Antenna challenge

[Letten]

Hi,

I'm having trouble covering our second floor with wireless signal. The router is placed in the center of the house near the ceiling on the first floor.

The construction seperating the floors, consist of wood and mineral wool and (my problem) a vapor barrier made of paper with aluminum coating.

I guess this aluminum foil is the reason why the signal doesn't penerate very well.

My question/idea: there is a 5 cm whole in the ceiling above the router (network cables comming through). If I bought a router with external antennas and placed it so that one of the antennas reaches into this whole - would that give better wifi on the second floor?

Would it impact signal strength on the first floor?

I know a second AP on the second floor would work, but I'm trying to save on energy, cables and "boxes" around the house

Cheers
Letten

 

[stevech]

to improve coverage, the best way is to add access point(s), aka APs. You can purchase a specific WiFi AP, or you can re-purpose an extra WiFi router to be an AP and disable it's use as a router. Existing router is unchanged.
There's a FAQ on how to do that here. Essentially...
Run cat5 cable from router to where AP goes. (or use Home Plug or MoCA instead of cat5)
Configure re-purposed router per FAQ: disable DHCP, setup WiFi SSID, channel, security, etc. If you have handheld devices on WiFi, you should setup a different SSID on the AP so the Handheld user can choose best connection.
Connect LAN port of "AP" to LAN port on router. Do not use WAN port of "AP".

 

[Letten]

Thanks,

I know how to setup an extra AP, but I want to avoid this.

 

[tipstir]

You can run Ethernet cable outside the house to the next level using a window to drop the cable down to the next floor. Is how I use to do where I had more than one level.

basement network closet (DHCP WNAP1)
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...0144382637949_579882948_6792172_2981903_n.jpg

1st floor home office (WNAP2)
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...0144382712949_579882948_6792173_1091857_n.jpg

2nd floor guest room (WNAP3)
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...0144382802949_579882948_6792174_1201483_n.jpg

Used was TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND WNAP
This one above using TP-LINK high-gain 5dBi SMA ANT = 15dBi (stock is 3dBi SMA ANT = 9dBi)

Again CAT5e ran out from old dryer vent up the side of the house over the roof beam into a window to create WNAP.

 

[thetoad30]

Hi,

I'm having trouble covering our second floor with wireless signal. The router is placed in the center of the house near the ceiling on the first floor.

The construction seperating the floors, consist of wood and mineral wool and (my problem) a vapor barrier made of paper with aluminum coating.

I guess this aluminum foil is the reason why the signal doesn't penerate very well.

Almost guaranteed to be the problem.

My question/idea: there is a 5 cm whole in the ceiling above the router (network cables comming through). If I bought a router with external antennas and placed it so that one of the antennas reaches into this whole - would that give better wifi on the second floor?

It might, but could be spotty. See below for the reason.

Would it impact signal strength on the first floor?

More than likely. Most routers are designed for the RF to be emitted using some kind of combination of the antennas that are on the device. You are basically taking a single antenna and segregating it from other traffic that it was meant to receive. The router is going to get confused.

It would be like putting one earphone in your right ear and playing music or an audiobook, and trying to have a conversation with the other ear listening to a person standing in front of you. Possible? Yes. Difficult? For me, at least.

I do know that there are plenty of alternatives, and even small routers that may do what you want. Maybe you could put two smaller APs (think smoke-detector-type APs) in the same area, and run one of their antennas into the ceiling?

Let me say this, though, if you go that route - you will spend more time with mediocre signal and more money for something that may work.

I usually don't like to advocate any of the other technologies like ethernet over cable (MoCA) or powerline networking, but Tim tests the devices here and as time has gone by I've started to at least see some improvement in the devices. He says they work - and I'm not going to disagree with him since he knows best - but I've always been a fan of either wireless working or go straight cable. He'll even agree that cable is the best (that is what ethernet was designed for). However, that being said, I have seen how MoCA can work, and DirecTV is using it for their multi-room viewing. It works, and it works better than wireless ever did. So I'm starting to open my mind and realize that these technologies are just coming into their own, much like wireless was back in 2000. I remember how horrible it was back then, but today is a whole different story.

If you have the ability to convert the ethernet to another media form such as coax or powerline, you might want to invest time in that first. I just don't see a wireless signal going through the floor at such a small area really worth your money or time. It just won't be that good.

They do have adapters that will convert wireless to powerline or MoCA (it just connects like a client/bridge) and has an adapter upstairs as well. It might be worth a shot, I don't know.

TL;DR - You could always try, but I suspect that you won't be satisfied for the amount you will spend on wireless for this application.

 

[tipstir]

Also you can do the old WiFi Interference check. Take old AM Radio and place it on a clear station near your WiFi AP. Then walk around the room and down to the lower area where your getting a drop. This was a method use to check for external Noise from Electronic Devices. It's cheap method to try. Might get too much noise where your at when you try it. If you find a quiet spot that's where you place your AP in that location.