Need to boost your WiFi signal? GaN might do it...

[DonH56]

My media room in the basement is blocked by two floors and central ductwork from my office router two floor above on the opposite side of the house. I added a range extender but it is a PITA, seems to lose connection fairly often and I have to go around and reset everything.

Maybe something like this would provide enough power for my 5.4 GHz router to reach the basement, eh? https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/s...da|9938I0589789A1T&oly_enc_id=9938I0589789A1T

 

[BDWoody]

Maybe something like this would provide enough power for my 5.4 GHz router to reach the basement, eh? https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/systems/article/21136383/cband-amp-delivers-90-kw-with-liquidcooled-gan-output-devices?utm_source=RF+MWRF+Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200708031&o_eid=9938I0589789A1T&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|9938I0589789A1T&oly_enc_id=9938I0589789A1T

up to 16 hot-swappable 2U amplifier drawers, with each amplifier drawer containing an integrated power supply in its 2U chassis.

Whew...that's a relief. Now you can add what you need to get a nice signal across the estate.

Very practical...nice find.

 

[fitero]

Have somebody retrofit a Cat6 cable from your router location to an area in the basement and install a Luxul WAP. This is how to correct this issue.

You might have some small sheetrock patching to do afterword, or some small blank plates in a couple of areas, but it can be done.

 

[jae]

Try a powerline adapter?

 

[DonH56]

Have somebody retrofit a Cat6 cable from your router location to an area in the basement and install a Luxul WAP. This is how to correct this issue.

You might have some small sheetrock patching to do afterword, or some small blank plates in a couple of areas, but it can be done.

Looked into that but two electricians said it wasn't practical. There are fire stops between floors so fishing cable is not easy and going from the top floor, through the first, and on into the basement wasn't feasible. One did propose routing conduit outside and down but we decided against that. I tried powerline adapters but those don't work either -- separate service for the basement. You can buy bridging caps to try but there are code issues and such. My next plan was to try a mesh system but since I don't stream stuff via wifi it's not enough of an issue to justify the expense just yet (I upgraded my router a couple of years ago to an AC/N model, not willing to pay the $$$ to do it again right now).

 

[Blumlein 88]

A mesh network would fix your problem. Or running some cat6. But I assume you were joking anyway.

 

[DonH56]

A mesh network would fix your problem. Or running some cat6. But I assume you were joking anyway.

Crossing emails... Not joking about the problem, but a 90 kW C-band amp is probably not the best solution.

A mesh network is on my radar (no pun intended). We debated about pre-wiring Ethernet throughout the house, but were strapped for cash at the time, did not know exactly where we would need it, and did not finish the basement then. Some rooms got repurposed over the years so when we finally did finish the basement wifi access to the media room was (is) very poor. It works, mostly, with the range extender, but not all SW works behind a range extender and we have fairly frequent power glitches. Sometimes the whole network comes back, sometimes it doesn't, and since my notebook will link to the main router but the media room bridge thingie will not, it sometimes takes me a while to notice it has dropped. It used to be only when I tried to update my Oppo, TV, or AVP FW which was fairly rare, but the SDP-75 is on it now and I VNC to it regularly. When I can.

 

[Blumlein 88]

If you don't need super speed, a couple 900 MHz devices at each end might well work. Ubiquiti makes a couple devices like that. So do others, but they are not cheap.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Another thought. A couple similar instances I ran the cat6 in the ductwork. Depends on the ductwork as to whether or not that's feasible.

 

[DonH56]

Thought about that (900 MHz) too but did not pursue. Might look again. I did lock the media room bridge to the "low" band (2-something GHz) and that helped a little. It is pretty stable so long as the range extender stays up. Using the 5 GHz band dropouts were a problem. If we ever start streaming video and not just audio I'll have to come up with a solution. One of our neighbors got weather-hardened Cat5e cable and strung it from their main floor outside to the basement but the squirrels or something kept chewing it up. He was going to rerun in conduit but don't think he ever got around to it.

When we redid the basement I asked about routing through the ducts and again "they" said it would not be practical to try. If it had been on the first floor it would have been easy. The BIG mistake I made was, when we finished the basement, I did not have them run a line to the first floor someplace so I could have jury-rigged something. I did have them run an Ethernet cable from the media room to our mech room with the idea of somehow, sometime, dropping a line in there. We may be looking at new siding and if that happens I'd ask them to run a line down.

 

[fitero]

The Ubiquiti devices can work well.

An electrician isn't the one to ask about retrofitting wiring. A low-voltage integration company has people who can get wiring to areas an electrician hasn't even dreamed of. I've done the same hundreds of times.

