Choosing the Right Access Point for Your Property

How many and which models of access points should you purchase to provide coverage for your property?

StayFi offers various models of Ubiquiti UniFi Access Points (APs) which vary in signal strength. There are various factors that can impact the performance of your WiFi such as AP placement / positioning, building materials, and the size of or number of floors in the home. This article provides key information and example scenarios to help you choose the right APs for your property.

What Are Your Goals for WiFi Coverage?

Before deciding which APs are right for your property consider what your goals are when it comes to WiFi coverage and what are your guests' expectations when it comes to WiFi coverage.

Are you looking to achieve 100% coverage throughout the entire property? Or would guests be satisfied if the main living areas had good WiFi but the far reaching parts of the property did not?

Are you looking to improve upon the current WiFi coverage in the home or simply maintain the current level of coverage?

Already Have WiFi Equipment at the Property?

If you already have WiFi equipment in the home, we recommend purchasing an equal number of StayFi APs as existing WiFi devices (by devices we mean WiFi routers + extenders/satellites/pods)

Consider the following examples:

• If you only have 1 WiFi router, we recommend purchasing 1 StayFi AP to get the same coverage.
• If you have 1 WiFi router and 2 extenders (i.e. 3 devices total) we recommend purchasing 3 StayFi APs to get the same coverage.
• If you have a mesh system with 1 main hub and 3 extenders/satellites/pods (i.e. 4 devices total) we recommend purchasing 4 StayFi APs to get the same coverage.

NOTE: StayFi's APs broadcast guest & admin WiFi networks that are separate from you existing WiFi. We recommend keeping your existing WiFi / mesh system in place and simply adding StayFi APs to the property.

Recommendations Based on Property Size

Property Type	Approximate Size	Recommended Model & Count
Small Property	0 - 1,500 sqft (0 - 140 m²)	1 Wifi 6 Plus
Midsize Property	1,500 - 2,000 sqft (140 - 185 m²)	1 Wifi 6 Long Range
Large Property	2,000 - 4,000 sqft (185 - 370 m²)	2 WiFi 6 Long Ranges
Extra Large Property	4,000+ sqft (370+ m²)	3+ WiFi 6 Long Ranges
Hotel	Variable	contact sales@stayfi.com

How to Use Multiple Access Points to Extend Coverage

Any StayFi AP can be used in one of two ways: hard-wired or wireless.

A hard-wired AP is plugged directly into the main router in the home and receives its internet over an ethernet cable.

A wireless AP is only plugged into power and receives its internet wirelessly from another nearby StayFi AP.

You can use multiple StayFi APs together to extend the coverage of the StayFi WiFi network. You can mix and match hard-wired and wireless APs but at least one AP must be hard-wired to the main router in the home to receive an initial internet connection.

For best results, hard-wire as many APs as possible into the main router. By doing this you will make sure that each StayFi AP has an independent, fast and stable internet connection coming directly from the main router. For example you could run long ethernet cables from your main router to multiple locations in the home and install a StayFi AP at each location to provide coverage of the StayFi WiFi network at that location.

In some cases you may not be able to run long ethernet cables throughout the home. In these cases you would hard-wire one StayFi AP into the main router to get an initial internet connection, then set up other wireless StayFi APs nearby to receive internet wirelessly from that hard-wired StayFi AP. With this set up, the internet would wirelessly “hop” from one StayFi AP to the next to extend the coverage of the StayFi WiFi network.

If you're using different AP models we recommend hard-wiring the model with the most range. For example if you purchase a WiFi 6 Long Range and a WiFi 6 Plus, we recommend hard-wiring the WiFi 6Long Range into the main router and using the WiFi 6 Plus as a wireless extender as opposed to the other way around.

