Wireless Access Point/Repeater

[FishyFishFish]

I’m not sure if this is the correct place to ask but……..

I’m thinking of adding a cheap Access Point/Repeater so that I can move my controllers onto their own network.

I have a UPS on each of my Nano tanks but not on my router. I’d rather not have to buy another UPS just for the router.

I could plug the new repeater into the UPS near one of my tanks, but that would mean that it would have to be connected wirelessly to my router. The questions I have are:

1) Is this possible? (I’m pretty sure this is quite simple, but I could be wrong).

2) If so, and I have a power outage where my router turns off but my repeater stays on, will the hydros still be able to communicate with the power strip, or is it still reliant on sending the signals back through the router?

 

[ariellemermaid]

1) Anything is possible
2) I’m not 100% clear on your setup but in the case of Apex, trident, my WiFi hydros connected gyre, etc. everything keeps going according to how they were programmed. Network/internet is used for reporting, remote programming, and alarms, but that’s about it. WiFi connected tank devices would be horribly unreliable if they stopped because of a bad connection. Easy way to test it though; unplug your router and test what you’re trying to test.

So I have to start by asking what your actual goal is here? If it’s to unload work from your router you’d be doing the opposite. Since the access point/repeater/mesh device has to communicate over WiFi you’re actually increasing the work on your WiFi network and using more bandwidth, not less. Now if you say got another router and connected it to your current one via Ethernet to make 2 networks that’s another story. But wireless connection is just going to put more work on your current WiFi network.

Are some of your devices controlled/connected to each other via WiFi? That’s something Apex stays away from so I’m not familiar with that. However from a network standpoint everything goes through the router before going anywhere else. It serves the IP addresses, connects everything together, and the access point would just be an intermediary step in the chain.

I’ve had my router and cable modem on a UPS for years (nothing to do with having a tank). Nothing beats still having internet even in a power outage. Also you’re probably looking at a not-crazy dissimilar price between a decent device and a UPS that could buy you a few hours at least. So if your goal is simply to keep everything connected I’d just put a UPS on the router. If you want internet as well you could put the modem on it too at the cost of battery time. It’s also worth considering that adding another step in the network chain opens it to more problems/connection issues. Unless you have a particular goal I’m not seeing.

 

[Chrisv.]

1) Anything is possible
2) I’m not 100% clear on your setup but in the case of Apex, trident, my WiFi hydros connected gyre, etc. everything keeps going according to how they were programmed. Network/internet is used for reporting, remote programming, and alarms, but that’s about it. WiFi connected tank devices would be horribly unreliable if they stopped because of a bad connection. Easy way to test it though; unplug your router and test what you’re trying to test.

So I have to start by asking what your actual goal is here? If it’s to unload work from your router you’d be doing the opposite. Since the access point/repeater/mesh device has to communicate over WiFi you’re actually increasing the work on your WiFi network and using more bandwidth, not less. Now if you say got another router and connected it to your current one via Ethernet to make 2 networks that’s another story. But wireless connection is just going to put more work on your current WiFi network.

Are some of your devices controlled/connected to each other via WiFi? That’s something Apex stays away from so I’m not familiar with that. However from a network standpoint everything goes through the router before going anywhere else. It serves the IP addresses, connects everything together, and the access point would just be an intermediary step in the chain.

I’ve had my router and cable modem on a UPS for years (nothing to do with having a tank). Nothing beats still having internet even in a power outage. Also you’re probably looking at a not-crazy dissimilar price between a decent device and a UPS that could buy you a few hours at least. So if your goal is simply to keep everything connected I’d just put a UPS on the router. If you want internet as well you could put the modem on it too at the cost of battery time. It’s also worth considering that adding another step in the network chain opens it to more problems/connection issues. Unless you have a particular goal I’m not seeing.

What a useful reply! I am not the op, but really appreciate the thought you put into this reply.

 

[FishyFishFish]

The idea was to have a different SSID on the aquarium network. It sounds like you’re saying that the signals will still all go through the router no matter what, which is not really what I wanted.

I’m 99% sure the hydros controller loses connection with the wireless devices when the router is turned off. That doesn’t mean that the devices turn off but they lose the ability for the controller to control them. Seeing as I have the UPS anyway, I was hoping that I could just plug the repeater into the UPS to keep the aquarium network running, even with the router off, but it’s sounding like that might not be possible.

I’ve had a look at the specs of my router and it doesn’t appear to have ‘WDS’, which appears to be necessary for a wireless connection to the repeater, so it may not work anyway.

It’s starting to look a lot more complicated/expensive than I was hoping.

 

[attiland]

I’m not sure if this is the correct place to ask but……..

I’m thinking of adding a cheap Access Point/Repeater so that I can move my controllers onto their own network.

I have a UPS on each of my Nano tanks but not on my router. I’d rather not have to buy another UPS just for the router.

I could plug the new repeater into the UPS near one of my tanks, but that would mean that it would have to be connected wirelessly to my router. The questions I have are:

1) Is this possible? (I’m pretty sure this is quite simple, but I could be wrong).

2) If so, and I have a power outage where my router turns off but my repeater stays on, will the hydros still be able to communicate with the power strip, or is it still reliant on sending the signals back through the router?

Most of the smart devices connect via WiFi but also relying on internet. Ups on the router in this case is the solution.
if you buy a cheap repeater will not solve your problem anyway as the network traffic still hits the router and forwarded to the other devices on the local network.
not to mention cheap repeater is cheap for a reason.
I would think of a way to get you router near to one of the tank with the ups or buy a ups for the router itself if the first is not possible.

 

[n2585722]

All traffic has to go through the router, but what you want is an access point that is dedicated to you aquarium equipment that has it on name separate from wifi on the router. You will want to have a wired connection between the access point and the router. Anything going through that access point will show as a wired connection on the router. The wifi end will be controlled by the access point. I used an old Linksys router I had and set it up as a access point. If you have an old router check and see if it is capable of being setup as an access point. If so set it up and connect it to your router and give it a try with one of your devices such as a iPad or computer to make sure it is working correctly. If it does then move you aquarium gear over to the access point. I also have my access point, router and modem on a UPS. It was around $49 from Amazon. I found out there is not much you can do in an all electric home if there is no power when we had our rolling blackouts last winter. They lasted almost a week. At least my iPad will be of some use if I loose power as long as the internet stays up.

 

[FishyFishFish]

Thanks for all of the replies; they have stopped me buying stuff that isn’t going to work. I’ll have a look at a different solution.

Thanks again.

 

[n2585722]

Thanks for all of the replies; they have stopped me buying stuff that isn’t going to work. I’ll have a look at a different solution.

Thanks again.

The reason for the access point is the controller doesn't go well with mesh networks if that what you have. It has to do with the speed of the wifi connection. Some mesh networks can change this on the device and if the device cannot change speed it can cause momentary disconnects. If you put them on a access point that is the standard 2.4ghz only then the wifi connecton cannot do this. It is up to the access point to relay between the router with a wired connection. I cannot guarantee it will help but if you have an older router that is not in use it would not cost anything but time. Maybe a friend has one you can setup as an access point you can borrow to see if it will fix your issue before you purchase one. It only needs a 2.4ghz channel and a wired router connection for this use. Mine is only a few feet from my router.