My days of rent paying servitude are soon coming to an end and will be replaced with mortgage paying servitude. I'm sure I'll have questions about everything that can go wrong that hasn't been addressed by the 50+ page home inspection. But first, wifi.

We need more space and that space shall have wifi coverage, all 3,000 sq ft. Its an older home, built in the 1920s, when walls were poor insulators except where electromagnetic waves are concerned. I've heard some things about mesh wifi but have maintained a single wifi access point lifestyle until now.

What do you recommend?

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.....Apple Airport [ Extreme or Time Capsule ].....used can be had cheap.....they still work [ back when 'it just worked' ].....my Airports are going strong......so easy to set-up.......no mesh stockings to mess with......

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2019 02:43PM by NewtonMP2100.

There's a long thread over at Macintouch on mesh routers and WiFi extenders.

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Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.

Orbi with one catch, you need to disable automatic updates or risk getting your network trashed/reset to default by an automatic update. AC2200 RBK22 [www.costco.com]
$150 on sale till the 29th of this month.

Setup multiple access points (same SSID/PW, different channels) in the areas where you expect the most usage, connected via gigabit Ethernet.

Whos the provider?

If you can get the router on the second floor, near the middle of the house, you might be surprised that it actually works everywhere.

If you get a good installer person, they can advise.

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Congrats on the new-to-you house!

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Wood or masonry? You can imagine that one makes a big difference over the other. No specific suggestions, but one router works mostly ok in a 2000sf home on two floors. The furthest room does have some connection issues, but...

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Hurts like a bastid...

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mrbigstuff
Wood or masonry? You can imagine that one makes a big difference over the other. No specific suggestions, but one router works mostly ok in a 2000sf home on two floors. The furthest room does have some connection issues, but...

I would guess plaster lathe.

Mesh. I also recommend the Orbi.

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It is what it is.

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mikebw

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mrbigstuff
Wood or masonry? You can imagine that one makes a big difference over the other. No specific suggestions, but one router works mostly ok in a 2000sf home on two floors. The furthest room does have some connection issues, but...

I would guess plaster lathe.

With a chicken wire Faraday cage embedded in it.

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jdc
Whos the provider?
...

Internet Service Provide? what difference does that make? it could be FiOS, could be Cable, DSL or even telephone line behind the router. Or maybe he has no external WAN at all. Could be 100% LAN (I know, unlikely). he wants good WiFi, period. What is on the other side is not relevant to the question.

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GGD

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mikebw
I would guess plaster lathe.

With a chicken wire Faraday cage embedded in it.

Some internal walls have been redone since sheet rock came into existence, others are original. Thats exactly my concern.

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Matt,

If the house is anything like my parent's house, which was built in the 1930s, you're going to need the horsepower of a mesh network for success whole house wifi.

Costco often has deals on this model:

[www.costco.com]

I have one in my apartment (1450 sq ft) and my parents have the same model in their house (3000+sq ft) Wifi coverage and speed are non-issues now.

Save yourself the time and agita of buying routers and network boosters and such and just go for the mesh network kit from the start and be done with it.

'course, the obvious thing to do is to try your existing hardware first and see how well it works in the house. I'm betting you're going to have to get hardware with more horsepower.

Robert



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2019 06:01PM by Robert M.

oh but it does.

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

1920 house probably had horse hair and plaster over wood lathe, no metal.

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Hurts like a bastid...

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mrbigstuff
1920 house probably had horse hair and plaster over wood lathe, no metal.

maybe chicken wire? I bet he gets a good signal everywhere with just one router.

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Get year Orbi. I have the Rbk50 setup, works great.

I'd do some testing first to understand where the problem areas are, and what if any walls are RF barriers. If a laptop can't get a good signal from an access point on the other side of a wall, I don't see how a Mesh setup will be more successful. That's why I initially said connect access points via Ethernet, that gets full bandwidth into a room.

There's a WiFi scanning and signal strength tool built into OS X that can help understand this. Having a dual band 2GHz / 5GHz router might also help with walls.

[osxdaily.com]

Have you also checked your Cellular coverage in the house? That's on my checklist to do before even making an offer. Although if you can use the iOS WiFi calling option it helps solve that problem (once you solve the WiFi problem).

Congrats ! I do suggest a quick WiFi survey before you decide. Set a cell phone hotspot in the center of the house and walk around observing signal strength on WiFi with another device. That will help guide you to placement.

And definitely hang the devices up high. Your children will happily disassemble !

GGD,

It's a question of power. I have a Ring video doorbell. Its wifi connection was mediocre at best even with an Airport Express inside my home, directly opposite of the doorbell. The connection vastly improved once I switched to the Orbi and placed a satellite in the former location of the Airport Express. Prior to using the Airport Express and, eventually, the Orbi, I tried other methods and none of them cut it. The sheer power of the mesh configuration solved the issue.

The sheer power of the Orbi setup solved wifi signal issues in our apartment entirely. Previously, I had to use two different wifi networks and MoCa to get full coverage in the apartment. Replaced all of that with the Orbi system. BAse unit in the living room. Satellite in the foyer. Rock solid connections all around. Heck, I even had solid access from down the hall in the building and we're talking a pre-war building built in the 1930s which is known for royally disrupting wifi connections.

Robert

.....'member to rub the Orbi......the right way....

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!