Old house with plaster and lath slowing down airport express?
My airport express worked fine in my previous house. I recently moved and my new (older 1920's) house construction seems "thicker" and the wi-fi drops all the time. The house also may be a bit bigger but it seems like such a radical change from how well everything was working at the previous place. When I play itunes over the wi-fi to the living room surround sound it drops on and off as well. I have to go into the hallway to get a connection for my ipad from the bedroom. This is all driving me nuts! Do I need to get an airport extreme? If so will it really make a difference?
Plaster and metal lathe walls are like steel for a wireless signal.
Unfortunately, this is a "worst case" scenario for wireless in a home. In this type of constuction, you really need to have line-of-sight between your wireless router and wireless devices....or very close to it.
or
You need to run Ethernet cabling to the areas where you need more wireless signal and add AirPorts in those locations to provide more wireless coverage.
If you cannot run the Ethernet cabling, it is possible that Ethernet powerline adapters might be able to send a signal over the existing AC power lines in the home....but I'm not optimistic about this if much of the wiring is "original"
A different router will not help since the signal power of wireless routers is limited by law...they are all about the same.
If it were me, I would call in an IT specialist who can come out to survey the house, take some measurements with test equipment, and propose the right system for your needs.
Otherwise, trial and error can result in a lot more headaches..and more expense as well.
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