho, no problem with dry wall.
wii u is in the living room, i can go upstairs and still get a stable connection.
no signal behind a brick wall tho, no problem with dry wall.
Annoying Old Party Man
Member
brandonh83
Banned
It drops out when on the staircase, but comes back up when I get to the second floor when I walk closer to where the Wii U is relative to its position downstairs.
KittenMaster
Member
I wasn't able to use the Gamepad in my room where the console was in the front room.
Muffdraul
Member
Last night when I had to input the password for our connection, I got up and carried the gamepad into the bedroom where the wireless is. It's right inside the doorway, and I could swear I was actually closer to the Wii U console than I was when I was sitting on the chair in the living room. But I lost the signal. Apparently one wall causes too much interference.
Not that I give a shit. Very doubtful I'll ever need to use it from a different room anyway.
Not that I give a shit. Very doubtful I'll ever need to use it from a different room anyway.
Similar experience. Almost 0 lag, once every few minutes a slight few frame hiccup, but this was with 2 walls and 25 feet between the pad and system (holed up in an entertainment cabinet).
If its not obvious already, with any wireless solution....
*****Your Mileage WILL Vary*****
Davey Cakes
Member
Wow, some people are getting great results.
Sadly I can't even leave the room.
Sadly I can't even leave the room.
its right behind the wall from my bathroom and it doesn't freaking work. guh.. I'm talking like 7 feet max.
i live in the chicago old 3 flat and yea i can barley get out my bedroom with the gamepad. the bathroom is right next to my room it semi works in there. the issues ive been having is with the touch input on the gamepad. other then those minor setbacks im enjoying everything else. oh btw i got a dud gamepad my home button does not light up
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
I live in a one bedroom in a major city... no issues in any room.
I actually love the look of the games on the pad too, pleasantly surprised at how clean and crisp the games look.
I actually love the look of the games on the pad too, pleasantly surprised at how clean and crisp the games look.
Signal attenuation (signal loss) is definitely an issue here. Different surfaces have differing levels of signal attenuation. I don't know what the broadcast transmit power is on the WiiU Gamepad, but it's probably 23-25dB. WiFi signals start having problems when they drop below 7dB and varying factors will reduce the receiver signal strength Doors and wooden walls/floors are going to be the worst cause of signal loss in most homes. You'd think brick/cinderblock would be a big problem, but it has less attenuation than wood does. Also you have to take into account that are probably dozens of devices in your house interfering with the signal (microwaves, cell phones, cordless phones) It really all depends on if you are getting a good SnR (signal-to-noise ratio).
So in summary: Depending on the construction of your home and the amount of devices interfering with the signal you are are going to see wildly varying ranges of operation. Another words, YMMV. I'm really not surprised by the responses in this thread so far.
So in summary: Depending on the construction of your home and the amount of devices interfering with the signal you are are going to see wildly varying ranges of operation. Another words, YMMV. I'm really not surprised by the responses in this thread so far.
My gamepad works in every room in my 1800 sq/ft apartment. Concrete walls. I had it disconnect once in the bathroom, but even my wifi on my iphone gets flaky in there.
All in all, I am impressed by the responsiveness of the gamepad over wireless. It honestly feels like a super lightweight handheld.
It's strange, I didnt think I'd use the gamepad only feature as much as I do, but I find having the tv on in the background while banging out a couple of levels on Mario U very satisfying.
All in all, I am impressed by the responsiveness of the gamepad over wireless. It honestly feels like a super lightweight handheld.
It's strange, I didnt think I'd use the gamepad only feature as much as I do, but I find having the tv on in the background while banging out a couple of levels on Mario U very satisfying.
MatthewB92
Member
Can use it in the bathroom. 2 walls in the way about 20' away.
cyberheater
PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
If I can't get it to work in my bedroom then I'm moving my WiiU. Even if I have to use a 50ft HDMI cable.
DAREALGUMMY
Member
Got it to work in my bathroom as long as i held it up. im happy.
Heres another question, is the battery light supposed to stay on? It turns on when I turn on the Wii U and when its charging but I wasnt sure if it stayed on all the time.
Heres another question, is the battery light supposed to stay on? It turns on when I turn on the Wii U and when its charging but I wasnt sure if it stayed on all the time.
I'm really hating the hate against the Wii U, it's wonderful a lot better than the original Wii. I bet most complainers don't
really have the console.
I've had NO trouble at all playing with the gamepad in other rooms. I've notice range diminishes when battery is low, but when not I can even play
through concrete walls, like 10-15 feet away. Homes where I live are all concrete no cardboard like material like in the US. SO to see work through
that is great.
I played a game of Scribblenauts really far like 10-15 feet with a conrete wall in between and it worked great. After an hour or more it started
faltering a bit, but no complaints here.
