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I've tried multiple solutions, actually. Re: ethernet, everything that can be ethernet in our home, is. All of our consoles & desktops are on ethernet, as is ou

I've tried multiple solutions, actually. Re: ethernet, everything that can be ethernet in our home, is. All of our consoles & desktops are on ethernet, as is our printer. Fortunately our home was built with ethernet installed. The problem is my laptop and handheld devices (which don't support ethernet obviously). For these, we've tried various routers, multiple locations for the router (though this is somewhat limited), and even setting up multiple access points. The problem with access points, is that WiFi devices are notorious for hanging on too aggressively to the wrong (weaker) access point. So we found we were frequently having to manually switch between the access points. So I gave up with that, and decided to go back to a single router. Which is why, as you say, I keep shopping for better and better WiFi.

simoncion 11y ago
This feature may be present in other manufacturer's devices, but I know that Ubiquiti's UniFi APs let you set a minimum client signal strength [0], below which the AP will disassociate the client. [1] Folks in the support forums report that this works really well, but that you do have to play around to find the right setting. The three downsides to UniFi APs are: * There is controller software which is required to configure (but not run) the APs. * The price of the UAP-AC v1 and v2 models. * Every AP setting change requires that the controller reboot the affected AP. The APs take ~60 seconds to reboot. The controller software is reasonably well done [2], easy enough to use, and makes managing a swarm of APs pretty easy. I fire it up when I need to change channel settings or add an SSID or whatever and shut it down afterwards. I hear that Ubiquiti is going to be releasing some new, lower-priced 802.11ac units soon-ish-ly that aren't much slower than (and are much less power hungry than) their existing 802.11ac units. So, if you want to give their hardware a try, you might want to wait until the new units are released. (Edit: Unless -of course- you don't care about 802.11ac, in which case I hear good things about the UAP-Pro, which does 2.4 and 5Ghz 802.11n.) If you have questions about the APs or controller software, feel free to ask. [0] AKA RSSI. [1] The idea is that the newly-disassociated client will search for a new AP to attach to, find that the one it was ignoring has better signal strength after all, and attach to it, rather than the previous one it was attached to. [2] It's some Java software that presents a web page on localhost that you log in to to manage your existing APs and adopt new ones that you've attached to your network.

simoncion 11y ago

This feature may be present in other manufacturer's devices, but I know that Ubiquiti's UniFi APs let you set a minimum client signal strength [0], below which the AP will disassociate the client. [1] Folks in the support forums report that this works really well, but that you do have to play around to find the right setting. The three downsides to UniFi APs are: * There is controller software which is required to configure (but not run) the APs. * The price of the UAP-AC v1 and v2 models. * Every AP setting change requires that the controller reboot the affected AP. The APs take ~60 seconds to reboot. The controller software is reasonably well done [2], easy enough to use, and makes managing a swarm of APs pretty easy. I fire it up when I need to change channel settings or add an SSID or whatever and shut it down afterwards. I hear that Ubiquiti is going to be releasing some new, lower-priced 802.11ac units soon-ish-ly that aren't much slower than (and are much less power hungry than) their existing 802.11ac units. So, if you want to give their hardware a try, you might want to wait until the new units are released. (Edit: Unless -of course- you don't care about 802.11ac, in which case I hear good things about the UAP-Pro, which does 2.4 and 5Ghz 802.11n.) If you have questions about the APs or controller software, feel free to ask. [0] AKA RSSI. [1] The idea is that the newly-disassociated client will search for a new AP to attach to, find that the one it was ignoring has better signal strength after all, and attach to it, rather than the previous one it was attached to. [2] It's some Java software that presents a web page on localhost that you log in to to manage your existing APs and adopt new ones that you've attached to your network.