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Ideal combination of Indoor & Outdoor access points?

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KenZ71

Senior Member
TLDR:

True 1st world problems that I know I am quite lucky to have & whine about.

A) Indoor & Outdoor Access Points needed
B) Outdoor looking to extend coverage 400 - 500 feet in 3 different directions
C) Home is a Faraday cage! Stone siding, metal mesh & metal roof

The details:
Looking to setup a new network in a new to me home and need some hardware recommendations.

Previously was using UAP-AC-Pro & UAP-AC-Lite but those seem to be getting a bit stale. I like the central management of Unifi.

Current home is quite rural with awful cell service so would like to cover a big chunk of the outdoors with WiFi. So the trick seems to be can one vendor do both indoor & outdoor? I know both Unifi & TP-Link among others have gear in both spaces but will one work better than the other? Would prefer one ecosystem and seemless roaming between indoor & outdoor access points.

Plans:
* home run with gigabit capable ethernet all indoor stuff. Will most likely re-use my Netgear semi-managed switch & Mikrotik Router to in-wall keystone jacks.
* Maybe fiber home runs (for better electrostatic shock resistance) outdoor stuff. Or Wireless back haul?
* a few cameras at the far reaches of those 400 foot runs
* solar field (maybe) for semi-offgrid ability

Already have Spectrum 400Mbit - its OK but feels slow sometimes. But still way better than the T-Mobile 5G gateway I had until Spectrum figured out how to pull coax 400 feet.

Edit: If your in NC PM me if you want to pull cable through attic, crawl space and Catfish from the pond. Plenty room for RVs - will have hookups in a month or so.
 
Last edited:
if the home has windows, it is not a Faraday cage. Too much leakage. You can put APs or directional antennas in the window to prove that.

unless you are mounting external antennas directly under the eave of the house, you need someone to professionally design a layout, maybe off of one or two poles in the field , say 200ft from the house and each other, with home run back to the house. Fiber would be best for that link, but you may be able to work with coax- get direct burial type. You could also use point to point wifi with directional antennas to span the 200 ft. Power will also be an issue, even with POE.
Lightning protection and differences in earth potential will be your two biggest issues to address. Those and running power need to be addressed professionally as there are NEC and state code issues with lightning mitigation and power installation.
 
if the home has windows, it is not a Faraday cage. Too much leakage.

It depends on what type of glass is used. My windows block RF better than the walls around. I don't know the brand, UV/IR shield glass.
 
Yeah, if there is a metal coating it will do that. I have uv/ir blocking igu glazing, but it passes 2.4 GHz quite well. Cannot grow plants worth a darn though.
 
Appreciate the comments so far. But my question is more does one vendor produce decent outdoor & indoor access points?

I'm leaning towards TP Link as they seem to be a bit fresher vs Unifi. Is that an accurate statement?
 
only for daises.
Huh?

As for the faraday cage I am currently sitting outside next to the exterior wall with no WiFi. If directly opposite on inside signal is near perfect.

Thinking I might mount a couple UAP-AC-LITEs to the soffits for coverage on deck. Gotta check their resistance to humidity.
 

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