In my case it wasn't the range but rather the fact that sometimes 20 devices are fine with the access point but one is picky. I have all kinds of smart devices (IoT a.k.a. Internet of hackable/hacked Things like smart scale, CO sensor, temperature sensor, cameras) tablets, phones, laptops. The picky one was my wife's university issued laptop, it runs Windows managed by IT so I couldn't mess with it but she had unbearable 2-3Mbps speed sitting ~3 yards from the access point. During COVID she teaches online so I had to solve that. I ended up buying a UTP cable and I wired it to her desk. Although the direct distance is 3 yards, I did it nice leading it up to the ceiling, it requires several turns, over two walkways, so ended up using a 50ft cable. But there's nothing better than a UTP cable.
So my advice is if your office is an outlier in the basement and nothing else has problem, wire a 100ft (or however long) UTP or STP cable to there and I guarantee you it'll be such a relief! My problem now is that my AP (I need only one, small apt) is an aging Linksys WRT3200 ACM with OpenWRT/LEDE firmware. I bought it used many years ago and I was flashing it bi-weekly with fortified firmware by Davidc502 https://dc502wrt.org/. I had some run ins in 2019 when the bandwidth degraded and I had to roll back (although thinking back the biggest complaint was my wife's laptop at that time as well), then I got more cautious. Then there were some breaking changes in OpenWRT which I didn't risk during the pandemic). I still think the fortification is way better than most of the factory firmware. However I don't want to be stuck forever and the AP could also give up, so I wonder what AP should I buy which is the best for open firmware like OpenWRT/LEDE or similar. On Wed, Jan 13, 2021, 8:03 AM 'Michael Chaney' via NLUG < [email protected]> wrote: > Thanks, guys, I really appreciate these responses. Looks like I'll have > to get a POE switch and put some pucks around the house. > > On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 9:20 AM Tilghman Lesher <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> I'll add my voice to the Unifi/Ubiquiti ranks. I have two UAP-AC-Pro >> devices that I use on extreme opposite ends of the house, but the main >> unit is a UAP-AC-Lite, which is likely sufficient for each zone. I >> really like that that central controller unifies the configuration of >> all devices. I can even turn off or on specific SSIDs on specific >> devices. >> >> On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 8:15 AM Brian H. Ward <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > >> > I also went w/ Ubiquity/Unifi, but not quite as over-the-top as Josh. I >> have two access points (UDM Pro) at the north and south ends of the house >> on the first floor. That gets me solid coverage on the second floor and the >> basement (as well as the first floor). They are powered (and connected) via >> Netgear 8-port POE switch that I picked up on Amazon. I added the Unifi >> controller software, but I'm running it on a RPi4 (it's a java app, running >> on openjdk-8), so I'm not using any other (than the APs) Unifi hardware. I >> still have my cable-modem acting as the nat gateway/router, currently -- >> plans exist to replace that modem and dual home the RPi so it can act as >> router/firewall for the house. >> > >> > >> > On Tue, Jan 12, 2021 at 11:27 PM Josh Lefler <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> I have gone to a completely unifi setup. It has a bit of a learning >> curve, but it lets you manage as many switches, access points, etc. as you >> want from one controller interface. My current setup consists of one UDM >> Pro, 6 access points of various types, and a few of their switches. It is >> absolutely overkill for my house, but I have rock solid 5 Ghz wifi in every >> square inch of every room in a pretty crowded RF environment. All of the >> access points are powered by PoE so it looks pretty clean. It is expensive, >> but it's worth considering if you enjoy tinkering with networking stuff. I >> will say that it is an all or nothing proposition. You only get the benefit >> of the "single pane of glass" and automatic cooperation between the various >> components if everything is Unifi. As soon as you add a non-unifi switch, >> you start seeing anomalies because Unifi doesn't know how to handle it. >> >> >> >> I should note that unifi made news today because of a security breach >> on their corporate side. I think most (if not all) of the major networking >> players have had breaches so I'm not sure that changes anything, but FYI. >> >> >> >> Josh. >> >> >> >> On Tue, Jan 12, 2021 at 9:59 PM 'Michael Chaney' via NLUG < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> >> >>> I have a confession to make - I haven't been paying attention to wifi >> in the last 15 years. I typically wait until it's too slow then go buy >> what seems like the high end of