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The landlord's WiFi dead zone that took me 3 weeks to fix
I moved into a new place in Austin last month and my bedroom, where I work, had basically no signal. Thought it was my laptop or router acting up. Turns out there's a concrete wall between the living room and bedroom that kills the signal. I finally bought a $30 mesh extender from Best Buy and now it works fine. Has anyone else dealt with weird building materials messing up their home office setup?
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zarat372mo ago
Wait, why would you need an extender or a powerline adapter in a 1920s apartment? I lived in a prewar building in Chicago for two years and never had a single dead spot. The thick plaster walls with lath and stuff actually helped bounce the signal around in my place. I think the real issue is usually where you put the router, not what the walls are made of. If your landlord lets you, just moving the router a few feet can fix everything for free. Have you tried doing a site survey with a free wifi analyzer app to find the best spot in your unit first?
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scott.alex2mo ago
My buddy in Denver found out the hard way that his 1920s apartment has steel mesh in the plaster walls, took him two extenders and a powerline adapter to get signal in his bathroom.
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evan_grant702mo ago
1920s buildings are a nightmare for wifi, @ross.kim. I had a similar issue in my old place but I got around it by running a cable through the ceiling vent. Not perfect but better than two extenders.
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ross.kim2mo ago
Steel mesh in the plaster? That's wild. I honestly had no idea they built walls like that in the 1920s. Makes me feel lucky my concrete slab was just a single thick wall, not some hidden metal fortress.
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