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Wireless suggestions for a big house?
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Ant
Aug 27, 2012, 10:00:03 AM8/27/12
to
Hi!
I need some suggestions/consultations on settuping wireless for a big
one floor (but on a giant slope hill as if it had two floors) house.
About 88 feet seems to be the longest distance from a small room with
the new cable modem. This is based on Google Maps' aerial shot with its
ruler:
http://zimage.com/~ant/temp/88ftLongestDistanceFromACableModemRoom.jpg
(right side/east is a huge hill with trees; green pin is where the cable
modem is).
Building Information:
Ground Level Entry (No Steps)
Stucco Exterior
Concrete Tile Roof
Cathedral-Vaulted Ceilings
Full copper plumbing
3,900 feet
Built in 1984
6 rooms (4 bedrooms and bathrooms)
Split-level and contemporary style
Just for kicks, I tried an old 15" MacBook Pro and a Linksys WR54GL
wireless router (both were from late 2008) in it. Here are the wireless
results:
Kitchen's tables next to windows = 2-5 bars
Downstair/Lower Elevation Family/Living Room:
Couches and table = 1-2 bars ; laggy when ssh to an outside server; a
few packet losses to router.
Behind the bar counter = 0 to 2 bars
Room Near Kitchen and Garage = 3-4 bars
Garage = 4 bars
All other rooms look good/high.
So it looks like they will need a network cable/repeater/something to
the downstair area if using an old Linksys WRT54GL router. However, the
folks did not want network cables in the walls, attic, etc. so it would
have to be wireless, coax cables (over the air (OTA) and cable services
are already using them though), or power cables (already crowded on the
outlets with strips).
Are there any strong/better wireless routers that can reach farther and
be stable/stronger? If not, then which wireless routers can do it? It
would be nice to have third party firmware options like Linksys WRT54GL
routers. Would a reflector for the antenna(s/e) help instead?
Thank you in advance. :)
--
"I got this aunt... Carpenter ant." --Girl and Crow
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.
I need some suggestions/consultations on settuping wireless for a big
one floor (but on a giant slope hill as if it had two floors) house.
About 88 feet seems to be the longest distance from a small room with
the new cable modem. This is based on Google Maps' aerial shot with its
ruler:
http://zimage.com/~ant/temp/88ftLongestDistanceFromACableModemRoom.jpg
(right side/east is a huge hill with trees; green pin is where the cable
modem is).
Building Information:
Ground Level Entry (No Steps)
Stucco Exterior
Concrete Tile Roof
Cathedral-Vaulted Ceilings
Full copper plumbing
3,900 feet
Built in 1984
6 rooms (4 bedrooms and bathrooms)
Split-level and contemporary style
Just for kicks, I tried an old 15" MacBook Pro and a Linksys WR54GL
wireless router (both were from late 2008) in it. Here are the wireless
results:
Kitchen's tables next to windows = 2-5 bars
Downstair/Lower Elevation Family/Living Room:
Couches and table = 1-2 bars ; laggy when ssh to an outside server; a
few packet losses to router.
Behind the bar counter = 0 to 2 bars
Room Near Kitchen and Garage = 3-4 bars
Garage = 4 bars
All other rooms look good/high.
So it looks like they will need a network cable/repeater/something to
the downstair area if using an old Linksys WRT54GL router. However, the
folks did not want network cables in the walls, attic, etc. so it would
have to be wireless, coax cables (over the air (OTA) and cable services
are already using them though), or power cables (already crowded on the
outlets with strips).
Are there any strong/better wireless routers that can reach farther and
be stable/stronger? If not, then which wireless routers can do it? It
would be nice to have third party firmware options like Linksys WRT54GL
routers. Would a reflector for the antenna(s/e) help instead?
Thank you in advance. :)
--
"I got this aunt... Carpenter ant." --Girl and Crow
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.
cg_chas
Sep 3, 2012, 1:47:16 AM9/3/12
to
get a weaker signal. So the higher the placement in the house the better.
If the router is on the top floor, the lower levels seem to do fine.
Hope that helps.
Ant
Sep 3, 2012, 8:10:00 PM9/3/12
to
Just a follow-up.
I finally have it up with its latest firmware in the same location/place
as of last Friday. Surprisingly, it worked better than my old Linksys
WRT54GL router's wireless even in the far away lowerlevel
family/living/den room. It's not perfect, but it worked and speeds were
decent. A few packet losses here and there, but not bad like the old
router. Even watching a 720p YouTube video seems to do well.
However, it has to be on 2.4 Ghz and not 5 Ghz (didn't know you can have
both running at the same time -- now I know why it is called dual band).
5 Ghz wasn't strong enough for closer distance rooms too (worse than
Linksys WRT54 GL's!).
It doesn't look like the unopened Netgear's universal dual band wifi
range extender 4-port wifi adapter is needed now (will return it near
its 30 days return).
Also, nice GUI. All fancy now. Lots of features (no time to try them
too). I wonder how Linksys' newer routers are now. I used to use Netgear
RT311 that didn't have many features. I used use its telnet (preferred
over web GUI).
On 8/27/2012 7:00 AM PT, Ant typed:
"Maybe it's like an ant hive..." "Bees man, bees have hives." "You know
what I mean. It's like one female that runs the whole show." "Yes, the
queen." "Yeah the mamma. She is bad*ss, man. I mean big." "These things
ain't ants estupido." "I know that." --Aliens movie
I finally have it up with its latest firmware in the same location/place
as of last Friday. Surprisingly, it worked better than my old Linksys
WRT54GL router's wireless even in the far away lowerlevel
family/living/den room. It's not perfect, but it worked and speeds were
decent. A few packet losses here and there, but not bad like the old
router. Even watching a 720p YouTube video seems to do well.
However, it has to be on 2.4 Ghz and not 5 Ghz (didn't know you can have
both running at the same time -- now I know why it is called dual band).
5 Ghz wasn't strong enough for closer distance rooms too (worse than
Linksys WRT54 GL's!).
It doesn't look like the unopened Netgear's universal dual band wifi
range extender 4-port wifi adapter is needed now (will return it near
its 30 days return).
Also, nice GUI. All fancy now. Lots of features (no time to try them
too). I wonder how Linksys' newer routers are now. I used to use Netgear
RT311 that didn't have many features. I used use its telnet (preferred
over web GUI).
On 8/27/2012 7:00 AM PT, Ant typed:
what I mean. It's like one female that runs the whole show." "Yes, the
queen." "Yeah the mamma. She is bad*ss, man. I mean big." "These things
ain't ants estupido." "I know that." --Aliens movie
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
A song is/was playing on this computer: Kid's Party Central - The Locomotion
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
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