Help getting stronger wifi signal in a 1300 sq ft apt.

[kmkmkmk]

Eero wifi is just plain the nuts. Easy set up, mesh network, great security, control it from an app on your phone.

www.eero.com

You will not regret it.

Seriously.

[RShea]

Eero wifi is just plain the nuts. Easy set up, mesh network, great security, control it from an app on your phone.

www.eero.com

You will not regret it.

Seriously.

The photo on their home page- Guy in a inflatable floating pool chair in the swimming pool and using his laptop? I mean what could possibly go wrong with that ever? Probably needs a "Caution- do not try this at home- for demonstration purposes only" type of disclaimer for that...

[funkendrenchman]

Got a Nighthawk router hooked up. 55mbps downstairs, 30 mbps at the top of the stairs, 5-15 mbps 10 feet away from the top of the stairs. Works better than Comcast, but still not good enough for video streaming. Next up, Google Wifi.

[stuckathuntermtn]

That's really weird. Do you have lead walls?

[Shredhead]

Get one of the Mesh networks and you’ll be fine.

[MESH]

Is your wireless card 802.11ac and does it match the performance of the new router?

[funkendrenchman]

Installed google wifi. It took just a couple minutes to install and the internet is super fast everywhere in the apt. Thanks for the suggestions. PSA - I believe Google WiFi will be on sale at Best Buy on Black Friday.

[jacob_dbu]

Dope yeah Google Wifi *just works*

[m10247]

Oh...The apartment seems to be pretty spacious.. I'd recommend you maybe trying https://wifispc.com .... I'm sure it will help you to catch free wifi from any corner of the apt...

[bodywhomper]

bump.
we have a dsl connection with AT&T on a "dry loop". we have an AT&T dsl wifi router (i don't know if that' s what you call it). the wifi signal is pretty poor and we sometimes struggle with connecting some of our devices, even when everything else is disconnected. i'm pretty sure we're not "renting" the device from AT&T. I hate dealing with AT&T and would like to know other options of replacing modem, wifi router, etc. rather than wasting 8+ hours trying to deal with their CS to get something new. What are my options and/or what are some directions to research? We don't/can't cut ourselves free from AT&T as the ISP. they are our only reasonably-priced option (no cable or smarter broadband available).

thanks and cheers

[2FUNKY]

It's a modem. Get a second party 5g wifi router. Turn off your wifi on your modem. Not sure why " dry loop " is quoted, it just means no dial tone, nothing fancy. Stock wifi is shit on provider modems, except the new Aris built modems. Still not as good as a dedicated wifi router with external antenna though.

[bodywhomper]

Thanks. I quoted dry loop because i wasn't positive about the term and didn't want to look it up. This is what i have netgear 7550 adsl2+ for at&t.

So solution is buy aftermarket 5g WiFi router and plug into the above modem. I'll have to go into device configuration to do that, right?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using TGR Forums mobile app

[gregorys]

I can't tell you how strongly I'd recommend a Ubiquiti Unifi ACLite. [It's a 2.4+5ghz wifi access point. 2.4Ghz will probably have better coverage, but 5Ghz can have advantages too.]

The unifi stuff is better than ANY consumer class wifi unit I've seen. [And I've seen quite a few - I do IT work for a living.]
They are going to be about $70. Amazon is probably the easiest place to get them at a reasonable price.

It *won't* act as a router, only an access-point. [i.e. it won't be a firewall/router, it's JUST an access point that will get wireless stations on the network/internet.]
But it certainly sounds like the DSL modem is acting as your firewall/router/NAT device - so you don't *need* to replace your router too.

+If you have a large house/space to cover in Wifi, multiple units can work together to get full coverage. [Much easier than multiple consumer class Wifi units.]
+It also has very nifty "public" wifi options, if you leave the setup/controller software running on your PC, that will allow you to "share" wifi with people who visit, without sharing your internal wifi password. [It works like a coffee-shop or hotel wifi where you have an access code that's valid for some period of time.]

++And most importantly, the coverage of Unifi units is very good. The antenna in them are quite good, and the rest of the system is very well done.
-Setup is more complicated than "consumer" units, but if you're willing to read the docs, I expect you can do fine. [And if you ran into trouble, I'm glad to help.]

You'd go into your DSL router setup and turn off the Wifi on the DSL modem/router. Then setup Unifi. [They could co-exist, but there's no great reason to do that - and lots of reasons not to do so.]

HTH
-Greg

[bodywhomper]

Thanks! i'll check the docs to gauge involvement of my time. which is likely the most limited resource.

[2FUNKY]

The 7550 is a known poor wifi performer. Great modem, shitty wifi antenna. Log into the modem and shut down the wifi. Super easy.

[bodywhomper]

Is there a summary-level description about the Ubiquiti Unifi ACLite system?

as tempted as i am to buy something that is as close to plug and play as possible, having something more powerful (and affordable) that can accommodate some of our outdated stuff, our current relatively slow DSL connection, but will continue to be very useful for many years (and not the limiting factor about connectivity) as we upgrade old devices and computers, the kids become more and more dependent on using chromebooks for school work, and our local indie ISP eventually installs a fiber line in our neighborhood.

thanks!

