Cabling for WiFi - No kidding

Cabling for WiFi - sounds much like - Dress-up to get naked, an oxymoron, but effective. If you think I am crazy, let me tell you the whole story and then you decide.

I have two WiFi-enabled network devices, a broadband connection and about half  a dozen consumer devices like computers and cell phones.My network devices were an ADSL 2 WiFi modem and a D-Link router, each with 4-port connectivity. I live in Mumbai in a 3-BHK and have at least 3 very active internet users at home. The point -- I needed my WiFi setup such that each one of us could comfortably (and reliably) access the internet from their preferred location. Needless to say the 3-bedrooms and the hall HAD to have WiFi available at all times.

I tried different combinations regarding the positions of the modem and the router, but no matter where I placed the devices, the yield just wouldn't cover the entire area. For the first and probably the only time in my life I wished the house had been a little smaller. Buying a 3rd device was not an option because even with 2 devices the connection was not very reliable because of the walls, doors and other structural factors. These constraints were something over which I had totally no control. I was convinced the 3rd device would not help. Besides, I was told by my ISP, who also is my telecom provider, that the more I parallelize the incoming line (voice + data) by using sockets in different rooms, the weaker the signal will get. This will not only affect  internet connections but also telephone conversations. Also, I was told there was no way to boost this signal. So having different devices for different locations was straight-away ruled out. Besides, even if this would have worked, it would be 3 different networks. This would just make the device-to-device communication more tedious. Am no network expert, so I ruled out the geeky options of bridging all the network devices so that  all (at least 4) computers come in the same network.

Forced to stick to 2 devices with an overwhelming urge for simplicity, I decided to live with the problem for some time only to encounter another set of funny situations. These other situations were

1. We had to cluster in one location, if the other location was occupied or was distracting enough (like TV)
2. With 3 of us clustering into one room and one port being occupied to connect to the other device, each one had to be content with a quota of of one network port each. So I could either chat on my cell phone or check emails on my laptop. The desktop would often starve for any kind of connectivity.
3. Finally, since the modem was in my room I could never close its door, since it would break the connectivity at the other end. An extreme variant of this used to happen when I would want to sleep and somebody would need to work through the night.

After a few sleepless nights, I thought of cabling up right to the other end of the house so that the modem and the router would be connected by Ethernet cable instead of being connected wirelessly like they were now. I thought it was a pretty smart move since all connectivity problems could get resolved without having to deal with the funny situations mentioned above.  When I proposed it at home, it was shot down by a huge margin and I was given a sound lecture on aesthetics since the cable would "annihilate" any sense of beauty that the walls may possess.

Not the one to give up easily and being convinced about the merit of my solution, I started thinking about how to find a golden mean that would satisfy both the parties. One night, while lying on my bed, it just struck me that somehow if I can get the Cat 5 Ethernet cable pass through the same ducts as electricity wires in the house then I could possibly get my solution implemented without others objecting. Voila, that sounded like a plan and the next thing I was doing was - talking to my electrician.

When I ran my idea through him, he said he had never wired an ethernet cable, nor had he done any concealed cabling from one end to the other in an occupied house. Doing it for electricity wires when the house is unoccupied is routine for him but not for ethernet cables; not simply because the cables are thicker than wires but also the layout for an under-construction house is known, but for an occupied house it is next to impossible if the layout is not known.

I appreciated his set of problems and the next thing we were doing is looking for the electricity duct layouts in the housing agreement and talking to the developer of the real estate. After getting a rough idea we did a small PoC (Proof of Concept). We tried laying an Ethernet cable from the electricity switch behind my computer table to the main electricity board of my room. Laying the cable through the duct itself is such a skilled task that its worth writing a separate blog on that. Long story short - the electrician was successful in getting the Cat 5 laid. This boosted his as well as my confidence.

Now the problem was how do we estimate the length of the wire that we will need to lay from one end of the house to another. Also what is the guarantee that being able to lay it for shorter distance would also mean that longer distances were possible? We didn't know the answer to either but we had to try. So we approached the cable-wallah and asked him for the longest cable that he had for which we would pay based on the actual usage. Initially, he was reluctant, but then I painted a rosy picture for for him. I explained to him, what we were doing and that if my PoC was successful more people in the locality were likely to buy cables from him. Fully aware of the WiFi issues he readily agreed and got us a 47 meter long Cat 5 cable.   

After consuming 32 meters of cable and 4 hours of 2-man laying team (excluding me), the Cat 5 cable popped out from the electricity board at the other end of the house. The cable was entirely concealed and I promptly configured the modem and the router at either ends and tested the connectivity from every corner of the house. Every corner of the house was covered for just Rs 1650/- of which Rs 800 was the cable cost. It was a perfect Diwali gift I gave myself !!!

Looking back, I feel every experience counts. Had it not been for those funny situations I would have never thought about simple solution of cabling and am so thankful to my folks at home that they raised the right objection at the right time and saved the walls from looking ugly. Had it not been for the electrician who toiled and the cable-wallah who relented, a reliable WiFi at all places would have just been an item in my wishlist and never a reality. Being practical has its own benefits.

Well then, if you have the same problems as me, would you cable-up for a WiFi?