[practical series] full WiFi coverage at home

This article mainly introduces how to realize "home..." wifi Full coverage and Tolerable Seamless switching , This is a problem that has bothered me for a long time . The relevant experience is hereby summarized , Hope to be helpful to the students who have the same trouble .

This paper is divided into the following parts , Want to get the solution directly , You can see the last part .

• Indoor layout leads to poor signal of single route
• Dual route slotted handoff , It is inconvenient to use
• MESH Networking and AC-AP networking
• The final solution

Indoor layout wifi The signal is bad.

Our family is not big ,90 Flat small three rooms , But because of the indoor layout of the separation of motion and static , As a result, a single router needs to pass through two walls to reach the master bedroom and the small bedroom , And then lead to the master bedroom and the small bedroom wifi The signal is weak , Limited network speed . The layout is as follows ：

Indoor layout

As you can see from the diagram , Only in the living room 、 The second bedroom can enjoy better wifi The signal , The master bedroom and the small bedroom are miserable .

At first I thought the router was cheap , So I gritted my teeth and bought a more expensive router . However , There are still similar problems . therefore , Don't believe how powerful the wall piercing technology introduced by various routers is , Meet two walls , The signal attenuation will be very severe . Although it's OK to watch the video , Be able to bear , But playing online games is sometimes good and sometimes bad , A Caton at the critical moment , It will be really urgent .

In intolerable circumstances , I bought a routing signal intensifier . The layout is shown in the figure below ：

Signal intensifier layout

This time the intensifier will only go through one wall . Yes ,wifi The signal is full , But the Internet speed is still very slow , It's a waste of money again . As for why the intensifier doesn't work , I guess it's because the booster still needs to go through the wireless signal from the router , This is equivalent to that the devices in the master bedroom and small bedroom need to hop twice to access the external network . Of course , It may also be that the intensifier I bought doesn't work , But I definitely won't buy any more .

There is another problem with using the intensifier , In the living room , The signal connecting the router and the intensifier is strong . Since the enhancer and the router share 1 individual SSID（wifi name ）, In many cases , The equipment in the living room is connected with an intensifier , The Internet speed will slow down instead . but , You can't put the intensifier in the second bedroom or the small bedroom , Because the intensifier will also face the problem of two walls .

Dual route slotted handoff

later , I thought that since there are two routers （ Because I don't think the first router is good , Bought the second one ）, Then why not use both routers . One for the living room , Another small bedroom , So there is no problem of two walls . The layout is as follows ：

Dual router layout

exactly , After using both routers , The small bedroom and master bedroom can enjoy better wifi Signal and network speed . but , There is still a problem ： You need to manually connect different routers in different places , Perform sensible switching . Although it works , But it is still a little insufficient . This program , It took me nearly two years , This kind of sensible switching has been bothering me . however , Not very painful , So it has not been solved .

MESH Networking and AC-AP networking

Search online , For home networking MESH Networking and AC-AP The two networking schemes , But I haven't understood . Look at all kinds of big guys talking about big houses , use AC-AP The best plan , but MESH and AC-AP The cost is not low , Need some support MESH and AC-AP The hardware .

lately , Because the epidemic is at home , Originally, only the weekend needs to feel wifi Switching problem , This time I experienced it frequently for a month . I want to , Is it possible to use existing equipment to MESH and AC-AP networking ？ therefore , Took the time to get to know MESH Networking and AC-AP networking . The following two schemes are briefly introduced , Students interested in related technologies , You can search for information about .

MESH networking

mesh The meaning of "net" 、 grid . seeing the name of a thing one thinks of its function ,MESH Networking means that multiple routers form a network , These routers can identify and automatically network with each other .

Here's a concept ： Wireless relay . Wireless relay means , A router can be connected to another router wifi Signal expansion . Mentioned at the beginning wifi Signal extender , This is the technology used . but , This technology is a series connection technology of routers , As shown in the figure below ：

Schematic diagram of wireless relay

It is quite intuitive to see , The disadvantage of wireless relay is that it can only be connected in series , This will cause the request to go through more routers , This leads to greater network latency . actual , The wireless extender I've used doesn't work well . that MESH What is networking ？ Let's look at the picture below ：

MESH Networking diagram

MESH Networking is a technology in which routers are connected in parallel , Multiple routers can be interconnected , Use the same SSID, namely wifi name , It can also be well realized wifi Seamless switching .

