Weatherproof aiMesh node

[cputoaster]

Is there any product / idea available so I could mount an aimesh wifi-6 node on the outside of the house? I currently have 3x ax88u on asuswrt-merlin in aimesh config inside and really like the simplicity of it, but the (Swiss) house is pretty wifi-proof so the garden is not covered.

 

[L&LD]

Can you rearrange your nodes so that one is at/close/near a window to the garden?

I don't think anything AiMesh is weather-proof currently.

 

[CaptainSTX]

The only hardware purpose built for your application at this time is an AP designed for exterior use. This would require running an Ethernet cable run to this AP. Power would come over the Ethernet cable. The exterior APs I used came with the correct power injector.

Even with purpose built exterior APs the exposure to the elements, extreme swings in temperature, etc resulted in a short service life. I had to replace mine every twenty four months or so.

 

[cputoaster]

Can you rearrange your nodes so that one is at/close/near a window to the garden?

I don't think anything AiMesh is weather-proof currently.

Thanks for the confirmation. I actually have a router 1.5m behind a 4m x 2m window, but the windows are triple-insulated etc so they are actually even worse than the walls resulting in nearly no signal out there.

 

[L&LD]

I would then be testing to fine-tune where they are placed to find the best balance for now between inside/outside coverage. And this time; staying away from the windows.

Part of that fine-tuning is testing the channels in use at that node, if possible. Also, I would be seeing if the 2.4GHz band at 20Hz width made an impact too.

The other part of the testing would be to see how close/far from the outside wall the node needs to be placed (and at what specific point, too, along that wall) for the maximum coverage outside.

Don't be in a hurry to find these optimum relationships in your home. Make a change and live with it long enough to allow the surrounding/neighboring AP's to adjust to your home's setup too. Keep good notes of the overall network performance with each change and at the end of a relatively short time, you will have a good real-world map of what is optimum for your current combination of network hardware, firmware, clients and WiFi environment too.

 

[Smokindog]

Thanks for the confirmation. I actually have a router 1.5m behind a 4m x 2m window, but the windows are triple-insulated etc so they are actually even worse than the walls resulting in nearly no signal out there.

It's more likely the coatings on the glass causing the issues

I converted a waterproof sprinkler timer housing I had laying around into an "AP case" for outside. I bought some SMA barrel connectors to extend the antennas to the outside of the box and some short RP cables to connect the router from the inside. I don't use it a lot as I'm concerned that heat could be a long term issue. I did put couple 1.5" holes in the bottom and hot glued some screen over them for ventilation with an OLD small CPU fan powered by the router's USB.

It's mounted on the back of the bus garage under a soffit next to a switched outlet to cover the far back yard so I only turn it on for gatherings. It's a wired AP but that shouldn't matter. I already had a pair of CAT5E in an outside wall box.

A few weeks ago I saw some 3 meter RP-SMA cables at my local electronics store (think huge old school radio shack). They get a lot of their stuff surplus like an army/navy store Anyway, got me to thinking that I could maybe put the antennas hanging down from the soffit on the outside and mount the router inside. I've got a lot of projects in queue right now but may give it a try this summer if I get caught up.

 

[cputoaster]

I would then be testing to fine-tune where they are placed to find the best balance for now between inside/outside coverage. And this time; staying away from the windows.

Part of that fine-tuning is testing the channels in use at that node, if possible. Also, I would be seeing if the 2.4GHz band at 20Hz width made an impact too.

The other part of the testing would be to see how close/far from the outside wall the node needs to be placed (and at what specific point, too, along that wall) for the maximum coverage outside.

Don't be in a hurry to find these optimum relationships in your home. Make a change and live with it long enough to allow the surrounding/neighboring AP's to adjust to your home's setup too. Keep good notes of the overall network performance with each change and at the end of a relatively short time, you will have a good real-world map of what is optimum for your current combination of network hardware, firmware, clients and WiFi environment too.

Thanks for the hints. It already took me a while to place my 3 ax88u in the house in a way that all my iot (shelly et al) devices had good enough signal in the house. So I am not that keen on moving stuff again, but I guess I will keep the idea as a last resort...

 

[cputoaster]

It's more likely the coatings on the glass causing the issues

I converted a waterproof sprinkler timer housing I had laying around into an "AP case" for outside. I bought some SMA barrel connectors to extend the antennas to the outside of the box and some short RP cables to connect the router from the inside. I don't use it a lot as I'm concerned that heat could be a long term issue. I did put couple 1.5" holes in the bottom and hot glued some screen over them for ventilation with an OLD small CPU fan powered by the router's USB.

It's mounted on the back of the bus garage under a soffit next to a switched outlet to cover the far back yard so I only turn it on for gatherings. It's a wired AP but that shouldn't matter. I already had a pair of CAT5E in an outside wall box.

A few weeks ago I saw some 3 meter RP-SMA cables at my local electronics store (think huge old school radio shack). They get a lot of their stuff surplus like an army/navy store Anyway, got me to thinking that I could maybe put the antennas hanging down from the soffit on the outside and mount the router inside. I've got a lot of projects in queue right now but may give it a try this summer if I get caught up.

Yeah, would be nice to not have to do anything for some years after installing, but we thats probably not going to happen anytime soon. Might go a similar route and just buy one that I plug in outside when needed.