scottbailey100@gmail.com
A heck of a Mesh we’re in!
Ok so I’ve written ad nauseam about the beloved radio signal and how it travels and I may even have mentioned “the bad boys of radio,” as defined by Alex Hills in his book. But now it’s time to solve the problem of having spotty Wi-Fi performance in part of your home or office.
Define the issue
Where are we having the breakdown in Wi-Fi service? Is it between floors or at one end of the house? What is in between your Wi-Fi router and the area where we get the “less than optimal” service? How many walls? (A sheet rock wall with no wallpaper will degrade your signal by about 3 dBm.) This is not enough in itself to cause a major breakdown in coverage. However, if we cover that wall with a metallic wallpaper the radio waves can be reflected and not penetrate straight through the walls. Further, if we start adding more walls and more distance the signal will be degraded and at some point it may drop below the -70 dBm we need for reliable internet connectivity. Add in some kitchen appliances or an elevator and we really begin to have a problem.
What’s up with the Mesh?
In the early days of Wi-Fi networks there was typically one copper (cat 6) wire connecting an access point back to the core of the network wherein the router would be located to connect to other resources such as the Internet. With the development of the first Campus Wide Wi-Fi network (at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg) there were spaces where it was not feasible to install a cable. The solution? A “mesh” network wherein the Wi-Fi signal is extended by another radio picking up the signal and repeating it to extend the range of usable wireless signal. These repeaters are also called Wi-fi Range Extenders. (Being an old cable jockey myself I love the reliability, security and performance of a piece of copper transmitting my signal but there are times when you just can’t get the wire where you want the performance.)
Wi-Fi to the rescue
There are many options to choose from to extend your Wi-Fi but one of the most convenient and better reviewed options is the TP-Link AC1750. It does not require any counter or table top space and you can plug it into an outlet. You can get it for about $100.00 and you can order one here.
https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Extender-Gigabit-Ethernet-RE450/dp/B010S6SG3S?ie=UTF8&ascsubtag=WC17848&linkCode=xm2&tag=thewire06-20
Location Location Location!
I once met the owner of a very successful business and a grand opening of his 14th store called “Party Town.” He told me he’d been poor three times and he’d been rich three times and there were three secrets to being successful in business. Location . . . Location . . . and Location. To be successful in correcting your Wi-Fi weakness you will need to implement the same strategy as “Mr. Party Town.” You will need to assess where your signal begins to degrade and place your range extender there. It will need a strong enough signal from the primary Router/Access Point to be able to pick up a clear signal and boost it to the location where you are suffering from the bad service. Hallways are good. They are normally in the center of a house and may minimize the reduction in dBm as there should be few walls to cause signal degradation.
Perfection Exists in the Great Reward
I need to take a moment to point out that like computers and other things if you use a wall plug type Wi-Fi extender you will on occasion need to “reboot” it by unplugging it from the wall and plugging it back in. The table top units are less prone to need to be power cycled so if it’s going to be a problem to reboot the unit here is a link to a pretty highly reviewed table top style competing unit.
The Linksys AC1200 is a little cheaper but has the down side of needing table top or counter space and an external power supply has to be plugged in somewhere.
Best of luck to you in your project!
Happy WiFiing!
Any Questions feel free to email me at scottbailey100@gmail.com.