For example, this company deals with this type of work every day; https://listenup.com/

Getting a wire to a location is bullet-proof. Every other method is a compromise.

Last week, in a huge house, I ran a Cat6 up two floors, across the attic, down an outside wall with fire blocks, out into a covered walk-way and across to a BBQ area to install a WAP. 2 single-gang blank wall plates in discrete locations was all that was visible after I was done.

 

[Soniclife]

A mesh network would fix your problem. Or running some cat6. But I assume you were joking anyway.

+1
Assuming you have suitable points to chain them, you can work this out with laptops and phones easily enough.

 

[Blumlein 88]

If you have unused coax (from old cable or satellite TV) you can use MOCA units in some cases. They'll do near a gigabit. But you're getting costs close to what the mesh could be done for.

 

[Laserjock]

Try a powerline adapter?

This.

Would like to know if it injects any noise into the audio though. Any research into that?

 

[DonH56]

This.

Would like to know if it injects any noise into the audio though. Any research into that?

Separate service, did not work. Does work fine in a few other places in the house.

Didn't hear any noise, but maybe I should've waited for the "audiophile" version... I think I have an extra, I could send it to @amirm to test. Right after he flies to the sun to confirm that it really is hot and not just some theory by old dead physicists.

 

[Vasr]

I am surprised that there isn't a "room-eq" correction equivalent for WiFi coverage. Attach a router with "test-tones" at the most convenient location and then walk around with a detector taking signal strength measurements and then let it compute the best orientation of the antennas and the best location to place a repeater/mesh node. Right now, it is just a spray and pray mesh approach for whole house coverage, just like the old room-treatment techniques or just throwing subs all around.

 

[Laserjock]

Separate service, did not work. Does work fine in a few other places in the house.

Didn't hear any noise, but maybe I should've waited for the "audiophile" version... I think I have an extra, I could send it to @amirm to test. Right after he flies to the sun to confirm that it really is hot and not just some theory by old dead physicists.

My theory is it get’s hotter as you get closer.

not sure I can wait 38 years for the results

 

[DonH56]

I am surprised that there isn't a "room-eq" correction equivalent for WiFi coverage. Attach a router with "test-tones" at the most convenient location and then walk around with a detector taking signal strength measurements and then let it compute the best orientation of the antennas and the best location to place a repeater/mesh node. Right now, it is just a spray and pray mesh approach for whole house coverage, just like the old room-treatment techniques or just throwing subs all around.

Many router apps include a signal level readout you can use to adjust antennae positions. But, it is a PITA when the receiver is in the basement and router upstairs -- have to run and up down tweaking both Rx and Tx sides. More vexing is that after a FW update sometime last year the little signal-strength indicator went away making even that impossible. Our cell phones do WiFI so you'd think there'd be a signal strength app -- probably is, I have not looked.

 

[DonH56]

The Ubiquiti devices can work well.

An electrician isn't the one to ask about retrofitting wiring. A low-voltage integration company has people who can get wiring to areas an electrician hasn't even dreamed of. I've done the same hundreds of times.

For example, this company deals with this type of work every day; https://listenup.com/

Getting a wire to a location is bullet-proof. Every other method is a compromise.

Last week, in a huge house, I ran a Cat6 up two floors, across the attic, down an outside wall with fire blocks, out into a covered walk-way and across to a BBQ area to install a WAP. 2 single-gang blank wall plates in discrete locations was all that was visible after I was done.

For other reasons I will not give business to ListenUp unless I really have to. I already mentioned the issues with running the wires; I could do something, but with my workweek and other demands just not worth it, and I don't have the tools for it anymore (like the ladder to reach outside the office some 30' above the ground). Plus I am looking for a whole-house solution and would have to run at least a couple of wires around.

 

[Vasr]

Many router apps include a signal level readout you can use to adjust antennae positions. But, it is a PITA when the receiver is in the basement and router upstairs -- have to run and up down tweaking both Rx and Tx sides. More vexing is that after a FW update sometime last year the little signal-strength indicator went away making even that impossible. Our cell phones do WiFI so you'd think there'd be a signal strength app -- probably is, I have not looked.

You can find ways to measure signal strength on PC or mobile but the missing piece is what to do with that read out. I don't have a clue how and where I should even move the antennas to get better coverage. And they keep putting more and more antennas. Just random hit or miss changes to try and like you said run back to where you had poor signal and measure again. Forget about people who don't understand the interfaces enough to know what rx and tx values mean.

This is nuts for something you depend on and is critical for more than your music (and these days for music as well). For which you spends enormous amounts of money to get that room resonances taken care of.