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ltpitt

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Wireless stable configuration big house: which hardware?

Hi everyone...

I need to cover my boss' house completely and with rock solid stability with wifi.

I've tried with cheap access point but the main problem is that I get two ssid and they get confused in using the 1st on the 2nd according on signal strenght.

I'd need to connect the 1st AP to main router, and the 2nd AP wirelessly to the 1st AP.

What kind of device should I buy to be sure (or something similar) that I'll have very little pain to configure it, it will broadcast a single SSID, and it will work rock-solid?
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John
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I use a Cisco RV220W in my own home. It sits in the basement and delivers very good signal strength on the second floor.  I have no issues with it.

Beware:  Most any wireless router I have had or worked with has to restarted on occasion.
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Another option would be placing wireless repeaters around to boost signal strength.

Depending on how the electrics have been done in the house a wireless powerline system (e.g. Devolo) also works pretty well (tested it in a couple of large houses). Basically the router plugs into the master box which is connected to a power socket then smaller 'AP's' are placed around the house into the electrics to broadcast the wireless - this system can be configured to use a single SSID and password setting.
Coverage was fine and the only noticeable issue (which you will have with any multi-ap system) is a brief packet drop (1, maybe 2 packets) when the device moves from one ap to another.
The only drawback is that the plug sockets all need to be on the same ring and you can't use them with extension leads and cables (has to go directly into the main socket). There's also a restriction on speed due to using the electrical cabling as well (in my house I get maximum 25mbps through it) but for basic internet it's absolutely fine.
I setup using Netgear Prosafe wireless N access point recently for one of our customer Boss house and so far no complain.

You can find the product detail here  http://www.netgear.com.sg/business/products/wireless/business-wireless/wnap210.aspx#tab-features

Anyway for any wireless AP you choose, if you would like to cover the whole house with solid strength, you need to do site survey because it really depends on that house's wall. Some walls are sound proof wall and signal can't get reach far.
For that reason, you turn on an AP, ping the AP from your laptop and see till which place signal is strong.
By doing that you can estimate how many wireless APs required to cover the whole house with Good signal.
When you ping the AP too, make sure latency is not too high when you test the coverage.
If you set same single SSID, you need to set different channel for each AP manually.
Also have a look at Ubiquiti Unify AP
http://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap/

Very affordable, scalable,  and easy to configure.

DirkMare
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VB ITS
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ltpitt

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I'll go with Ubiquiti: I've checked the latest products and they look really fit for the job.

Also the design is really pleasing.