NOTE: Because wireless APs receive their internet over WiFi (i.e. radio waves) instead of via an ethernet cable there are a few things to keep in mind:

• A wireless connection cannot travel as far as an ethernet cable can.
• A wireless connection can be impacted by walls and other building materials.
• A wireless AP must be placed near another StayFi AP to receive internet, whereas hard-wired APs do not need to be placed near one another.

The table below shows the maximum wireless distance between different StayFi AP models.

Wireless Mesh Network Access Point Distance in an Open Environment

* NOTE: Maximum distance relies on each device’s ability to send signal back to the other device. For example, if you wirelessly mesh a Lite device with a Long range device, the Lite device is the limiting factor. Meaning the Long Range may be able to send WiFi signal to the Lite but the Lite may not be able to send WiFi signal back to the Long Range because the Lite has a shorter range.

How Building Materials Impact WiFi Signal

Building materials can degrade the performance and coverage of WiFi signal throughout a home. Make sure to take into account the following building materials when deciding which AP model to purchase.

Drywall, plaster, plywood and glass are examples of thinner building materials that have a minimal effect on WiFi signal. WiFi can easily pass through these materials without much signal degradation, so you usually won't see a significant impact on performance. 

Brick, Cement, Concrete and Metal (i.g. garages or sheds), are examples of thicker building materials that have a more severe effect on WiFi signal. WiFi will have a difficult time passing through these materials. This may cause dropped connections, lagging service or non-connectivity

If you have a home that is made of thicker building materials, we recommend purchasing multiple APs and hard-wiring them to the main router to provide better coverage throughout the home. Learn about using multiple access points to extend coverage

The table below shows how different materials can impact WiFi signal strength.

Signal strength decreases when passing though these materials

​​For example, assume if in an open space Wi-Fi signal range is up to 200 ft, then after passing through one drywall, it will decrease to 120 ft (200 ft * 60%). After passing through a second drywall it will decrease to 72 ft (200 ft * 60%  * 60%).

The following picture compares an open space with a space that has 2 interior walls in a row. You can see that the WiFi signal in the diagram on the right ends up weaker towards the top of the home than the diagram on the left because it needs to pass through 2 sets of walls.

Where to Place Access Points to Optimize Coverage

Access point placement plays a significant role in WiFi performance for your guests. Here are some important tips below that can assist you with choosing the right spot in your home for your access point. 

• APs should be located in an unobstructed area to ensure they are capable of the best signal performance. Placing an AP inside of a cabinet or in areas far away from guests will reduce the APs ability to reach your guests.
• Locating the AP towards the center of a room or house will provide better coverage. WiFi signal radiates out of the AP in a circular pattern. If an AP is placed in the corner of a home, a large portion of that WiFI signal will be wasted by going into the walls instead of to your guests.
• Mounting an access point on a ceiling in the center of a room will provide the best coverage for a room because the WiFi signal will radiate downward from the ceiling in an umbrella pattern blanketing the entire area.
• Mounting an access point on a wall can also provide good coverage provided that a) the access point is placed relatively high up on the wall and b) the access point is placed on a wall that is facing guests. For example, mounting an AP on an interior wall that is facing towards the corner or edge of the home will send WiFi signal towards the edge or corner of the house instead of towards where guests will be spending the most time.

Other Scenarios / Things to Consider

There are some unique instances that can cause WiFi degradation that should also be considered.

Other nearby devices (i.e. other WiFi devices, smart kitchen appliances, bluetooth devices, microwaves), can interfere with the StayFi AP’s WiFi signal. To avoid interference, it’s best to keep access points away from other electrical devices and use shielded ethernet cables, which are provided with each order. Do not stack StayFi APs on top of other WiFi equipment. 

If your home already has a WiFi / Mesh system (i.e. eero, TP-Link Deco, Orbi, Google Mesh, etc.) we suggest purchasing the same number of StayFi APs as the number of devices you already have. For example if you have 3 eero devices in the home, we would recommend buying 3 of our Long Range or Lite devices (depending on the model of eero / size of the home).