Wifi suggestions for thick walls, huge house?

[TechLady]

I need a wireless solution for a big house with insanely thick walls. Residential, definitely not poor, but budget around $200 or so tops. Three stories. Current router is a basic antennaless Linksys on top floor in corner of house, and I don't think that location can be changed. They had this thing all custom built and never bothered to have ethernet built in...

Simple is a plus. I don't have a lot of experience with repeaters/extenders, and I can't set up something complicated that will get messed up easily. I just don't have time to support it.

 

[AndyM]

I have a client who lives in an old rectory. Again, massive house, with thick walls. Set them up with some Devolo units. Works really well. Not sure of U.S. prices. Easy to add other adaptors at a later stage though. Warranty second to none - 5 years on some units, 3 years on the others.

http://www.devolo.com

Andy

 

[Vicenarian]

Maybe a main router (higher end Linksys), and then a powerline wireless access point to the lower floor?

 

[CLC]

I need a wireless solution for a big house with insanely thick walls. Residential, definitely not poor, but budget around $200 or so tops. Three stories. Current router is a basic antennaless Linksys on top floor in corner of house, and I don't think that location can be changed. They had this thing all custom built and never bothered to have ethernet built in...

Simple is a plus. I don't have a lot of experience with repeaters/extenders, and I can't set up something complicated that will get messed up easily. I just don't have time to support it.

These would fit your budget and they seem to have good range with the external antenna, I've used them and they are easy to set up. I have some going through 3 walls at over 60 feet apart. One on each floor centrally located should get the job done, may be able to get by with 2. Top floor and bottom floor with antennas facing each other.

http://www.open-mesh.com/products/access-points/om2p.html

 

[Markverhyden]

Ubiquity picostation's are probably the lowest cost quality AP out there. But I would first make a heat map of the location. Save you a lot of time and head aches.

The link below is a great little tutorial.

http://www.howtogeek.com/165614/how...nalysis-better-coverage-and-geek-cred-galore/

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Higher quantity of low power APs evenly distributed around the home. lack of network runs...turn to ethernet over powerline or moca to spread the network...with minimal repeating.

 

[TechLady]

Thanks you so much all...very good suggestions. I actually brought up the idea of doing a heatmap to the client tonight, by way of asking if he had any floorplans, and he was (cough)...less than receptive. Just "PUT TEH INTERWEBS IN THE ROOMZ THAT DON'T HAVE ANY!" said he. Like, why would you need to do whatever that other thing is?

I wish I could throw up a quick sketch of how this house is laid out but I couldn't even begin to. To my middle-class sensibilities it seems like a Oaxacan Winchester Mystery House* with all the different levels and nooks and everything.

Anyway, great suggestions, thank you. Some kind of repeater is probably unavoidable. Is the general consensus that I should get a different router with antennas, then? To deliver more to said repeater(s)?

*What fun to wire this place...

 

[Moltuae]

Is the general consensus that I should get a different router with antennas, then? To deliver more to said repeater(s)?

If you mean to do wireless-to-wireless repeating, then no; reliability will be poor. As Stonecat mentioned, powerline units; they're your best option, given the budget and lack of Ethernet cabling.



Something like this:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=2244&model=TL-WPA4226T+KIT

 

[frederick]

Agreed with the powerline adapter. Newer homes fair better than older ones with these, though I've seen some newer homes just crash and burn with this as well but it all goes back to the wiring.

Older homes typically have older wiring, and therefore just not carrying the signal very well. Newer homes that are custom built, not necessarily poorly built, but it is built in zones where the signal isn't able to go from one floor to the next because of how the power is distributed. Or in the case of my house, never hit the 3rd light switch in the kitchen....for the love of god don't. It kills power to my master bedroom on the other side of the house...yeah, figure out how that one works

 

[Martyn]

I agree, the Powerline adaptors are great when they work. I do service lot of villages with old houses and wiring. I carry a couple of powerline adaptors with me and test the speed to see if they work in that location. I usually connect one to the router and the other where the want the Internet and do a Speedtest at both locations. Normally you find them the same but occasionally you will find a big difference. From there you can connect another wireless router. Configure it non wan, non dhcp, fixed IP address in main scope, same ssid and different wireless channel. So separate the channels 1, 6 or 11

 

[TechLady]

Ok, I will try to steer them to powerline. (Although I seem to remember I tried that once a long time ago there with mixed results...). They seem to really want the wifi because of all the mobile devices but I will do an audit of what they actually have. Powerline equipment recommendations?

 

[Moltuae]

Ok, I will try to steer them to powerline. (Although I seem to remember I tried that once a long time ago there with mixed results...).

How long ago? Early powerline units were slow and unrelaible. The later technology is much better.

They seem to really want the wifi because of all the mobile devices but I will do an audit of what they actually have. Powerline equipment recommendations?

