On 13 Jul 2018 07:34:29 GMT, Char Jackson wrote:

Such a discussion would have to start with a site visit, and neither of
us wants that.

There's no way you can come up with a better idea that wasn't already
considered, since the only other options a
a. Snake a cable through the walls, or,
b. Add WiFi directly to the PC, or,
c. Bring the APs closer (e.g., using repeaters and/or extenders)

In my house, I have *all* those options set up on various computers:
A. I have cables snaked in the basement to a wired repeater
B. I have some PCs with WiFi dongles & others with internal WiFi cards
C. I have *plenty* of APs scattered about

The only solution I haven't already implemented is a wireless repeater,
mainly because the old WRT54G that is the wired repeater in the basement
doesn't have the RAM to easily make it a wireless repeater, so I snaked a
wire to it to make it into a wired repeater for the grandkid's gaming
setup.

I think you're using the tools that you have available to
cobble something together that 'works' for you. Is it a reference
network design that others should emulate? I would say no, but it's
yours and you get the final say. :-)

I'm glad you understand that I love reuse of what I have available.

What's great "for me" about my setup, is not only that I already had the
antenna outside, and not only was there already a cable through the wall
running to that antenna (since it was an old, unused, previous WISP
antenna), but it took zero effort other than the effort to learn how to set
up the transceiver as a bridge (normally I set them up as access points).

Here's the cost/benefit breakdown:
a. It was free & easy since everything was already there
b. It took effort to figure out how to set the radio as a bridge

I know you've discussed some of that wireless architecture and
infrastructure with Jeff L, so you're aware of 2.4GHz channel
limitations, Fresnel zones, transmit power versus receive sensitivity,
interference sources, etc. I don't need to add anything there.

Yup. I'm impressed that you know that Jeff Liebermann and I have discussed
WiFi architecture countless times on s.e.r and a.i.w over the years, where
he is always helpful and probably one of the most knowledgeable guys on
both those newsgroups when it comes to the inevitable pros and cons (they
always both exist) of any WiFi setup.

Jeff is like I am, where he backs up everything he says, because his
credibility is worth something (unlike, for example, the nospam troll).

For the benefit of the readers here, what you mention are the following,
summarized succinctly to fit on a single line for each topic:
a. 2.4GHz suffers from noise in crowded areas due to channel limitations
b. 5GHz suffers from lack of penetration inside buildings
c. Fresnel zones are, essentially, obstructions "near" the beam pattern
d. The worst radio wins when a disparity in Tx/Rx power/sensitivity exists
e. A powerful radio "interferes" with "things" in nearby houses

Without a site visit, the only 'better idea' I can suggest is to replace
as many of your intraLAN wireless links with Ethernet cable as possible,
especially inside the house.

Yup. As noted above, there are only so many options that we all have.

Since I have tons of spare WiFi transceivers, I have one more option that
most of you don't have, but bear in mind each of these radios originally
cost a hundred to two hundred bucks and they're huge, compared to a WiFi
dongle.

It's a one-time pain that pays off every
day afterwards. If your house is wired with TV coax, MoCA adapters will
let you use the coax to distribute Ethernet, albeit with a reduction in
throughput capability.

Actually, mine "is" wired for coax, but I don't use it.
So that's a good idea to consider.

On mine, instead of the 900+ Mbps that you'd
expect over GigE, the MoCA adapters max out at around 660 Mbps. That
works for me since I only use that link for streaming.

For me, my speeds are lower, due to the fact that my connection to the
Internet is miles away on another mountain top.

BTW, one of the advantages of my radio setup is that I get, for free, an
extremely powerful spectrum analyzer out of the Ubiquiti radios, which
gives fantastic noise analysis via lovely real-time waterfall charts, which
is something you won't get with any solution that people on this newsgroup
are likely aware of.
https://ubnt.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/202812440/spectrum_analyzer_1.png

So I know exactly what "things" in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum exist,
e.g., baby monitors, microwave ovens, etc.

You don't get that spectrum analysis with "normal" WiFi channel analyzers.
https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-us/articles/204950584-airMAX-How-to-Use-airView-to-Find-the-Best-Channel