Upgrade antennas or add a WAP?

[chugbug]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for some advise. I'm upgrading a network at a small shop that relies mostly on WiFi. They only have two PC's that are hardwired, the rest are notebooks that rely on WiFi. I'm upgrading an older Cisco router that was installed about 5 years ago with a new Asus RT-AC87U.

I want to extend the WiFi (it's a metal building and the signal has to reach from one end to the other through a few walls), and was originally just considering upgrading the antennas, but was also wondering if maybe using another router as a WAP might be a better option.

Antenna upgrade... I did a lot of research on the Asus RT-AC87U, but wasn't able to find anything that says what size the stock antennas are, so if I did upgrade them, I didn't know what I'd be upgrading them from? Are they 2-dBi, 4? If I upgraded to 9dBi would that extend the coverage exponentially (if the stock are 4dBi, then the 9dBi would give me twice the coverage)?

WAP... Would the WAP option be better than just upgrading the antennas-- giving a more overall extended coverage over the antenna upgrade-- extending the bubble out rather than just pushing it out in one direction? Or would the WAP just cause other (setup or connection) issues, that would make the antenna upgrade a cleaner way to go?

What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Cordially...chugbug

 

[RogerSC]

I'd go with adding the access point(s), personally. I really wouldn't waste the time and money in fiddling with antennas. Given a metal building, etc., using an access point to provide wireless coverage where you need it sounds like a much better idea to me...pretty much guaranteed to work, and configuring access points is really pretty easy.

 

[chugbug]

Thanks for the advise Roger!

I was leaning toward that direction, but wasn't sure if the WAP option (instead of larger antennas) would just be introducing one more piece of hardware that could cause problems with the WiFi.

One more question if I may, about the router options for the WAP--

I have two different routers available to use: a) their current Cisco E3000, or another b) another Asus (a brand new RT-N56U I happen to have). Do you think it makes a difference which I'd use? Do you think pairing TWO Asus routers would be a cleaner setup, or don't you think it would matter?

If I'd decide based on the WAP setup, the Asus is much simpler to configure with it's Wireless/AP toggle in the firmware, where as the Cisco (although still fairly simple) needs to be setup manually. But then again, the Cisco router is already there.

Thanks again for your assistance!

Cordially...chugbug

 

[RogerSC]

I would try the Asus RT-N56U first, it's the easiest to set up and works well, and see how it works. I'm pretty sure that it would serve your purposes well. The RT-N56U isn't a great router for 5GHz., but as a wireless AP rather than trying to use it to cover the whole place will do a good job.

Also, I should add, that if you have a mind to try some alternative firmware on the RT-N56U, Padavan firmware is well thought of for reliability and performance on the RT-56U:

https://code.google.com/p/rt-n56u/

I've used this firmware on the RT-N56U, and it does help get better performance from this router. Don't know, though, if you're comfortable using firmware on a router that wasn't from the manufacturer, like RMerlin's firmware on other Asus routers, or dd-wrt, tomato, or OpenWRT.

Either way, the RT-N56U will most likely do what you need to do.

 

[chugbug]

Hi Roger,

Thanks for the additional information!

Firmware... I was reading some of the post about the custom firmware yesterday, and was considering trying it out (a post I found about the "Merlin" firmware during my initial research is what brought me to the SNB forum). I'm actually using an RT-56U router at home, so I was curious what the custom firmware might have to offer. If it helps with the performance, I don't mind trying something different. I used to use custom firmware on my old Linksys (WRT54GS) years ago, but hadn't tried any on the Asus.

What's different between the Asus firmware and the custom versions? You suggested I look at the Padavan-- what's the difference between Padavan and Merlin? Or some of the others? Are they tailored to specific needs?

One last question... If I try any of the custom firmware and don't like it, can I go back to the standard ASUS firmware? I'm currently using the stock version 3.0.0.4.376.3754 that was released about a month ago.

Thanks again for the assistance!

Cordially...chugbug

 

[stevech]

Poor coverage/weak signal - Antenna upgrades provide negligible improvements.

Custom firmware can't make the hardware better.

The answer is an Access Point or two.
Or a WDS repeater if you don't mind the speed penalty of such.