Networking & WiFi

Networking, WiFi and switches for large homes and communities

Access points, PoE switches, routers and wireless bridges. This is the part almost nobody looks at until the cameras drop out, the TV pixelates or the WiFi will not reach the garden. We sell and install in Málaga and the Costa del Sol.

Who it is for

A single-storey house with the router in the middle rarely needs any of this. The problem shows up in multi-storey villas with thick walls, in properties with a separate pool house or garage, in residential communities where the network has to reach the entrance and the meter room, and in offices and shops where the WiFi must hold twenty devices at once. It is also where people end up after buying three repeaters and still having dead zones.

What to compare

1. Access point versus repeater. A repeater splits your bandwidth; a cabled access point does not. If a cable run is possible, the access point wins.
2. WiFi 5 or WiFi 6. WiFi 6 pays off when many devices are active at once, less so in raw speed with a single phone.
3. PoE and power budget. If the switch feeds cameras and access points, add up the watts and leave headroom. A PoE switch running at its limit causes intermittent drops that are hard to diagnose.
4. Managed or unmanaged. Separating the camera network from the guest network needs VLANs, and that means a managed switch.
5. Wireless bridge. To reach an outbuilding without digging, a point-to-point link is usually better value than pulling fibre.

How it gets built here

On the Costa del Sol the repeated pattern is Cat6 cable from a central rack to every access point and every camera, with the PoE switch in the same cabinet as the recorder. In finished homes we reuse existing conduit or run trunking along the façade. We certify Cat6 cabling when the project calls for it, and we can size the network for the cameras you will add later, not only for today’s.

Worth reading first

• Cat6 home network wiring
• WiFi dead zones: repeater, mesh or Cat6?

Two common references: the Reyee WiFi 6 omnidirectional access point RG-RAP62 and its in-wall version, the RG-RAP62-WALL.

Frequently asked questions

How many access points does a two-storey house need?
The building decides, not the square metres. With solid brick walls and concrete floors, one per floor plus one for the outdoor area you want covered is normal. With light partitions, one well-placed unit can be enough. That is the difference between guessing and measuring coverage before you buy.

Can I power the cameras from the switch I already have?
Only if it is PoE and if its total power budget covers every camera with headroom. A non-PoE switch needs injectors, and a PoE switch at its limit will reboot cameras for no obvious reason. Send us the model and we will check it.

Is it worth separating the camera network from the home network?
Yes as soon as there are several cameras or a business involved: video traffic stops competing with everything else and access stays isolated. It is done with VLANs on a managed switch, so decide it before you buy the switch.