Summary: WiFi doesn't penetrate my whole apartment so I am using two TP-Link Routers (one as a hard-wired access point) with two different SSIDs. I am likely going to more permanently affix the network cable (using a cable raceway instead of gaffing tape) and am considering also switching to something like TP-Link Omada or Ubiquiti hardware. Given that what I currently have works, should I just stick with it and not worry about changing anything?
The Details
My current apartment is 100 years old and has thick, lath and plaster walls. I have reasonable WiFi router (TP-Link AX3000), but it cannot provide a consistent enough connection to the farthest bedroom. The rest of the apartment has great WiFi connectivity. To remedy this, I repurposed a smaller router (TP-Link AX1800) to serve as an access point in the problematic room. I run a network cable to it. That access point runs at low power and has its own SSID so the occupant of that room can select that point for their in-room Internet needs. Everything works, and (honestly) works pretty well.
The network cable is held to the wall with gaff tape and the time has come for something a little less crappy looking so I am going to run a raceway and take my first stab at terminating my own cables and using surface mount boxes with network keystones. The landlord is on board with all of this, should I choose to do it. The things I don't like about my current setup are:
Replacing the access point in the room and the main wireless access point cost a bit of money, but that's not too bad. I might also need a new router, which involves additional cost and complexity. I suspect I am looking at something in the vicinity of $400 for all these changes without counting the cost for cabling and the raceway. That could be more if I got beefier router with something like pfsense, which is more complexity yet. I wonder if this is just stupid and if I should just leave my setup as is, put up the raceway, and call it good enough? Any Omada or Ubiquiti users that want to chime in?
The Details
My current apartment is 100 years old and has thick, lath and plaster walls. I have reasonable WiFi router (TP-Link AX3000), but it cannot provide a consistent enough connection to the farthest bedroom. The rest of the apartment has great WiFi connectivity. To remedy this, I repurposed a smaller router (TP-Link AX1800) to serve as an access point in the problematic room. I run a network cable to it. That access point runs at low power and has its own SSID so the occupant of that room can select that point for their in-room Internet needs. Everything works, and (honestly) works pretty well.
The network cable is held to the wall with gaff tape and the time has come for something a little less crappy looking so I am going to run a raceway and take my first stab at terminating my own cables and using surface mount boxes with network keystones. The landlord is on board with all of this, should I choose to do it. The things I don't like about my current setup are:
- The gaff tape
- The two SSIDs that must be manually selected
- The space required by the additional access point
- The fact that the access point needs a separate power brick in addition to the network cable
Replacing the access point in the room and the main wireless access point cost a bit of money, but that's not too bad. I might also need a new router, which involves additional cost and complexity. I suspect I am looking at something in the vicinity of $400 for all these changes without counting the cost for cabling and the raceway. That could be more if I got beefier router with something like pfsense, which is more complexity yet. I wonder if this is just stupid and if I should just leave my setup as is, put up the raceway, and call it good enough? Any Omada or Ubiquiti users that want to chime in?