MESH Networking is divided into wireless MESH And cable MESH, Wired is better than wireless , because wifi There is a problem of weak signal when crossing multiple walls . Interested students can check more information . I read an article with a clear introduction , You can refer to ：https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/352135931

AC-AP networking

Say again AC-AP networking , This is also the final solution I used . however , I use the existing equipment , Made a cheap version AC-AP, In a normal family AC-AP The cost is not low .

First, let's introduce the concept ：

• AC（WirelessAccess Point Controller）： Wireless network controller , It's used to manage AP The equipment .
• AP（Access Point）： Wireless network signal access point , That is to say, it should be placed where it is needed wifi Equipment in coverage area .

therefore ,AC-AP The networking scheme is one central controller plus several wifi Access point solutions . This scheme is generally used in campus network or company . You can recall that the school and the company are all connected by the same wifi, Signals for each area 、 The Internet speed is pretty good . This is because there is a AP equipment , It is usually a ceiling equipment . The specific networking is shown in the figure below ：

AC-AP Schematic diagram of networking scheme

For families , To buy a AC、POE、 All in one router , No need to purchase three devices separately . actually ,AP It is equivalent to a belt wifi Switchboard , Note that this is not a router . The difference between a router and a switch is , One is three-layer network communication , One is layer-2 network communication . in other words , adopt AC-AP After networking of the scheme , Different access AP Devices of can be assigned to the same network segment IP, They are connected to the same gateway . Why explain this , In order to facilitate me to say the final solution . about AC-AP, If you want to know more, you can check the information by yourself . I saw a good article , You can refer to ：https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/340784273

The final solution

As mentioned above , My final solution is AC-AP, And didn't buy more equipment . Realized wifi Full coverage , And tolerable seamless switching . The final layout is shown in the figure below ：

The layout of the final solution

As you can see from the diagram , The final solution is similar to the dual routing solution , The only difference is that the two routers are taken as AP, Instead of a separate router . also , The two routers have the same settings SSID, So in the whole house , Only one is provided wifi. however , The premise of this scheme is , The router needs to support AP Pattern . I bought two routers , One is Tengda AC23, The other is Huawei AX3 Pro, Fortunately, both routers support AP Pattern . Set the router to AP After the model , You can't use it “ Routing functions ” 了 , Routers degenerate into switches , Of all equipment in the house IP All allocations must be made through AC node . My family AC The node is the self-contained optical cat when installing the network , It has a routing function , So I can save a router .

Why is it “ Tolerable ” Seamless switching ？ Because from one area to another , It depends on the equipment itself wifi Switching capability . The general equipment is in wifi After the signal weakens , Will be in For a certain period of time （ Self test at 5 To 10s） Search for nearby with the same name and stronger signal wifi equipment , This is also why the two routers SSID Set to 1 There are two reasons . If not set to the same SSID, From the perspective of the device, there are still two wifi, Even if they are set to AP Pattern , You still need to switch manually . Here we talk about automatic switching within a certain period of time , That's what I'm talking about 【 Tolerable 】 Seamless switching .

Some students may be confused , that Doesn't it take so much trouble , Set the two routers directly to the same SSID That's all right. , You don't need to use AP Pattern . In fact, you can , I have also tested myself , But there is still a problem . Because two routers are equivalent to two independent subnets , Have different network segments , After the device switches to another router , Need to reassign a IP. At this time, the application on our device will be opened because IP Changed , Re establish network connection , This is a more sensible process . And set to AP Pattern , because IP The allocation of is made by AC Unified management of nodes , After switching routers , Still in the same network segment , The equipment IP It is the same. . At this time, the application on the device will only retry the network connection once , No new connections will be re established , This can achieve the effect of seamless switching .

summary

Final , Through existing equipment , I realized a cheap version of AC-AP Networking Scheme , Also reached the whole house wifi Coverage and tolerable seamless switching . Students with similar problems are welcome to discuss . Come on , With all of you .

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