Little Help for my House

[hedly]

Hello all. I'm asking for a little help on how to get wireless to a room in my house.

Network.
ATT to their DSL modem. I've turned off their wireless.
Modem to TP-Link AC1750 wireless router
TP-Link wired to DLink 1016D 16port Gigabit switch to various computers, and a file server.
TP-Link wireless to various phones,TV's, stereos, a tablet, and maybe a laptop in the guest bedroom.

The house is set up like this:

Basically the house is 'L' shaped, and roughly 50ft long x 50' deep with 25' wide legs.

House is wooden construction with stucco. There is a brick wall that separates the entrance/living room area from the master bedroom.

The TP-link wireless router is at the red dot.
Purple square is where phone/DSL enters the house and I've run multiple cat5 cables the living room and office.

I get decent WiFi in the Master and toilet (of course). But not in the Guest bedroom. In fact, I recently saw that my wife's iPhone was running 4G instead of the wireless which is why I write.

Question: Is it normal not to be able to get wireless from maybe 40ft away??
- signal goes through 3/4 walls including a brick wall and stucco.
- I can see a couple of my neighbors routers on my phone.

To fix the issue I was just thinking of using an older TP-link router I have as an access point at the light blue dot. Basically in the closet between the guest and kid's room.
- I actually have run a Cat5E cable around the outside of the house into the attic over the bedrooms, so I do have a wired link back to the switch.
- If I did this I assume that I should change the channel(s) so that it doesn't use the same as the primary router. I'd take recommendations on which channels to use.

Any suggestions, comments, recommendations.

Thanks in advance.

hEdly

 

[L&LD]

If you've left the router inside a closet, yes it's probably 'normal' to not have good/great coverage.

If you've wired the Living Room/Dining & Foosball rooms' adjoining wall, I would put it on that wall (as close to center of home as possible) with at least 3 feet free space all around it (including the ceiling). Basically move it to the right (across the Living room) and as close as possible to the wall connecting with the Kitchen.

There is no reason that a single router won't cover that area. Just think 'location, location, location' for the router placement.

 

[hedly]

L&LD,
Thanks for the quick reply. That is a good idea. But there are two limiting factors.

First, I would have to run my DSL line all the way there, then run the cat5 back to my switch. No, I didn't wire the Dining/Foosball area. Only wired the wall between the closet/storage room and the living room (well that and the cat5 over to the bedrooms for eventuality). Power would also be an issue; not much if it in this old late 50's house.

Second, and probably the bigger factor, is the Wife Acceptance Factor...aka the WAF. Right now the wireless router is in the closet where no one can see it. Mounting it out in the open would definitely bring the ire of the wifey...you know, blinky green lights and antennas and all. Also, there's no way to really hid the wires since most of the ceiling there is vaulted.

But, it it good to know that I could do it with a single router if I could put it in the middle-ish of the house.

So what about putting an access point (my old router) in between the guess and kids room? If I did go that route...any recommendations? channel settings? Any concerns I should consider?

Thanks again LL&D. Please don't think I'm ungrateful...I'm not dismissing your idea completely. It will certainly be the way to go if adding an AP in the bedrooms presents problems/issues.

R/hEdly

If you've left the router inside a closet, yes it's probably 'normal' to not have good/great coverage.

If you've wired the Living Room/Dining & Foosball rooms' adjoining wall, I would put it on that wall (as close to center of home as possible) with at least 3 feet free space all around it (including the ceiling). Basically move it to the right (across the Living room) and as close as possible to the wall connecting with the Kitchen.

There is no reason that a single router won't cover that area. Just think 'location, location, location' for the router placement.

 

[L&LD]

The second factor (WAF) is probably the easiest to deal with.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineemiller/how-to-hide-your-router?utm_term=.suywyjObP#.foLqbdWP0

The above is one creative idea. Hopefully this will jump start your own ideas.

The two wires and power to the router? I'm sure it's just a matter of doing it (don't forget about flat Ethernet cable and possibly flat phone line (DSL line) and power cables too).

I would leave things messy for a couple of hours (just wires everywhere, ) and see if a single router would cover your required areas. If it does, it is always a more optimal solution than a router + AP.

Have fun with this!