whatever netgear is on sale at best buy. >> That has served me well for some years now. I now have a netgear R8500. I >> don't remember how old it is but it's somewhat recent. >> >>> >> >>> My house is a rectangle that is 34' front to back and 76' side to >> side. It's basically a ranch home with a bonus area upstairs and a full >> basement below. The exact geographic center of the house is in a hallway, >> but there's a coat closet just a few feet away from it. I have my cable >> modem and wireless router mounted in the closet near the top of the closet. >> >>> >> >>> My office is in the corner of the basement as far from the router as >> I can be - not because I want to be far away but because this is the >> perfect office space. My wifi mostly works, but with the kids home from >> university over the break I find my computer getting kicked off wifi a few >> times each day. When that happens it generally won't find the router >> automatically again so I have to enter the ssid and password again. When >> connected I get full signal strength. >> >>> >> >>> Looking now, there are 18 wireless devices connected to the wifi and >> another one or two that are probably just turned off. When my other kid is >> home there are two or three more devices connected to the wifi. I've >> noticed that when he's here I get kicked off more often. The router also >> loses its wifi ability every couple of weeks when the kids are both here >> causing me to have to reboot it to gain access again. >> >>> >> >>> What are my options if I want better coverage on all three levels of >> the house and all corners of the basement? >> >>> >> >>> It seems I likely need a couple of routers that play nice with each >> other. I don't want to get some sort of repeater that will simply halve my >> bandwidth and rebroadcast packets up the line. I have a second wiring >> closet upstairs with a switch and cat6 running to it. I plan on adding >> another such setup in the basement. The point is that if I have multiple >> wireless routers I'd prefer to be able to run cat6 to all of them so that >> the packets never hit more than a single wireless router before going on >> the wire. >> >>> >> >>> Suggestions are appreciated. >> >>> >> >>> Thanks, >> >>> Michael >> >>> -- >> >>> Michael Darrin Chaney, Sr. >> >>> [email protected] >> >>> http://www.michaelchaney.com/ >> >>> >> >>> -- >> >>> -- >> >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "NLUG" group. >> >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> >>> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en >> >>> >> >>> --- >> >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "NLUG" group. >> >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >> send an email to [email protected]. >> >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/CAAtfUtEXH%3DJEKPGRVRkpfKrkexZ_csMG_QZC7XUq0fYUq1CsWQ%40mail.gmail.com >> . >> >> >> >> -- >> >> -- >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "NLUG" group. >> >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en >> >> >> >> --- >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "NLUG" group. >> >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >> an email to [email protected]. >> >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/CACxE-hOszodYwNy-JeSBirc7ZvX66a6Z2cgTMwVBXVd5oyyz-w%40mail.gmail.com >> . >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > "Humanity will not be free until the last stone of the last church >> falls on the head of last priest" -- The Emperor of Mankind, Warhammer >> 40,000 >> > >> > -- >> > -- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "NLUG" group. >> > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> > For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en >> > >> > --- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "NLUG" group. >> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >> an email to [email protected]. >> > To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/CAO-TQAjv4M2%2Br9HYJwZBsY80ctCTKfTJHiy2xNDDvmWOC6t6QA%40mail.gmail.com >> . >> >> >> >> -- >> Tilghman >> >> -- >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "NLUG" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en >> >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "NLUG" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/CAHPkZcWeg2P59xSH_kcJn9pDBO6Bk%2BV84JBXMQU7mDODnzEeQQ%40mail.gmail.com >> . >> > > > -- > Michael Darrin Chaney, Sr. > [email protected] > http://www.michaelchaney.com/ > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "NLUG" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "NLUG" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/CAAtfUtGKWtDMVGWPjuK8-vLy1cTb_WNBzh6F%2B36ZCjnVicSM6A%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/CAAtfUtGKWtDMVGWPjuK8-vLy1cTb_WNBzh6F%2B36ZCjnVicSM6A%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NLUG" group. 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