Network Upgrade (Part I)

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I have seventeen (17!) devices currently connected to my home network. I’ve been pretty upfront about my tech addiction, so that shouldn’t come as a surprise. But it was a surprise for my router; about a year ago, there were more internet-able devices than it could reliably handle.

There are a couple basic maxims[1] for getting the most internet from your service provider to the devices that need them:

1] Hardwire whatever connections that you reasonably can (wires are better at transmitting data than air).

2] Locate your wifi access point (usually your wifi router, sometimes your all-in-one modem/router/wifi hotspot) as centrally as possible in as unobstructed a manner as possible. I would suggest the top of a bookshelf in a pretty central area.

a. Signal propagation is blocked and distorted by walls, pipes, ducts, refrigerators, microwaves.

b. Signal propagation is weakened by distance.

We have an old house (1892ish) and its internal structures are more than a mess. About 5 years ago we switched internet from AT&T DSL[2] to Comcast’s Xfinity cable because AT&T couldn’t reliably maintain 20 megabits per second down, and Comcast was offering 50mbps[3] for the same price. When we made that change, the technician shattered all cable company stereotypes by arriving on time, working quickly, and – since the house had never had cable properly installed – generously gave me another 50’ on the run where it entered the house. This allowed me to thread that cable through the basement rafters up to the office under the stairs and behind the living room.

So, all that’s to say, my router is 5 feet from my media server, on the other side of a pass-through from my TV, and in the front-middle of my house. As such, I have CAT6 cable connecting the devices using the lion’s share of the data at any given moment, and in a position that would have allowed a powerful wifi router to blanket a normal house with lovely, nourishing wifi.

Due to the checkered history of our house’s occupancy, the upstairs and downstairs have separate HVAC systems, which we have controlled for a few years now with Nest thermostats. Last year, after an hour on the phone with one of their really exemplary techs, we determined that the upstairs Nest was dropping offline because it was unable to maintain a wifi connection through a floor and chimney to the router. I tried a variety of homemade solutions, including bridging in an old router, and positioning one of the best wifi extenders on the market in a nearby linen closet (which mostly worked but was butt-ugly: it hung from the Frankenstein light fixture I cobbled together and would blink weirdly at me every time I retrieved a spare pillow or toothbrush). It mostly worked, but wasn’t ever ideal.

So, last year when mesh networks hit the scene, I happily plunked down $270 on the table and got myself a 3-piece Google Wi-Fi system for Christmas. In the year since, I’ve had no regrets, as we’re now swimming in wonderful waters of wifi coverage.

[1] CNET has a great run down with more of the nitty-gritty.

[2] DSL – Digital Subscriber Line – an often slower kind of broadband that is provided over Ma Bell’s if-it-aint-broke-dont-fix-it POTS (plain old telephone service) network.

[3] Since then, they’ve jumped it three times, first to 72, then to 86, and just recently to 114, without raising the price – you do have to watch the bill, however, and call them if it changes spontaneously.