Multiple Wireless Routers or Repeaters?

4

1

I have a pretty big area to cover. I have a four story home (very tall, not very wide/long/depth). But I believe the construction of this old home really prevents the signal from travelling well. I have a router on the fourth floor and a router on the third floor. Of course... this means pretty crappy data rate on the first and second floor. Those floors are also wired (just so you know). Would it be best to sett-up a router on the fourth floor and a repeater on every floor afterwards? Or a router on every floor. I heard that you can lose some data rate when using repeaters and that routers may be a better choice. Ideas?

EGHDK

Posted 2012-09-11T00:09:22.630

Reputation: 2 337

Can you run at least one wire to each floor? – Zoredache – 2012-09-11T05:08:40.963

This is possible. Not "wanted" but possible. – EGHDK – 2012-09-11T16:39:54.783

Answers

7

I would recommend using Access Points (APs) and a single router in your network. Using multiple routers in a home environment does not make sense and make needlessly more complicated. Tip: most Wireless routers feature an AP-mode in which it turns off routing/DHCP.

Set up all APs to use the same SSID and the exact same security settings (WPA/WEP & passphrase). Then clients will roam over your Access Points quite seamlessly provided they are all connected to the same Layer 2 network on the back (don't do routing or more NATing there).

Set a different channel for each access point and don't set the transmit power too high - they're more likely to interfere with each other or lower the signal quality. If you have 5 GHZ enabled clients in your house (most probably the case), consider buying dual-band Access Points if buying any.

All means of wireless distribution/repeater techniques suffer from serious slowdown in the throughput (as all traffic has to be repeated). Also, using proprietary systems or manufacturer-specific features to repeat the signal are usually inferior compared to wire-connected independent Access Points in my experience.

gertvdijk

Posted 2012-09-11T00:09:22.630

Reputation: 3 396

1Second that. And use wireless-N AP where possible. Wireless B and G operate in a narrow band and it is hard to create multiple non-overlapping channels. (3 channels is the best your can do). In a 3D environment that might require some puzzling. – Hennes – 2012-09-11T00:31:31.027

Hmm... so I guess now my question is what is the difference between a repeater and an access point? I believe a repeater just needs power, but from what it sounds like, you need Ethernet and power for an access point. – EGHDK – 2012-09-11T16:42:19.637

@EGHDK Exactly. Because an access point is backed by an unshared uplink to your switch (or router with built-in switch). This is much faster than sharing the already much smaller bandwidth on a WLAN frequency using a repeater. Running wires on all floors is a very good investment here, in my opinion. – gertvdijk – 2012-09-11T16:53:36.727

I only want the house to give off "one" wireless signal. Not multiple SSID's. An AP would also be good for this correct? Or will I search for WiFi and see 4 different signals? – EGHDK – 2012-09-11T20:39:21.147

@EGHDK Several independent APs configured to use the exactl same SSID will appear as one network on clients. However, in an advanced view or using Wireless scanning tools, it will reveal that several APs are providing this network. Usually clients just associate with the AP it finds to have the strongest or best signal. No configuration needed for users. I thought I was quite clear about that in my answer, implicitly. – gertvdijk – 2012-09-11T20:44:26.667

Just double necking. Hahaha. Thanks you have been very helpful, I appreciate it. – EGHDK – 2012-09-11T21:06:08.910

Asked: 2012-09-11T00:09:22.630

Viewed: 5 556 times

Active: 2013-09-02T03:54:58.847