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Forum Discussion
RBK752 placement and outdoor Ring cameras
Hi there looking for some guidance on placement as I'm new to Mesh. Decided to take the plunge on the RBK752 wifi6 pack and setup based on known issues getting to outside Ring cameras. Now its setup the connection is better to outside cameras but maybe not as good as I was expecting. Internally much better.
I've setup router and 1 satellite placement to corners on opposite ends of my 2 storey house downstairs to be as close to the external cameras as possible. The third is upstairs and fairly central.
The cameras are setup on a house with stone and concrete walls - the worst connection (Ring doorbell Pro using mains power) is giving me a RSSI of 70 despite only being around 6-7 feet from the Orbi router itself (and it is connected to the router). Its having to go through 2-3 walls to get there and each is concrete and stone faced.
3 Replies
Stone/concrete are 2 of the worst materials for wifi as it blocks very well.
Which Building Materials Can Block Wi-Fi Signals? (eyenetworks.no)
And the AX spec didn't up the broadcast power because that's set by the FCC so you don't see a whole lot of additional penetration from AX routers. Its a little more effecient at lower power which is why it "has more range". But even if the AX device does penetrate better for the camera's, the camera's antenna/broadcast isn't any better so its return signal is still going to be weak.
cheechy wrote:The cameras are setup on a house with stone and concrete walls - the worst connection (Ring doorbell Pro using mains power) is giving me a RSSI of 70 despite only being around 6-7 feet from the Orbi router itself (and it is connected to the router). Its having to go through 2-3 walls to get there and each is concrete and stone faced.
As plemans commented, concrete and stone are remarkably effective at blocking WiFi signals and Ring doorbells do not contain "AX" WiFi. I am struggling to imagine 2-3 walls in 6-7 feet.
Perhaps it would help if you could make a rough drawing of the house showing where the Orbi router and Ring doorbell is and which walls are concrete and stone. Depending on the placement of the doorbell, there might be a way to use a WiFi extender to reach it, either (a) through the door or (b) through the wall. (Scan or snap a picture of the drawing and attach it to a post using the "Browse" button in the lower left. Images posted "in-line" using the Photos icon on the menu bar have to be approved by a forum moderator, which can take hours.)
2.4G WiFi penetrates better 5G WiFi. I would place a WiFi "extender" either (a) inside in a location that can "see" the doorbell through the door or (b) on the wall directly behind the doorbell. TP-Link N300 sells for $18US on Amazon. Netgear EX3700 is about $30US. They would be set up to communicate with the Orbi WiFi and create their own 2.4G WiFi access point with a different name (SSID). The doorbell would connect to that SSID.
(Normally, the whole point of "mesh" WiFi is to have one SSID that covers the entire building so that devices can roam from one access point to another seamlessly. Once connected to WiFi, doorbells do not roam. So using a separate SSID isn't really an issue.)
