I am looking for recommendations on how to better broadcast WiFi throughout my house. I also want to have good coverage in my new detached garage. I’m clueless on how best to proceed. Please provide your usual brilliant insight!
I am looking for recommendations on how to better broadcast WiFi throughout my house. I also want to have good coverage in my new detached garage. I’m clueless on how best to proceed. Please provide your usual brilliant insight!
Much depends on how the house / garage is constructed. Some buildings just don't lend themselves to a single access point.
I helped one of our friends with this exact problem a few weeks ago. Theirs is an old home that has been added onto several times. Couldn't get signal from up to down stairs or from one end of the building to the other - metal, multiple walls, etc. blocked the signal. Figured out wiring paths and installed two additional APs. I used TP-Link AC1750s - came with POE injectors so only had to worry about power near the router where I connected the CAT5. Both APs are managed through TP-Link's free software package (only available for Windows, though).
Their wireless connection speed is way better than their Internet speed and they can now stream anywhere in the house.
Not how I would have done it when I was working, but works well for in this application.
How are you with running network cable?
if you can run a Network cable out to the garage, you can add a wireless access point.
Need more connectivity upstairs? Run a cable upstairs and add another Wireless AP.
you may need to update your primary router to increase processing power and options, but ultimately sometimes having the signal closer and stronger to your devices is what is needed.
Hit up Google or Amazon for highly rated Wireless AP’s, buy how many you need along with enough Cat 6 network cable to run between them and the primary router and go have a fun weekend running cable!
it goes without saying, that getting as many devices off of wireless, the better for overall throughput, so if you’re running cable, adding a few drops to rooms where you have devices that can use them will help quite a bit.
Agreed on the wiring where you can - in my case, any streaming device (game console / TV / etc) is best served hardwired if you can do it.
At this point, I'm haveing excellent results with the Ubiquiti Pro gear. It's priced in the range of SoHo commercial gear, but quality & function is mighty close to commercial enterprise stuff.
i have one of these and 3 mesh points. Works great and I now get good wifi on all 3 levels of my home plus it reaches out to the dock.
Wire > Wireless
Figure on wireless to cover 20 or 30 feet radius and penetrate one wall. If you want wireless coverage beyond that, run wire and install another access point.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Not true. It seems like you are confusing wifi and bluetooth.
I used two of the TP-link access points and it covers most of a 6400sf house. One room doesn’t get good signal.
If I had it to do again, I would use Ubiquiti stuff. Their stuff is really good.
Thanks folks. I’m going to research the options listed. I do have some wiring available but the house was built in 1937 and the walls are block. Beyond my capabilities, for sure!
In reply to T.J. :
Funny guy.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
It really depends on how your house is built. Parts of my house are wood frame with drywall and in those parts, WiFi will reach through several walls and has a pretty significant range. Other parts of my house are masonry with concrete structural floor and plaster and metal lathe ceilings and walls and that gets about 1 room over and it needs a nap.
Outside the range is hundreds of feet, but that's not really important.
But a regular modern (post-1970?) house of significant size can be covered adequately with two access points as long as they're well placed. A small house can be covered with one just fine.
In reply to dculberson :
I can agree with that. I've found that stated ranges are very much exaggerated, and real-world performance rarely lives up to advertised performance. Also, there's a difference between casual use (say using an ipad to play a game) and large file transfers (like having a PS4 download game updates). For the latter, I've found that only ethernet (wired) connections give acceptable performance. It may be that some proponents of wifi are far more patient than am I.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I totally agree with you that wired beats wifi. That is why my PS4 and sim rig live in the garage instead of an air conditioned space.
I've been reading up on the Amplifi HD mesh router. My goal is to set up 2 separate wireless networks - one for my family and another for the new apartment we have that is attached to my detached garage. The cable company was out recently and verified my speed from the pole outside. It's super fast. So my thinking is that I have one Amplifi attached to my cable modem in my house and the other Amplifi out in the garage, attached to the cable modem via wire. Is that the right way to acheive what I'm attempting to do?
Looking at this guy: https://store.amplifi.com/products/amplifi-mesh-router
You'll need to log in to post.