The farthest I've got it working was about 20 feets but in line of sight of the console. I study comp engineering and in the comm class we found
out physical interference really hampers this kind of signal. It could work 20 feet away in line of sight or not at all at 10 feets with a wall in between,
BEST OF ALL! I could play with it on the crapper, no problems AT ALL!!! SO stop the complaints. No one realistically would play or need to play
this system farther away from the room it is in than the
crapper.
SO I really don't get the complaints, wait for it to charge completly before testing it out maybe. One thing that it ocurred to me or maybe I or
some one else could make. COuld it be possible to make some sort of Wii U relay or router than you could place around your home to amplify
the pads signal strenght? I'm really interested in checking
and maybe developing something like this.
really have the console.
I've had NO trouble at all playing with the gamepad in other rooms. I've notice range diminishes when battery is low, but when not I can even play
through concrete walls, like 10-15 feet away. Homes where I live are all concrete no cardboard like material like in the US. SO to see work through
that is great.
I played a game of Scribblenauts really far like 10-15 feet with a conrete wall in between and it worked great. After an hour or more it started
faltering a bit, but no complaints here.
The farthest I've got it working was about 20 feets but in line of sight of the console. I study comp engineering and in the comm class we found
out physical interference really hampers this kind of signal. It could work 20 feet away in line of sight or not at all at 10 feets with a wall in between,
BEST OF ALL! I could play with it on the crapper, no problems AT ALL!!! SO stop the complaints. No one realistically would play or need to play
this system farther away from the room it is in than the
crapper.
SO I really don't get the complaints, wait for it to charge completly before testing it out maybe. One thing that it ocurred to me or maybe I or
some one else could make. COuld it be possible to make some sort of Wii U relay or router than you could place around your home to amplify
the pads signal strenght? I'm really interested in checking
and maybe developing something like this.
Steve Youngblood
Member
It's worth noting that not everyone who owns a Wii U lives in an exact copy of your house. For instance, the GamePad does not work perfectly -- constantly going in and out -- in even the closest of my three bathrooms.
At around 17 feet the signal drops for me. It's gotta go through a concrete wall, but Wifi is pretty bad in my house to begin with. I really wish they'd release some sort of a signal booster.
bobbychalkers
Member
It works great from my bathroom 15 feet away, all is right with the world.
Davey Cakes
Member
What I'm wondering is if a reliable signal boost is even possible.
shinobi602
Member
Navigating Netflix isn't as smooth as I'd hoped :-/
shira
Member
Wouldn't there be input lag?
Dead Prince
Banned
the distance from my room to bathroom is like 15 to 20 steps.
if i go where X is which is 15 steps the signal drops completely. i figure it's because of the walls but going inside the restroom is like a "U" shape and it works fine in there.
if i go where X is which is 15 steps the signal drops completely. i figure it's because of the walls but going inside the restroom is like a "U" shape and it works fine in there.
The first thing I did with the system set up at home was try it in the bathroom with the door closed. It worked, but my girlfriend got SO angry... I guess she doesn't want me pooping with the Scribblenauts machine.
If I have anything to say about the controller, it's that the buttons are so far apart. I was playing Blops and having trouble finding the B button to reload and X to hop over stuff. It seems too far from the stick. I'm hoping I can remap those two particular actions to A and Y to be closer to the stick, but maybe I just need to get used to the size.
If I have anything to say about the controller, it's that the buttons are so far apart. I was playing Blops and having trouble finding the B button to reload and X to hop over stuff. It seems too far from the stick. I'm hoping I can remap those two particular actions to A and Y to be closer to the stick, but maybe I just need to get used to the size.
Davey Cakes
Member
Okay, so in my house I did some more testing. I was actually able to keep a consistent signal when I went to my parents' room (which is right above where the Wii U is currently located) and my room which is on the same floor as the Wii U. So now it's looking like 20 ft possibly between rooms on the same floor and 10-15 between different floors. Interesting. This is at full battery though, so I'm not sure how the thing will respond when it gets to, say, half battery or below.
Pretty neat. My house is two floors but is pretty small, and the wifi router is located in the same vicinity as the console. Also, my lower floor is also like a cellar that has the water heater and plumbing going through it, which could cause issues (based on what we know about water). Given the possible interference, I'm not surprised by the limitations, but now that I've done further tests I feel better about the technology since it does seem to work, even in my house, under the right conditions.
Pretty neat. My house is two floors but is pretty small, and the wifi router is located in the same vicinity as the console. Also, my lower floor is also like a cellar that has the water heater and plumbing going through it, which could cause issues (based on what we know about water). Given the possible interference, I'm not surprised by the limitations, but now that I've done further tests I feel better about the technology since it does seem to work, even in my house, under the right conditions.
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