Hi
Please help me decide. Here’s the situation. I live in an area where all they have is DSL, max speed is about 10 Mbps. So I went ahead and got 3 DSL lines, to be used with Peplink Balance 30. Now I need reliable, strong wifi signal in every corner of the house (about 3,000 sqft, one story with upstairs loft and basement), construction is wood, stone, and LP siding).
I’ve purchased AP Pro (outside model) and tested wifi signal by mounting it to the back of the house). Configured for max signal and power boost enabled:
Outside signal strength is between 90% and 75% in the back yard, and about 50% front of the house.
Inside the house signal strength is between 80% and 50% in some rooms.
Considering the limited DSL speed I have, I can’t afford weak’ish wifi signal inside the house. I work from home, on a laptop. Need strong, reliable wifi.
What are my options?
Would getting AP One for inside the house help? Configure it with WDS with AP Pro? Wouldn’t it cut the bandwidth by 50%? Or is it only if it’s connected wirelessly? I can definitely connect AP One with Ethernet.
I also considered placing AP Pro inside the house. But heard that it’s ‘dangerous’ due to very strong signal, radiation levels and all that.
Get rid of AP Pro completely, and get a pair of AP One, each connected via Ethernet and WDS enabled?
Any recommendations?
Hi,
Since your requirement is indoor wireless, I do suggest to go for AP One.
I do recommend to connect 2 AP One with Ethernet in case you have problem on wireless coverage. Wired connection is a good choice if compare with WDS.
Well having wifi outside is also beneficial. Are you saying 1 AP One won’t be enough to cover indoors? Would you recommend AP One, or AP One 300?
Hi,
It is difficult for me to judge here. Normally one AP should be sufficient. In case there are some interference (e.g. Signal blocking by concrete wall, another Wifi network, household electronics, bluetooth devices and etc), you may need another AP.
Please refer to http://www.peplink.com/products/enterprise-access-point/feature-comparison/ to choose the AP that meet your requirements.
Thank you.
Hi
So I went ahead and purchased AP One for inside the house. AP Pro will be for outside. Both will be connected to Ethernet cables.
Do you recommend I configure them in WDS, or leave them as separate AP devices, with same SSID/password? And why.
Thank you
For best optimization I would not configure them in WDS mode since you will be hard wiring both via Ethernet.
Essentially with WDS it will be:
Client >>>AP<<<Wireless>>>>AP<<<Wired>>>Router
Without WDS:
Client>>>AP Duo<<<<<Wired>>>><<<Router
Client>>>AP <<<<Wired>>>>Router
WDS there is an extra hop that you have to go through to ultimately reach the internet. By not using WDS this will eliminate a hop and a point of failure. I.E. if the AP One is directly connected to the router and you are a client that is connected to the AP Pro Duo and the AP One goes down you will not be able to reach the internet as the AP Pro Duo is merely talking only to the AP One. WDS would only be useful if it was not possible to hard wire one of the AP’s.
You can certainly setup the same SSID/Password as this will allow roaming in between AP’s. If not the same and the connected client goes out of range of one AP you will need to manually reconnect to the other SSID.