Today I want to share with you how I fixed the home WiFi blues of a neighbor & friend.
To begin...
They built their home 15 years ago and have the typical useless wire closet that the builders love to charge you to install.
This one was no different.
Added to that, the local internet provider did their usual "WiFi router in a closet" trick.
As seen below, the wireless router/modem is in this upstairs closet and basically as ineffective as possible in providing a decent WiFi signal to anywhere but the room it is in.
The downstairs and the back patio have next to no signal.
A WiFi extender was tried, but failed to meet the need of streaming video on two TV's.
BEFORE
BEFORE
Thankfully, this closet is located on the second floor and access to the attic
is a key benefit for adding some major improvements.
is a key benefit for adding some major improvements.
The goals were simple.
- Get solid WiFi coverage in the house and back patio
- Add two new outlets for wired connections in the upstairs game & guest rooms.
There were some secondary goals as well.
- Add a wired connection to the garage & add an AP there
- Add a home NAS (network attached storage) to create a home cloud.
- Create separate 2G & 5G network names to better manage devices
- Create a guest login for the WiFi
How do we get there?
First, I went to work pulling some new cables.
I needed to run two external Cat6 cables - one to the patio and one to the garage.
Then I ran inside Cat5e cables (to match existing cables in house) to feed the gameroom and the AP that would be installed in the upstairs hallway.
In the interest of full transparency, pulling wires in an existing home means opening access holes to drill thru ceiling headers.
In the interest of full transparency, pulling wires in an existing home means opening access holes to drill thru ceiling headers.
Next, I terminated the ends of the cables and tested them.
Once we had all the cables in place, I could move on to installing the AP's (Access Points)
For this job, I used two models.
Click the links for more details.
Click the links for more details.
Both of these are latest generation of 2G/5G 4x4 MU-MIMO technology.
These units receive both power and data from a POE switch
And to bring it all together, I disabled the ISP's WiFi router (bridge mode) and provided a dedicated gateway that complements the AP's and provides router/firewall functions.
And to ensure these devices are protected from our crazy power, I made sure they are powered by a UPS.
Never rely on a power strip or extension cord to protect your hardware!
Here's a view of the upgraded closet with the hardware above:
Some additional tweaks are being discussed to decide if we
notch the box to allow clean flow of network cables.
AFTER
The AP's that were mentioned were located in 4 locations:
Garage & Upstairs Hallway
Kitchen & Patio
In this case, the NAS device by Qnap is also running the Unifi controller software.
This software is free and manages the network just like the big name enterprise systems.
Using an app on my phone, I can monitor the network
or the homeowner can log into a full dashboard at home.
or the homeowner can log into a full dashboard at home.
Below is a screenshot of the devices cited above:
Outcome
There was great success of the goals of building a better network.
As part of my ongoing service, we can continue to fine tune any future issues as they arise.
Additionally, I can continue to add value by making sure firmware updates stay current.
Contact Me!
Use my convenience WEB FORM to contact me to discuss your upgrade!
Or email me >> rob@blomstrom.tech
If you are building new, let's build a plan right now so I can come in before the walls are up!
