It worked a little better once I hard-wired the main floor to the basement one. I had went through a series of routers (with and without repeaters) to try to get full coverage, and found the Google Wifi worked fairly well. I found that my 3 pack of Google Wifi worked ok with just the wireless connection. Even better if you can hard wire them together, since you can get a more reliable connection. The difference between Google Wifi and your Linksys router is that the Google Wifi acts as a repeater if you get more than one of them, so it will get more coverage. The solution I found that works for me was a 3-pack of Google Wifi, with one in the basement (connected to the modem), a 2nd on the main floor (connected by cat5 to the one in the basement) and a 3rd on the 2nd floor (connected wirelessly). I'm in similar situation with an old lath and plaster house. I'm glad to listen to things I already know as it's usually useful.
![wifi lathe and plaster walls wifi lathe and plaster walls](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/78/9d/32/789d32f2aee2495d2f27355151581e3a.jpg)
I'm a new DIY guy with this, so any insights are appreciated and I ask that you not assume much knowledge on my part. A person on a home networking reddit told me that my Cat 5 is good. But if mesh Wifi isn't going to solve my problem, perhaps I should reconsider that advice. Second, are plaster walls particularly difficult for Wifi?īased on what Leviton's tech support guy said, I'd abandon the idea of hooking up my Cat 5. Is it true that a mesh router and my Linksys have the same problem? Seems like it must be using either its 2.4 or 5.0 GHz band to do so and, therefore, is subject to the same transmission problems through walls as my Linksys EA4500 router, which has 2.4 and 5.0 bands. He mentioned Google Nest Wifi, which brings me here with questions.įirst, I don't understand how this system connects between its router and points. A Leviton tech support person told me, essentially, not to waste my time and money hooking it up, and rather go with better Wifi. In the past day, I've received conflicting advice about the worthiness of my Cat 5. This scenario has me thinking hard about terminating my Cat 5 and I've spent much of the past two weeks learning about home networking. I keep two ATT landlines: one for old relatives to call us (because they can't learn new things like phone numbers) and another for professional communication with the IRS (because they aren't allowed to use email). We pay for 100Mbps Comcast internet, do not have, and do not intend to have, Cable TV service. There is some kind of internet ready TV that we're not using much. The current load on bandwidth is 4 iPhones, one iPad (streaming movies most of its life), four laptops, one desk top. However, my people (who may increase by one more due to the economic effect of the pandemic) are Wifi users and I need to improve it significantly. I'm self-employed and work from a basement home office and would prefer, personally, to use Wifi as little as possible. Now the babies are home from college trying to do school online, my wife is trying to do medicine online, and everyone is yelling at me about the Wifi. Wifi technology improved, more babies were born, the electrician went AWOL.
![wifi lathe and plaster walls wifi lathe and plaster walls](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TdYxP52JJCk/maxresdefault.jpg)
![wifi lathe and plaster walls wifi lathe and plaster walls](https://empire-s3-production.bobvila.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/lathandplaster2.jpeg)
Back in 1997, our principal use was cable TV, ATT phone service, and dial-up internet. None of the wire is terminated on either end, save for two Cat 3 lines into phone jacks on the second floor. Prior to moving in, my now AWOL electrician pulled seven home runs of coax, Cat 3 and Cat 5 from seven second-floor locations to the basement. The plaster appears to be 0.5 to 0.75 inches thick. In 1997, I purchased my 1890 two-floor home with plaster walls (wood lath). Seeking some advice about decisions about improving Wifi in my home and whether to connect Cat 5 cable that I pulled 23 years ago.