[MESH]

Their unifi line isn't plug and play and requires some setup. They do make one for home use called amplifi but I don't have any experience with it.

[gregorys]

Final edit:
---
I'm not sure what you're looking for. There's their marketing slicks - https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lite/

[As always - take wifi/wireless speeds with VERY LARGE grains of salt. The "speeds" are radio speeds, and actual throughput will be about half the radio speed - in the best case. But since pretty much every wifi/wireless vendor makes the same "lie" - the comparative between products is still somewhat helpful.]

In short, Ubiquiti does a lot of wifi products - mainly having become known as a WISP (wireless ISP) provider. Thus they have a lot of expertise in designing good/great radios and antenna. This makes the units perform quite well in the vast majority of setups. The price/performance radio tends to be very good.

Consumer products are, IMO, *horrible*. Security is terrible. Updates essentially non-existent. product design and functionality.

Full enterprise products are far too expensive and really only offer features that the 0.001% will actually use.

Ubiquiti's intent, I think, is to take the Lions-share of the market where consumer-grade won't cut it, and where enterprise grade isn't needed. [Their air-fiber products, perhaps are an exception.] In any case, they deliver amazing quality compared to consumer level crap, and amazing value compared to enterprise wireless.

I use their wifi bridges numerous places. Unifi everywhere I've got any client who needs wifi coverage for their business/office - or the occasional home environment. I use their routers everywhere.

They've deployed literally millions of Unifi units - I suspect a lot of hotels and the like use them. Personally, I've probably only deployed 30-50. I use them at my own house too.

They're just solid.

As I noted before, there's a lot of options that Unifi offers and that can be bewildering. I'd guess a basic setup could be done in 30m or less. But there will be a lot of screens/tabs/options. You'll just want to ignore the ones you don't need.

---
Here's a quick run-through of some of the settings. [I created this "walk-through" after doing the initial install/setup - and IIRC it does some "initial" setup when you first connect to the controller. But since it's been a while since I've done a from-scratch setup, I can't recall exactly what it does for you or not. Thus, some of the steps below may already be complete... Also note that the controller software changes from version to version and a LOT of features and options have been added in the last few years - so a year from now [It is currently, Jan 2018] this may not reflect the state of the controller software well.]

Here's the "logical" network setup I envision.
Internet <-> DSL/Cable modem <-> (WAN side) Firewall, if not using the modem as a router/firewall (LAN side) <-> Ethernet switch [many routers have multiple ethernet ports on the "LAN" side - you can use these too. [All computers/AP's plug into the ethernet switch]

If your modem/firewall/switch also has WiFi, go into the Wifi control on the device and turn it off. There's no sense in having two different Wifi units all trying to use the same limited radio-frequency spectrum. Plus you'll have two wifi devices to coordinate and maintain. You don't need that hassle. Turn the "old" one off.

The modem/firewall/ethernet switch may be all one physical unit - or it may be individual physical devices - depending on your setup/hardware.

Connect Unifi AP's to the network via a wired ethernet connection. [They use a POE (power over ethernet) injector - which will look odd if you've never seen one.]
Download and install the Unifi controller software.
Start it and connect to it via a browser. [It will help you do this on Windows.]


On top left, click on devices, adopt the AP's you connected up above. [I've also seen the Windows firewall mess with Unifi, so if you don't see your AP's, turn off the Windows (or other) firewalls - at least temporarily.]


On bottom left, click settings.
Wireless networks
You'll probably want one "private" wifi network and one public [or open] network that will be a public hotspot.
You'll control access to the private network via a PSK [password] and the public hotspot via the Unifi controller software and vouchers.


Private PSK network
---
Name the network
Enable the wireless network
Set a WPA Personal security key
Under advanced options, set the WPA mode to WPA2 only, AES/CCMP only




Public hotspot [This will only work or be available to "login" if the controller software is running. Once connected or authenticated, you can stop the controller software. Previously connected devices will continue to work, but new devices won't have a way to authenticate, since the unifi software does the "authenticating."]
---
Name the network [different than your private one]
Enable the wireless network
Open security
Guest policy checked


Guest control
---
Enable guest control
Authentication: Hotspot
Check: Enable HTTPS redirection


Under hotspot down-below...
Enable voucher-based authorization.


Click the "Go to hotspot manager" to set up vouchers.


You can customize what radios/channels are active on each AP, etc. But I think the defaults will generally be fine.

[thebrucemac]

Late to the party here and tldr, but just an FYI, Amazon has refurbished T-mobile branded AC-1900 routers on sale for $60, which are really Asus RT-AC68U wireless router's under the hood ($140). If you've got an ounce of technical aptitude you can follow directions online and flash router's CFE and firmware turning it into an RT-AC68U in about 10-15 minutes. I just did this with two of them last week as Asus has introduced a new wireless mesh feature that allows your wireless devices to essentially roam between weaker and stronger signals throughout your home. Just wanted to throw that out there. If you're interested, feel free to PM me and I can get you hooked up with the proper links and help out with the conversion if necessary.

[bodywhomper]

You all are awesome!! Thanks