whole house wifi?

Post by **Snelvuur** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:42 am

Ok,

So i want to place a wifi point on the first floor in the middle of the house. This should at least give me signal througout the complete house.

However, i did notice a big difference between a "simple" wifi router, and a more pro router. Short story, they differ. Since my router is on the ground floor i want to use a normal proper wifi access point.

My question, what to look for with wifi points? Is it the mw they send out? or the number of antenna's? Should i get a external antenna to make sure i get proper signal and if so what type?

If its possible i want one that can run dd-wrt firmwares on it so i can create my own landing page (people have to say "ok" on a website before they get access and time out after amoutn of time) this is so i can still have wifi open for everyone but no permanent person on it. (sort of speak)

At the moment thinking of:

Engenius Senao ECB-3500 wireless indoor 600mw accesspoint/bridge 11b/g
which also can do a dd-wrt image..

Any thoughts?

// Erik (binkey.nl)

Post by **Nielsy** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:14 pm

The senao are great, good stength of wifi... but also your clients must send back so a good wifi adaptor for your pc/laptop or other devices must also be strong.

Else you could use the WDS option in the senao, that works also great... ( with the same seneo ) so then you could but 2 seneo's with the same SSID's and WDS enabled. and they looking with AP is stronger for the client and they roaming when nessacery.

But I will first try 1...

Post by **jakkes** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 2:10 pm

The DDWRT also has an option for WDS.

I have one linksys WRT54G with the DDWRT firmware, this unit stands in the wiring closet on the first floor. (begane grond dus....)
The ceilings etc are concreet, i still have good signal on the attic.

Post by **Willem4ever** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 2:39 pm

You can start by doing a site survey, check out http://www.ekahau.com/products/heatmapper/overview.html

Post by **Snelvuur** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:22 pm

well i dont think my iphone has major power in there.. but if the antenna's of the senao are great, would that not increase it too?

// Erik (binkey.nl)

Post by **petermdevries** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:31 pm

I have a Senao ECB3220, but at this moment I am not very satisfied with it.

I do have full a full strength signal everywhere in my house, however as soon as I start to transfer data, the connection speed drops from 54Mbps to 1Mbps. This happens with different laptops. I have tried to change the channel, reposition the AP to other positions/floors in my house but all without success. I have also tried other access points at the same location which function without problems. The only thing I haven't tried yet is to use the Saneo on a complete other location. I am a little afraid that the Saneo AP interferes with my PlugWise network. Maybe because the Senao is more sensitive than "standard" access point. On the other hand it could also be a defect or something else as I haven't tested the Senao at another location outside my home.