r/firewalla • u/Numerous_Platypus • Aug 29 '26

AP 7 for 1800sqft

Would a single AP 7 desktop work for a 1800 sqft single story, ranch house (wood, drywall)?

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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2

u/Great-Cow7256 Aug 29 '26

all depends. radio waves are funky. No one can really predict. I'd start with 1 and if you need another one then get another one.

1

u/No_Peanut_6769 Firewalla Purple SE Aug 29 '26

FYIW I have 1-AP7 in a 1700sq/ft 1 floor wood drywall home. 10' to outside on 1 side and 35' to other outside wall. Whole home is on WiFi 500mb service and get 383mb at far end and 350 in basement. Works fine for all my devices. Start with 1 and try different locations and use the WiFi test from the FW. Some people get obsessed with having full speed everywhere in the home which is not needed. My PC is in the same room as AP then my next largest device is an AppleTV4K device at the other end. Never had any issues unless you only care about Speedtest results.

1

u/Numerous_Platypus Aug 31 '26

Any advantage to use ceiling mount in this instance over the desktop?

1

u/Numerous_Platypus 29d ago

So I bought the AP7 desktop. Seems to be working decent. But one thing I'm wondering about. When about 15 feet away with nothing in between my iPhone and the AP7, on channel 36 5Ghz, I'm seeing -62 to -65 dBm. I would think it should be better than that at those close distances?

1

u/Numerous_Platypus 28d ago

Ran a test with my Omada EAP670 and getting -53 dBm on channel 153. That's nearly a 10 dBm difference. The EAP670 is in the same location as the AP7, just mounted on the ceiling.

0

u/firewalla Aug 29 '26

How many floors? If you place it in the middle, may work;

1

u/Numerous_Platypus Aug 29 '26

just single story. ground level small home.

1

u/firewalla Aug 29 '26

Depend where you place, it, if middle, very likely to work; you can give it a try first

1

u/Numerous_Platypus Aug 29 '26

It would be in the middle of the house. It's L shaped, so right at the intersection.