The Challenge
A family moved into a newly built home featuring a centralised "Smart Home Hub" (or NBN cabinet) in the garage. This metal cabinet was designed to neatly contain the NBN connection hardware and the home's network cabling. However, the family immediately experienced severe internet problems. The metal enclosure was unintentionally acting like a Faraday cage—a type of shield that blocks radio waves, including Wi-Fi signals.
This resulted in a frustratingly unstable network. The Wi-Fi signal originating from the internet router inside the cabinet was too weak to reliably cover the house. The family dealt with constant video buffering during movie nights, dropped video calls during important work meetings, and large "dead zones" where the Wi-Fi was non-existent. To put it in real terms, if you weren't standing in the garage, the whole house was a dead zone.
The Solution
The core problem was diagnosed as the physical confinement of the router. To deliver a robust, house-wide signal, a multi-step solution was designed and implemented.
- Liberating the Router's Function: The primary function of the router is to manage the home's internet traffic. While the job of routing traffic remained inside the NBN cabinet, the router's role as the sole Wi-Fi broadcaster was re-evaluated. The solution focused on taking the Wi-Fi signal source out of the metal cabinet in the garage and placing it directly within the living spaces.
- Installing Dedicated Wi-Fi Access Points: Instead of using simple "boosters" or "extenders" which can degrade speed, two professional-grade Wi-Fi Access Points (APs) were installed. An Access Point connects directly to the router via a physical network cable (also known as an Ethernet cable) and then broadcasts a fresh, full-strength Wi-Fi signal. This creates powerful and reliable Wi-Fi zones. Two strategic locations were chosen—one at the front and one at the rear of the house—to ensure overlapping coverage.
- Leveraging Existing Infrastructure: The home's pre-installed Ethernet cabling was used to connect the new APs directly to the main router. For these locations, In-Wall Access Points were selected. A key benefit of this hardware is that it is powered by the Ethernet cable itself (a technology called PoE, or Power over Ethernet), eliminating the need for separate, bulky power adapters and resulting in a very clean, professional installation.
- Network Segmentation: To enhance security and parental control, the network was segmented. This means two distinct Wi-Fi networks were created from the single internet connection:
- A primary, unrestricted network for the parents.
- A separate, "Kid-Safe" network with built-in content filtering to automatically block inappropriate websites and material.
The Results
The implementation produced a dramatic and immediate improvement. The home was transformed from a Wi-Fi blackspot into a zone of seamless, high-speed connectivity.
The family now enjoys a robust internet experience, free from the frustrations of buffering and dropped connections. More importantly, the solution delivered two key outcomes:
- Performance: A high-speed network capable of handling multiple video streams, work-from-home demands, and online gaming simultaneously.
- Peace of Mind: The segmented network gives the parents control over the children's online environment without compromising the speed or freedom of their own connection.
The final installation was both effective and aesthetically pleasing, preserving the modern look of the home while providing the powerful, reliable connectivity a modern smart home requires.