[Blocking Wifi] - Townhome - Pre-Construction - InWall Aluminum Foil?

[tilhasbb]

This is going to be an interesting one for you guys

I purchased a townhome that is 5 houses sandwiched together, 2 floors of 1000sq.ft each for each unit.
I'm a middle unit unfortunatly which means there is going to be a ton of overlap.
The builder is making these houses "smart homes" so there are 3 wifi router locations, 2nd floor on ceiling in central, or LV Closet in laundry room and 1st floor ceiling in the center.
Between each unit is 2 layers of 1/2'' drywall, 2inch air gap and 1/2'' firewall.

Do you think if I put Aluminum on the on the studs before drywall (shinny side towards other unit) would that block/attenuate the neighbours wifi signal or there will be too many gaps between each stud that it's pointless?

 

[L&LD]

I believe that will be pointless.

I have a few customers with full sheet metal walls and the WiFi still finds its way through to 50' past them.

Unless you want to live inside a (full) metal cage, save your money and your energy/time.

 

[Tech9]

This is not needed.

 

[tilhasbb]

I don't think blocking it 100% is possible. I was thinking of it would attenuate wifi signal from the neighbours.

 

[Tech9]

The more reflective materials you have around the harder for your own routers to work in this environment.

 

[heysoundude]

Roxul's Safe-N-Sound is made from rock slag from steelmaking, and they have a compressed, rigid, board-like product that has an attached foil backing - it's pretty good at preventing wifi from passing through walls BUT as others have said, you'll have troubles blocking it completely.

What would be best would be to get together with your neighbours and do some channel coordination so that none of you step on anybody else's toes: I come from a showbiz background, and with wireless microphones and wireless in-ear-monitors and wireless instruments and and and, when a self-contained act had to do a show with others in a specific venue, wireless coordination was the only way the show was able to go without a hitch, because overlapping frequencies can cause troubles. It's exactly the same in this High density residential wifi scenario - talk to your neighbours and work things out so that everybody gets what they need. there are plenty of 5GHz channels for a scenario like yours, and with 3 APs per unit, there shouldn't be much reason to use 2.4GHz band

There's also another option: get the fastest Internet connection available, share the cost among all the neighbours, and have ONE network everybody in the building uses. This will also involve talking with your neighbours.

 

[BreakingDad]

 

[Tech9]

There's also another option: get the fastest Internet connection available, share the cost among all the neighbours, and have ONE network everybody in the building uses. This will also involve talking with your neighbours.

This is not allowed by most ISP's and is not advisable for responsibility, convenience, privacy and some more reasons.

 

[heysoundude]

View attachment 39078

LOL, that's a option too: no wifi for ANYBODY. if it doesn't have an ethernet port, it'll be unusable. (some people might appreciate that...)

Actually, since the dwelling is pre-construction, this is the perfect time for OP to specify where they want ethernet ports in addition to wireless AP locations...like where the smart TV will be mounted, or in a room designated as a home office etc etc.
Data infrastructure is getting to be as important as electrical/HVAC/plumbing in homes, IMO.

 

[heysoundude]

This is not allowed by most ISP's and is not advisable for responsibility, convenience, privacy and some more reasons.

that option was included to get the OP to consider the few options available to them, this example being the least preferred one by most of the neighbours no doubt.

 

[tilhasbb]

Roxul's Safe-N-Sound is made from rock slag from steelmaking, and they have a compressed, rigid, board-like product that has an attached foil backing - it's pretty good at preventing wifi from passing through walls BUT as others have said, you'll have troubles blocking it completely.

What would be best would be to get together with your neighbours and do some channel coordination so that none of you step on anybody else's toes: I come from a showbiz background, and with wireless microphones and wireless in-ear-monitors and wireless instruments and and and, when a self-contained act had to do a show with others in a specific venue, wireless coordination was the only way the show was able to go without a hitch, because overlapping frequencies can cause troubles. It's exactly the same in this High density residential wifi scenario - talk to your neighbours and work things out so that everybody gets what they need. there are plenty of 5GHz channels for a scenario like yours, and with 3 APs per unit, there shouldn't be much reason to use 2.4GHz band

There's also another option: get the fastest Internet connection available, share the cost among all the neighbours, and have ONE network everybody in the building uses. This will also involve talking with your neighbours.

I have Roxul Safe-N-Sound in my current home between everywall and ceiling. Does nothing to attenuate the wifi signal.

I'll have to wait for me to move in to meet my neighbours and see what I can do.

I've already got CAT6 in every room and one at 5ft for every TV. I like having my TV's hardwired to reduce network congestion.

 

[Tech9]

that option was included to get the OP to consider the few options available to them

This is an idea with potential legal and technical difficulties involved. This is not a viable option. @tilhasbb, don't waste your time.

 

[heysoundude]

This is an idea with potential legal and technical difficulties involved. This is not a viable option. @tilhasbb, don't waste your time.

You forgot something, @Tech9 :
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[Tech9]

Yes, I know what I'm talking about very well and trying to save @tilhasbb time by skipping the bad ideas from people who don't know.

 

[Tech9]

The builder is making these houses "smart homes" so there are 3 wifi router locations, 2nd floor on ceiling in central, or LV Closet in laundry room and 1st floor ceiling in the center.

If you can, ask for ceiling drops in rooms close to the ends. The best setup for you will be SMB centrally managed access points. Two in the middle on top of each other is not the best placement. Most ceiling access points are slightly directional downwards. Two on top floor in both ends may cover the place better and with better roaming. One in the basement eventually. Definitely keep your network yours - no sharing with neighbors.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Between each unit is 2 layers of 1/2'' drywall, 2inch air gap and 1/2'' firewall.

Off hand, that sounds like a marginal firewall... I would have expected 8" concrete-filled masonry block like is done for stair wells... which would block some noise and WiFi, too. But I guess I'm not up-to-speed on current construction practices/materials.

OE

 

[tilhasbb]

Off hand, that sounds like a marginal firewall... I would have expected 8" concrete-filled masonry block like is done for stair wells... which would block some noise and WiFi, too. But I guess I'm not up-to-speed on current construction practices/materials.

OE

Builders today go as cheap as possible as long as city inspectors accepts it. Some build codes are from 1990s lol

If you only know the kind of things I'm yelling at the builder for.

 

[sfx2000]

I purchased a townhome that is 5 houses sandwiched together, 2 floors of 1000sq.ft each for each unit.
I'm a middle unit unfortunatly which means there is going to be a ton of overlap.

Guess it is time to buy another house then...

Seriously though, it's not going to be as bad as you may think - adjacent and co-channel rejection min specs are much better in 802.11n/ac/ax - wait until you move in...

 

[northumberland]

This is not allowed by most ISP's and is not advisable for responsibility, convenience, privacy and some more reasons.

Privacy being the concern to the individual, and as you rightly say, legal complications, though in some areas you might find the ISP will be willing to allow this to give rural access to otherwise non-connected addresses.

Sharing your wan IP with other users could find you getting a visit for any nefarious activity users get up to.

 

[sfx2000]

Sharing your wan IP with other users could find you getting a visit for any nefarious activity users get up to.

Off hand, but that might be an upside of CGNAT, where a public IP could represent a large number of internal IP's... 4,194,304 to be exact

(CGNAT is a /10 range)