WiFi for the basement.

HawgBonz

HawgBonz

Unscannable Gunflake
Life Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2022
Messages
1,561
Location
Rockwell, NC
Rating - 100%
31   0   0
We've got the Spectrum modem & router upstairs in the sunroom-turned-office for the girls to work out of.
My lil hole is almost directly below in the basement. Less than 20' away, but there's the brick wall of the sunroom and the basement outside wall all kinda
jackin the signal. I've found a good route for a CAT5 cable or whatever standard is current now. No problem with power access.
My question is what do I need to put on this end? She would occasionally like to work from down here. She tele-works and does a lot of online conferencing and such.
I use the WiFi calling down here since there's not a good cell signal. Just some streaming on the PC. Gaming stays local.
Was looking at WAP's. But not sure if that's the way to go or not. There's a lot of mixed reviews on the various devices on Amazon.
Whatchyathink? 🤠
 
If I read this right, you can run a cat 5e or 6 cable down there, from the back of the router ( dont know about the Spectrum router, most have xtra connections. That would give you one connection (wired) or cable from router to a 4 or 6 port switch, which would give you more wired ports.. You could also use a wifi range extender, plug it in, set it up and you have another connection point. Or another access point more or less.
We have the same problem but no basement, the house layout just doesn't lend itself to wireless and with all the security cameras. So have a router TP_link (mesh) TP_link extender to catch the other end of the house. Works great.

-Snoopz
 
I just use a mesh system to deal with similar issue. You can hardwire between nodes if you like or have signal issues between them but that gives you one wifi network instead of getting into range extenders.
 
Jp8819 said:
I just use a mesh system to deal with similar issue. You can hardwire between nodes if you like or have signal issues between them but that gives you one wifi network instead of getting into range extenders.
Click to expand...
I’m looking at google mesh for this reason.

Seems to be the cheapest and easiest to set up.
 
I'm gonna make the leap to mesh next year, probably. Just haven't decided what to drop my money on, as they can cost a pretty penny, depending on brand and number of satellites.

I would love an Orbi, which I'd set up to cover two adjacent houses. Maybe use an outdoor satellite extender to reach the SIL's house across the street.

I would have done it this year, but about the time I'm thinking of doing it, something else comes up to siphon cash out of my wallet.

Like tires on one of our cars. Or braces for my youngest. Or a new washer.

*sigh*
 
I went to mesh earlier this year and i'm never going back down to anything else
I'll run cat5 if i NEED to, but with creative placement (server and 2 satellites) right now 2400sqft are covered, an coverage is going out at least 50yards all around the house - pool, garage, target-land, etc.

I even moved the security system recorder (separate wifi network but needs connection to an access point) to right next to the middle satellite and plugged it in via patch cable because we were having trouble reaching the puppycam at the far end of the house.
This was without a doubt the best upgrade i've done to anything in a while, and it took a LOT of stress off of my wife who insists on using an iphone that keeps doing dumb things about switching from cell to wifi signals.
 
Last edited:
The basement is one big open space.
I'm thinkin if I can get somethin with some decent signal down there that's hard wired to the router I'll be in bidness..
We've got a CC Vector LR extender handling signal out to the barn and that works great with the occasional reboot.
The self contained security system is forthcoming one-of-these-days. Meanwhile, the cheapie Abodes and NEST get the duty.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
I would love an Orbi, which I'd set up to cover two adjacent houses. Maybe use an outdoor satellite extender to reach the SIL's house across the street.

I would have done it this year, but about the time I'm thinking of doing it, something else comes up to siphon cash out of my wallet.
Click to expand...
ebay for an open box deal
then reflash everything to latest firmware for security reasons.

I picked up one of these https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/mesh/mk63s/ for $85
I have a router at one end of the house, satellites in the middle and the other end. you literally just hit a button on each device and they link up.

I had tried a tplink extender and setting up spare old routers as cloned access points, but nothing "just worked" reliably for my wife's iphone (my android was like "do whatever, i'll deal with it for you"). it was an instant increase in quality of life for her (bad ears on her whole family, uses face time to help read lips a lot) and that means a much easier life for me too.
 
Chdamn said:
Does WAP mean what I think it means?
Click to expand...

Wireless Access Point.

And this is frickin' HILARIOUS for me because I'm currently working on secure WAP installation on the East coast carriers at NNSY and I recently got an email from the PSNS (Puget Sound Naval Shipyard) engineering people doing the same thing on the West coast carriers.

Apparently they have people out there who are "not comfortable" with the use of the WAP abbreviation, so they use SWAP (Secure WAP) in all their paperwork and correspondence.

I laughed it up with my boss. It's an approved abbreviation in the ShipAlt drawings and Cardi B didn't write this ShipAlt! We're not changing our paperwork just because they're "not comfortable" with using "WAP"!

People need to laugh more and worry about stupid stuff less!
 
Amazon product ASIN B06WVCB862
This is what I have at home, and it works well for me. I believe you can run Cat-5 cable to the downstairs unit and then run Cat-5 to ethernet or use it for Wifi there. You all are probably beyond me, so evaluate this for yourself. I had the darn things running off a router, and when the Spectrum tech came out for a service check he told me this system was a router, so he unplugged the router and it's working just fine.

I have two units upstairs and one down. My one upstairs unit is ethernet connected to my old Grandpa Computer, and the rest of the house is Wifi, including four TVs now streaming.
 
Last edited:
Do I understand correctly?
There is a place in the basement that is adequate for you.
But that place doesn’t have sufficient internet access for your girls to expand into the space.
If so, the obvious answer is that you asked everyone you know, and there is no way to get better wifi in the basement.
 
As have others said, if you can run a cat5:cable to the general area from your main switch/ router just put in a wireless access point.

What I haven’t seen mentioned, however is power. Either the switch you connect to will either need to be POE or you’ll need an injector. Unfortunately, there are a few different standards, so you need a compatible one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom