Building a new house... Best spot for extending wireless outside

whitenack · Jan 2, 2016

Building a new house on some land and am trying to plan the network, both wired and wireless. I'm planning ethernet access in all the rooms and centrally locating wireless routers on each floor, hopefully up on a shelf or attached upside down directly on the ceiling (if my wife will let me).

I'm trying to find the best place to put router(s) to extend the wireless range outside. I building on a bunch of land so encroaching on my neighbors is not a concern.

Is it best to place a router in the attic and let the signal get outside through the roof, or is it best to run an ethernet jack to the outside and mount a router on the exterior wall?

ST0RM91 · Jan 2, 2016

If you're wiring the house why would you need so many routers? Just get one decent router, a large switch, and then wire ethernet connected wifi accesspoints.

whitenack · Jan 2, 2016

ST0RM91 :

You are correct. I used incorrect terminology. I meant to say that I would have wifi access points on each floor, not routers.

kanewolf · Jan 2, 2016

WIFI access points look the same as smoke detectors. You wife shouldn't notice the difference. For outdoor access, you would probably want to install outdoor access point(s) on the exterior facia. Bring POE cables out of the soffit. You will probably want IP network cameras around the perimeter. Plan POE cables for them also. This also means you will need a fairly big POE switch to power all these devices.

ST0RM91 · Jan 2, 2016

My recommendation would be:

Cat 6 cabling
Ethernet connected wifi points, the ones that connect to your power cabling really aren't that good. The circular wall mounted ones actually look rather nice so I'd show them to your wife.
A dedicated external access point is well worth it if you need wifi outside.

ST0RM91 · Jan 2, 2016

Just remember to test all of the cabling before they're plastered over! Its an absolute nightmare trying to fix this if someone forgets.

whitenack · Jan 2, 2016

Oops. Hit the wrong button. Didn't mean to select the best answer yet. Can I undo?

kanewolf · Jan 2, 2016

whitenack :

I cleared it.

ST0RM91 · Jan 2, 2016

These are generally what they look like:

ST0RM91 · Jan 2, 2016

Kanewolf has pretty much nailed it tbh, POE is a fantastic thing to take advantage of.

kanewolf · Jan 2, 2016

If you have having cable installed, look at structured cable. It is a single pull with coax, and two cat5e cables. -- Like Belden 7876S.

The biggest cost is the labor to pull the cable. By having everything as a single pull the labor is minimized. All the cable can terminate at a single outlet in each room, two coax, two RJ45. You can then assign them to phone, or ethernet at the central area.

whitenack · Jan 2, 2016

Also, Just to add, I'll have a front and back porch. Would installing these smoke-detector type APs on the ceiling of the porch get the job done, or does it need to be up at the facia? Obviously the porch ceiling would be easier to install and more protected from the elements, and I need wifi access on the porches anyway.

kanewolf · Jan 2, 2016

Outdoor APs don't look like smoke detectors, they are usually square. If you have an outdoor AP in the vicinity (same side of the house) I bet you will be OK. Pick a SINGLE vendor for all your WIFI products. Engenius or Ubiquiti are the two I would recommend. Individual APs are around $100 each. If you do choose to have POE network cameras, verify that they follow the POE standards and are compatible with whatever switch you choose.

whitenack · Jan 2, 2016

kanewolf :

So the Ethernet and Coax is together in one cord? That is a great suggestion! Thanks. I plan to run all the cables myself, but that saves a lot of time and headache getting everything run. That Belden you suggested looks ridiculously expensive, though.

kanewolf · Jan 2, 2016

You may be able to find an alternative to the Belden part number. It was just an example. But like buying an HP printer, or IBM server, buying Belden cable is never a bad choice.

whitenack · Jan 2, 2016

kanewolf :

To clarify, you are saying that an AP anywhere on the side of the house, whether it is on the facia or on the porch ceiling, I should be fine? I guess the higher it is mounted the further out it will reach, which would favor a facia installation.

kanewolf · Jan 2, 2016

Unless you are doing insulated concrete construction or something, you will probably have signal from the indoor AP(s) and the outdoor AP. You could put cable and a box in the ceiling -- document it very well with pictures and measurements and then cover it up with the ceiling. If it turns out you need extra you could add the AP.

For the APs and any IP cameras, you wouldn't need the structured wiring, single cat5e or cat6 would be sufficient. Even if you are doing the installation, you may want to see if your general contractor or electrical contractor will buy the materials for you for a nominal fee. That will allow you to use their access to larger material suppliers.

whitenack · Jan 2, 2016

I'm not doing insulated concrete walls but I am going with extra thick walls and insulation (12" total), plus a brick exterior. Like you said, I could always put in a box in the ceiling for insurance.

Do you think I will need an AP on the ceiling of the first floor if I have an AP on the ceiling of the 2nd floor? Would the 2nd floor AP range be enough to cover both floors?

ETA: Or, to be safe, should I wire for a 1st floor AP just in case?

ST0RM91 · Jan 2, 2016

I wouldn't think so, not with a good signal strength. My APs reach two floors but the signal is very poor, ie the internet sucks if I'm not connected to that floor.

Building a new house... Best spot for extending wireless outside

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