Best option for network connection

Hello!

I live on the upper floor of a multistory house with several residents. All the washing machines are in the cellar, but we have another floor below that, that is the most silent place in the whole building. Some booths for stuff to store and people only rarely come down here.

So I want to place it in my own private booth there and fortunately I have power there. I tried with several setups to get WiFi through 4 concrete floors, but had no luck.

Has anybody an idea how to solve that with WiFi? Maybe two directional antennas?
What about LAN over power line adapters? Do they create a lot of interferences with the SB or would two directional WiFi routers be a problem?

Thanks for any advice on my problem,
Chris

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Sounds like an “interesting” problem.

Powerline adapters are unlikely to work. I assume each floor has its own power metering? There is usually filtering in the power meters to attempt to reduce interference to the customer. Those adapters rarely work between separate metered circuits.

You might get a strong enough 2.4GHz WiFi signal between floors, but it is highly likely that your neighbors are using WiFi, and probably 2.4GHz. There are very few channels in that band, so interference is highly likely. 5GHz has a lot more space, so interference is less likely, but so is the prospect of that penetrating that much concrete.

One floor separation from multiple washing machines might not be as good as you would hope. You may actually be better off having the Shake in your apartment.

What I might do in your situation:

Read the documentation on setting up your Shake in “standalone” (no internet) mode, and run it for a few days in your apartment. Check the data to see what it looks like. Then repeat the experiment with it in your basement. Let the data quality guide you as to the best placement.

Assuming that the basement looks best, I would use a WiFi app on my cell phone to see what channels are in use, and how strong the signals are - can you see YOUR WiFi signal???

If you can see your own WiFi from the basement, even if it is very weak, then consider installing a point to point link using reasonably powerful radios with directional antennas. I use a pair of Ubiquiti Networks airMAX NanoStationlocoM 2.4 GHz.

Another option to explore, depending upon which country you are in, how old the house is, etc. would be to check for wiring conduits in the walls which probably run vertically to distribute (at least) power. Slipping a Cat 6e cable into there may or may not be easy.

If you can borrow a LAN over power setup, it may be worth a try. I wouldn’t buy one myself until I knew it worked, because it most likely won’t. It should not affect the Shake.

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Hello Philip,

that is a ton of useful information. Thank you very much. I’ll first try to get “standalone” data and then decide what to do next.

Best regards,
Chris

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Brief report back: I could successfully establish a network connection (roughly
30MBit) with a power line adapter! About 40 Euros and one uses about 2 Watts according to the Eve smart power plug for measurement.

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That is more than adequate. The requirements are quite minimal.
Here is a quick snapshot of the utilization of my link over a couple of minutes:

I am guessing that your home and basement area are on the same meter? Either that or the electricity meters in your country don’t include RF filters (??).

So I am guessing that you found the basement area quieter than your apartment? Even with the washing machines just above.

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I’m switching between too many activities, so I haven’t thoroughly tested it. :sweat_smile:
Will report back, when I focus on the Raspberry Shake again.

And yes, it is all on the same meter. My old Ferraris energy counter gets replaced as I have installed a small size solar panel and I hope the new digital doesn’t cut the connection. I guess not.

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