Getting wifi in a 1959 home...

[BrocLuno]

Originally Posted By: user52165
Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
OK, these others have discussed the wired and wifi side of things. But you asked about the home. So tell us more about the actual house?

Is it wood framed and wood sided?

Is it stucco? In 1959 they did not likely use small wire mesh to secure the stucco like they do now-days. It can easily kill a wifi signal.

What type of insulation does it have? If it has foil backed fiberglass insulation, it can also easily kill a wifi signal.

Does it have an asphalt shingle roof? Does it have an aluminized infrared barrier in the attic ?

Is it an open floor plan, or all doorways and halls?

Has the electrical been upgraded to actual ground 3-way outlets?

Has it had Cable TV installed in the past? In more than one room?

The wifi access point us best close to the load. The speed drops with distance. Sometimes it's best to place the access point in the middle of the bldg in the attic. Sometimes on an interior room wall. This depends on the construction we are dealing with ...


Are you serious? Unless this guy just bought Versailles, a modem supplied by his ISP will be fine.


Yes, I'm serious. I've had older homes with additions that would not pass a signal through the remodeled wall ... We positioned the access point on top of that wall in the attic to service both sides ...

It depends on what the broadcast lobe looks like. Some are fairly flat and some are very round. Round will go up or down one flight well. Flat oblong lobes work better in single story. There are even flat'ish panel access points that have little back lobe. They work from one wall onward well though

All of this effects speed. If your incoming cable is 100/Mbs and your access point can only make 56 due to signal loss, what are you paying for ...

Ethernet wired solutions go fast everywhere. They are just more trouble to install ...

Didn't ask - maybe he will have a basement that makes cabling easy

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
The newer standard is an AC router and those go way up in speed assuming that you're getting a fast enough connection. ..... if you get your own AC router, you'll get higher speeds and better reliablity as many devices use the 2.4 Ghz band but not that many use the 5 GHz band like AC.


99% of residences in the United states can't "use" 5 GHz because their ISP doesn't run that fast.

The "range" (distance) on 5 GHz S U C K S .. . . . . .



In theory that's true, but in reality due to various reasons, you're better off with an AC router.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
They'll drill a hole and run a coaxial cable line onto that wall. A coaxial cable plugs in from that jack on the wall into a cable modem. Then you buy a wireless router and plug that into the modem with an Ethernet cable (routers come with them). Then you connect to the router with your wireless device, type in the IP address (should be on the router or in instruction book), log into router with credentials given in instructions, and setup the wifi network. You'll need to secure it with a password and they usually give you an option to run a software update on the router, which will help it work better.

Modem basically converts the cable to internet
Router then projects that internet signal wirelessly.

Almost no devices these days run on hard wired Ethernet cables unless you're in a corporate office.

A lot of devices still operate on ethernet like VoIP boxes, satellite receivers, game consoles, etc. I've got a whole setup next to my TV. My Blu-Ray player can operate all sorts of programming off of ethernet, although Google no longer supports its old YouTube API. My TV service is through a satellite and I can also use it for on demand programming (downloaded to the DVR) through the internet. I got an Xbox as a gift and for a while I had it connected. None of those devices have WiFi built in, although some newer equipment does although ethernet is generally easier to set up.

 

[ecotourist]

My television runs off a wi-fi connection as well. Very convenient.

We have a wired desk top computer with a wired printer and wired scanner (which does have better reliability), and a lap top connected by wi-fi.

It's possible to print from the lap top but we've found the connection to be buggy. We get it working and it works well for a while then it won't print any more. After quite a bit of effort we get it working again, but that just doesn't last. To keep things simple, we usually just print from the wired computer.

 

[Shannow]

Inside a month will be doing wifi in a 1940 house...just saying.

 

[redhat]

Does the house currently have cable TV service/is it wired for it? Modem from a cable ISP would run off of the same lines.

 

[Coprolite]

I have AT&T fiber to the house. I decided to only pay for 300Mbps, as the actually bottlenecks in the real world(supply side) make any faster not worth it in all cases. The stock modem/Router/WI-fi combo is adequate to cover the whole house in 2.4 ghz form and moderately ok on the 5 ghz spectrum. In general, the Wi-fi is best set high up off the ground, as this provides more line of site with the house overall. As mentioned earlier, having it in the middle of the house is best. I am considering mesh wi-fi to boost my overall speed in all locations in the house. Most of these implementations have an app that will guide you on the setup. This really only becomes an issue if you have a really good connection to the outside world and want to get every last penny's worth...

Y_P_W, your parents should be able to manage their own router and rename SSIDs and set passwords. They probably just never asked and stuck with what they were given. The side of the modem has all the information you need to manage the device. I have mine customized.

Modern houses tend to have more issues with signals than older houses. The energy efficient cladding basically creates a huge Faraday cage that is pretty good at blocking exterior signals. Older houses tend not to have this, though a thick masonry wall will have an impact on signal, too.