Advice Needed for Network/Wi-Fi Setup in Two Storey Apartment Made of Concrete and Brick

beltdrive on 02/06/2025 - 15:08
Last edited 02/06/2025 - 15:29 by 1 other user

Hi,

Moved into a two storey apartment recently and have discovered that wi-fi is non-existent on the lower/second floor.

Apartment layout is a bit different than usual: entrance / living is on the top floor, bedrooms are downstairs. The NBN HFC box is located upstairs.

Current setup is a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X and an Archer D7 acting as a wi-fi access point. This old setup did the trick in my previous brick apartment, but I think the thicc concrete slab floor is killing the signal before it can reach downstairs.

In an ideal world, I'd like to run ethernet downstairs as backhaul for a mesh setup, but I'm concerned about how expensive it might be, especially if core holes are involved

Should I try praying to the network gods and see if I can fudge a passable Powerline setup? Is mesh worthwhile without an ethernet backhaul? I'm a bit lost, as I haven't had to think about network stuff in a long time, long before mesh and wi-fi 6 was ubiquitous

Thanks!

Computing Broadband HFC nbn Wireless Router

Comments

  • Fredfloresjr on 02/06/2025 - 15:15
    +1

    mesh.

    • joey110 on 02/06/2025 - 15:17

      Was just about to write the same

    • beltdrive on 02/06/2025 - 15:23

      so mesh without ethernet should do the trick?

      • geekcohen on 02/06/2025 - 15:29

        Yes it could. Providing the placement is correct.

  • AustriaBargain on 02/06/2025 - 15:20

    Do you own the apartment.

    • beltdrive on 02/06/2025 - 15:23

      yes

      • geekcohen on 02/06/2025 - 15:29
        +2

        Would definitely get a cable done if possible. Might not be as expensive as you think. Hole out > conduit up > hole in.

        At least get a quote.

        • beltdrive on 02/06/2025 - 15:47

          I'll get a quote. My experience of similar is from the commercial world where you need get a structural engineer in to scan for rebar so I've been concerned about cost lol $$$

          • geekcohen on 02/06/2025 - 15:57

            @beltdrive: Really? All for a 20mm hole? Can you not go outside the lower storey wall, up the wall with conduit on the outside and then in the second storey well?

            • beltdrive on 02/06/2025 - 16:27

              @geekcohen: the NBN modem is in a central location, so getting a cable from there to an external wall would require a lot of ugly conduit inside the apartment unfortunately. plus there's no guarantee of getting strata approval for conduit on an external wall.

          • AustriaBargain on 02/06/2025 - 16:21
            +1

            @beltdrive: If you literally get no wifi at all downstairs then running a cable down there and plugging in a second wifi access point might be ag good idea, your devices will automatically connect to the appropriate one if the other one doesn't even show up when downstairs. Plus you'd be able to run more cables off that access point if you wanted.

  • seanfoite on 02/06/2025 - 16:16

    I had pretty good luck with Powerline when i used it years ago. Might be worth a shot if you can buy from somewhere that has a really good returns policy.

  • tobes on 02/06/2025 - 16:36

    Talk to other owners and also look for a service duct between the floors there may already be a penetration you can take advantage of to get a cable down.

  • Cronium on 02/06/2025 - 17:18

    Check your breaker box. Powerline only works if its on the same circuit, so if you have any breakers that cover both upstairs and downtairs it will probably work and be better than mesh.

  • plague69 on 02/06/2025 - 21:08

    What are the internal walls made of? If the internal walls are also concrete with rebar steel inside, you're gonna be in for some strife.

    On the other hand if the internal walls were partitioned after the building was built like most are, All you need are any two routers with one ethernet backlink.

    Wi-Fi radiation travels out in a doughnut shape most often for those external antennas you can position. Those would be the ones I would recommend using. I would go for high gain antennas as the doughnut shape is much more flat.

  • pscac001 on 02/06/2025 - 21:37
    +1

    "Mesh" has been used to mean different things at various times. At one point it referred to devices that would automatically configure wireless backhaul between themselves (as in a mesh topology), more recently it is being used to mean devices that hand off clients between APs. If you don't have any overlap between floors neither of those functions will provide much value to you.

    Personally, I would try to get a cable between floors. Is it double brick? Do you have access into the roof? If so, you could easily (have a licensed cabler) drop a cable down to the NTD and feed the other end down the wall cavity to the lower floor.

  • GordonD on 03/06/2025 - 10:28
    +1

    All 2 storey homes have a "duct" between the floors. Its called the stairwell.

    Put the wifi in the stairwell at the level of the separating floor. Its signal will go to both floors.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join