Help with WiFi in extremely large clients house

[frumple]

I will be heading today to a clients house which is very large. We are talking roughly 10,000sq/ft. They are not happy with their WiFi coverage right now and would like to see it on multiple floors and outside. To make it a little more complex, this home is right on the ocean, so its built with hurricanes in mind. Solid concrete walls with rebar and all that.

The obvious answer to wifi the house in my mind is to run cable and attach access points, but this is undesirable and I would like to know if you guys have ideas that would not require being destructive to the house in any way. While I haven't talked to them about price, I would imagine its not going to be overwhelmingly a huge issue. (obvious reasons). I'm thinking high gain router with repeaters through the house...but I have never used these or know the effectiveness of them.

Any help is MUCH MUCH appreciated.

Edit : Should have said - "client's extremely large house" - I have no idea if the client is large or not.

 

[theevilsharpie]

The fastest and most reliable solution is to place access points at the necessary locations to ensure full coverage, and use a wired connection for their backhauls. Obviously, this will require cabling the access points, but if the client wants high reliability and performance, this is the way to go.

Repeaters might work if you can place the repeaters in a way that avoids obstacles that block the wireless transmission, but keep in mind that every repeater you place on the same wireless LAN cuts the bandwidth in half.

Depending on the layout of the home, you may be able to use a directional antenna to cover areas of the home that are simply out of range.

 

[Harvey]

What you want is one or more strategically placed wireless repeaters or access points. I don't have personal experience to recommend any particular make or model, but here's a list of D-Link models to give you an idea of the kind of device that should do what you want.

Hope that helps.

 

[theevilsharpie]

Just to add on to my previous post, if the client absolutely must have full performance, but is absolutely opposed to running cable throughout the house, you can use access points with dual radios as a full-speed repeater and access point.

Of cour$e, the$e acce$$ point$ are a little more expen$ive

 

[shortylickens]

10 thousand square feet really isnt THAT big. Its nice, but I get wifi from my neighbors a block away. I dont see how one huge house would even be a problem. I think the concrete is the only issue and that means difficulty with running cable as well as blocking wifi.

A ghetto solution would be to buy those little network boxes that plug straight into outlets and thats it. But given that your client has a ten thousand square foot house next to the beach, they obviously want something nice and good quality.

Hmmmm, lemme know how you guys fix this. And if you keep your rich client.

 

[Harvey]

I think the concrete is the only issue and that means difficulty with running cable as well as blocking wifi.

Steel in the walls and various metal objects, such as conduit, shelving, large appliances, etc., and some other radio based devices, such as cordless phones can interfere with wifi signals.

 

[gsaldivar]

Even though your client may be able to afford the moon - in my experience, extra attention by the consultant to ensure that the client gets the most "bang for buck" is what is appreciated and rewarded:

Start by using NetStumbler or other wifi signal meter and carefully measure the existing signal strength at the places where the client needs access. Main office, den/secondary office, bedroom, kitchen, outdoor areas, etc. Take the time to ensure you have a good sample at each location, you want to be able to quantify any improvements in reception and not rely on guesswork.

You can then start experimenting with the suggestions given by the responders above. After each change, recheck the signal strength at these locations using the same equipment to see how much of an improvement you get.

 

[gsaldivar]

Without adding additional access points, one option might be to upgrade the antennas on the existing router. Better routers allow you to replace the little "rubber ducky" antennas with some pretty powerful omnidirectional antennas. If necessary, add a few feet of low-loss cabling to allow you to reposition the antennas to improve the coverage area:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833989002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833980008
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833980019

Omnidirectional antennas will radiate a signal in a flat circle, like a pancake. In some situations, you may find it necessary to aim toward particularly hard to reach area. For this, a wedge or directional antenna may be used:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833164110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833980012

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Airport Expresses that just plug into the wall outlet?

 

[her209]

Edit : Should have said - "client's extremely large house" - I have no idea if the client is large or not.

LOL... I was just going to point this out.

 

[gsaldivar]

LOL... I was just going to point this out.

 

[JackMDS]

The general approach that I take for Coverage issues is the following.

The best way is to lay few CAT6 cables to central locations in the house, install Access Points, or Cable/DSL Routers configured as an Access Points ( Using a Wireless Cable/DSL Router as a Switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html ), and connect them to the Main Router.

You do not want/can not/hate/your client hate to lay Cables.

You start with One affordable Wireless Router that can do WDS (the reason to start with WDS capable Router is that in case you need to add more Wireless WDS hardware the original Router has to support it).

If you are lucky and your environment is conducive to get covered with one Good Wireless Router and you are done.

Routers that can do WDS as is are sold by (Buffalo, Zyxel, SMC, Belkin, and some others)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Distribution_System.

Buffalo-HP-54G, Linksys WRT54GL, and Asus, 520GU can do WDS when flashed with DD-WRT firmware.
Due to the added flexibility, it is better solution to choose Routers that can work with DD-WRT
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
http://meanderingpassage.com/2007/04/15/dd-wrt-setting-up-a-home-wireless-distribution-system-wds/

It is a good idea to start with the Buffalo since it is a High Power Wireless Router that covers more distance to begin with, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833162134

Using a Laptop loaded with Netstumbler, do a Wireless survey in the house, http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/

According to the Netstumbler's signal strength reading, identify spots that have strong signal. and spot with weak, or No signal.

Evaluate how you can cover the space and start placing WDS units.

Additional Wireless Routers in WDS Mode (Wireless Network - Configuration Modes. ) has to be placed in spots were the signal is good about Half way to the dead spots.

How many WDS units are needed? It depends on your specific environment (that is a good the reason to buying WDS units one at the time, try it, and decide on the Next step).

Otherwise.

Extending Distance - http://www.ezlan.net/Distance.html

Wireless Router as an AP - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

Wireless Modes - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Modes.html

Wireless Bridging - http://www.ezlan.net/bridging.html

Hi Gain Antenna - http://www.ezlan.net/antennae.html

 

[wlee]

If physical wiring the backbone is not possible, then you might consider powerline bridges to connect muliple WiFi access points to the main router. How well this works will depend on the electrical wiring in the house. If the house is concrete and steel, it's not likely that WDS repeating will work.

 

[theevilsharpie]

If physical wiring the backbone is not possible, then you might consider powerline bridges to connect muliple WiFi access points to the main router. How well this works will depend on the electrical wiring in the house. If the house is concrete and steel, it's not likely that WDS repeating will work.

I'm certainly no expert on powerline networking, but wouldn't all nodes need to be on the same circuit?

 

[Crusty]

I'm certainly no expert on powerline networking, but wouldn't all nodes need to be on the same circuit?

Nope, same side of the transformer from the street IIRC.

 

[SammyJr]

A client with a 10,000 sq ft house has money to do this right and given the construction of his home, will not be happy with low end consumer solutions. Don't think of this as a Linksys level deployment. Think of this as a business class deployment. You want multiple access points and a controller.

At the bare minimum you want a SonicWall NSA firewall (built in wireless controller) with multiple SonicPoint N APs. You need to do Cat 5e drops back to a PoE Switch. HP also makes excellent wireless, at a higher price point. Good switches, too. There's also Cisco if the sky is the limit on price.

To hide the wire, you could use raceway, assuming you can hide it. You could also hire a carpenter to help you hide wiring under baseboards and other trim.