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Chicomm Blog

How to Extend Wi-Fi Range Outdoors

Posted by Lisa MacGillivray on Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Now that you’ve drastically improved your in-building connectivity and you’re feeling confident about the strength of your wireless network, it’s time to tackle the next frontier: how to extend WiFi range outdoors.WiFi_Park_Sign.jpg

Hotel and resort guests, students, mobile workers and anyone else on the go is increasingly looking for opportunities to stay connected, even near the pool, on the campus commons or out on the dock.

With your constantly connected users in mind, here’s a quick overview of how to extend WiFi range outdoors.

Get the Lay of the Land 

Physical obstructions can be WiFi signal killers, and that’s true both outdoors and indoors. Indoors you’re facing thick walls and signal-blocking building materials, outdoors it could be trees or other structures.

Before you put your WiFi-boosting plan in motion, survey the area to get a good sense for what might stand between your users and a strong signal. Identifying possible obstructions and problem areas will also help you decide where your wireless access points (APs) should be placed for the best effect.

Get the Right Equipment

The good news about planning for outdoors is that you’ve already answered one of the biggest questions about wireless coverage: will a WiFi range extender help. The answer? Absolutely. In fact, it’s necessary.

The method for how to boost WiFi signal outdoors has the same basic components as boosting signal indoors, including a signal booster and wireless access points.

The key difference, of course, is that you need equipment that’s been ruggedized to withstand the outdoors. Well-made outdoor signal boosters will be waterproof and encased in durable material such as aluminum or plastic.

Get Ready to Take it Outside

Once you make up your mind to figure out how to extend WiFi range outdoors, it’s a matter of figuring out what equipment to buy and where it should be placed for maximum impact. While it’s tempting to place your indoor access points on a windowsill and hope for the best, you’ll have better results – and happier users – if you have a solid deployment plan.

To meet your needs for state-of-the-art wireless communications technology, contact Chicago Communications.

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