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I'm working for this project and they are launching a new Internet system to support 8 small housing units.

Currently the reception is REALLY bad and only one house gets interent connection (The house that powers the router). How can we maximize the range of the reception so all of the 8 houses will have full reception and internet connection?

I heard the following solutions:

  • Adding Antenas to the Router (There are big enough antennas? One would be enough?)
  • Adding a router for each housing unit. But does this mean we need to buy 7 more Modems as well? And how do we set it up?

Thanks.

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    You don't mention the Access Point you are using or the physical distance you are trying to cover. You would need to provide a site map for any answer here to be reliable... Also make up of the walls help, if there is metal in the walls signal will not be able to permeate. However if it's an apt complex and the walls are thin adding more access points may do more harm then good (less is more with large scale wireless deployments). Antenna may work but you NEED 2 and it helps greatly if the two antenna have line of site. Aug 16, 2012 at 15:19
  • In addition to what Kyle stated above, the direction of the other domiciles compared to the first also matters. Are they all on the same story? Are they all in a row? How are they arranged?
    – MaQleod
    Aug 16, 2012 at 17:43

2 Answers 2

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Adding Antenas to the Router (There are big enough antennas? One would be enough?)

I am assuming you are just talking about a consumer grade wireless router. If that is the case you probably cannot add an antenna and if you could, I doubt it would cover the area you are trying for.

Adding a router for each housing unit. But does this mean we need to buy 7 more Modems as well? And how do we set it up?

Not if you are just sharing one Internet connection to your ISP. You could use wireless access points or range extenders in the different houses.

As the comments alluded to: your question is much too vague.

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You should NOT be using or even considering consumer grade routers for a multi-tenant, multi-building setup.

I will be honest with you, it sounds like you are in over your head (especially if you are seriously attempting to share a DSL or cable internet connection among 8 houses - this is a bad idea for so, so many reasons) and need to contact a professional in this regard. What you are doing is a major infrastructural project requiring skilled and knowledgeable people if you want it done properly.

More antennas will not magically increase the range that a wireless signal can be sent out. More power will do that, but there is a legal limit to the amount of power wifi access points can put out. So then you are looking at using multiple access points, ensuring they are properly orchestrated by a controller (multiple controllers in your case most likely) and arranging the access points and channel assignments for optimum coverage. Not to mention you need distribution devices to carry internet from the area's ISP to each building's units.

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