The link I posted are for powerline WiFi units:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=2244&model=TL-WPA4226T+KIT

They're essentially powerline WAPs. But, unlike WiFi repeaters, you're not relying on daisy-chained wireless signals. As in the illustration I posted, you'll have a powerline unit at the router, effectively making the router's LAN port available throughout the property on the mains wiring, and as many powerline WAPs as you need, connecting to the router over the mains. Once you've configured the powerline WAPs, you can move them around the house to find the best coverage.

Before you buy any powerline units though, check that the mains sockets in the property are all on the same mains phase (ie single phase). Unless it's a VERY large house, it's unlikely to be 3 phase.

 

[frederick]

The 3-phase will kill you before you start. But I haven't had the luxury of seeing those in homes.

I've had good experiences with ZyXel, Trendnet, and Netgear. D-Link and TP-Link I've had a lot of hit and miss (they'll work for awhile and then quit). The main thing is that if you try with one brand and get nothing, and switch it out with another, chances are it's the wiring in the house and not the powerline adapter.

 

[rudger]

I Used to use home plug and a seperate Wireless AP's for signal boosting, but recently found these
Plugged one of these in with the customers router
Tenda P200
http://tenda.cn/tendacn/Product/show.aspx?productid=407

Then Connected these in or near rooms where they want wireless
Tenda PW201A (N300) wireless powerline adapters,
http://tenda.cn/tendacn/Product/show.aspx?productid=410

set the networks up as required and customers have been very happy with the results. but as others have said if they wiring is not much good or jumping circuits then your mileage may vary

 

[HFultzjr]

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HSQAIQU/ref=smi_www_rcolv2_go_smi?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true

Check them out. I have used them several times with NO issues.

Least expensive option I could come up with.

Harold

 

[Wheelie]

Attached is a schematic I have devised over the years from info I found online and through testing at client homes and businesses. It works very well for big homes and businesses. I have learned over the years that WiFi is weak, doesn't travel far, and every building is different. Some are easy and some are difficult.

If you want to hit 3 floors in a 8,000 sq ft (or larger) home or office here's your easy answer. I have daisy chained up to 5 devices this way. The nice thing about this design is your wireless devices (laptop, smart phone, or tablet) will switch effortlessly from AP to AP as you move throughout the building.

http://postimg.org/image/krt85r4cj/

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[Wheelie]

Here's a smaller version of the same schematic: http://postimg.org/image/o4hr555db/

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[Moltuae]

@Wheelie

Good illustration. That's the correct way to do it using routers, and how I did it myself for years. You should check out the powerline units I mentioned though with integrated WAPs, they provide the same solution except they're generally neater, cheaper and more reliable.

 

[Wheelie]

@Wheelie

Good illustration. That's the correct way to do it using routers, and how I did it myself for years. You should check out the powerline units I mentioned though with integrated WAPs, they provide the same solution except they're generally neater, cheaper and more reliable.

Thanks for that Moltuae. I did not catch that. The TL-WPA4226T is not available in the US so it looks like our version is the TP-LINK TL-WPA4220KIT so I will try this our for sure. I use the WNDR4500 router for the router/AP's because they have far superior range.

One question though: does this unit create a different SSID from the main router? Or is it like my configuration where the SSID's and wireless codes are identical (just on different channels).

BTW. I secretly hate Ethernet over power line adapters. They are very flaky, slow, and only go so far in building wiring length before they crap out. Running actual Ethernet cables is the winning combo but is RARELY feasible in finished homes and businesses. So a lot of my installations have powerline adapters. I just don't like them.

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[Moltuae]

I did not catch that. The TL-WPA4226T is not available in the US so it looks like our version is the TP-LINK TL-WPA4220KIT so I will try this our for sure. I use the WNDR4500 router for the router/AP's because they have far superior range.

Most powerline adaptor manufacturers make a similar unit now -- I really just mentioned that one as an example, and one which I have had personal experience with. There's lots of others to choose from, with varying ranges and speeds. Being such a compact, self-contained solution though, you can just add more wherever needed.

A couple more examples:
http://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/powerline/XWNB5201.aspx
http://www.trendnet.com/products/proddetail.asp?prod=150_TPL-410AP

One question though: does this unit create a different SSID from the main router? Or is it like my configuration where the SSID's and wireless codes are identical (just on different channels).

Exactly the same end result as the router solution, depending on how you configure them of course.

BTW. I secretly hate Ethernet over power line adapters. They are very flaky, slow, and only go so far in building wiring length before they crap out. Running actual Ethernet cables is the winning combo but is RARELY feasible in finished homes and businesses. So a lot of my installations have powerline adapters. I just don't like them.

I know what you mean. I'll ALWAYS recommend Ethernet cabling over powerline adapters, without exception. I have had a lot of success with them though, to be fair. Certainly the later units are FAR more reliable than the units of 2 or 3 years ago. My experience of the earlier units was that they were large, ugly bricks that worked most of the time but frequently lost the link and had to be power-cycled to regain connection. The later units are far better. As long as the mains wiring is good, they seem to keep working indefinitely, without any intervention.