Had to pick between a hardwired system and a wireless one for an old house in Pittsburgh

I just took on a job for this 1920s row house in Pittsburgh with plaster walls that are basically armor. The customer wanted a full alarm setup but didn't want me cutting into their vintage trim. I went back and forth on whether to run hardwired sensors through the basement and attic or just go with a wireless system from a brand I usually trust. Ended up picking the wireless option because it saved me from dealing with all that lath and plaster dust. The install went smooth for the first two floors, but I hit a snag with the third floor where the signal kept dropping through all that old horsehair insulation. Had to add a repeater up there to get things stable. Anyone else run into weird signal issues with wireless in old buildings?

2 comments

2 Comments

daniel_lane3026d ago

Wireless signals always have issues with plaster and lath.

hall.nina26d ago

100 percent. Plaster and lath might as well be a Faraday cage for Wi-Fi. I had a house built in the 40s and getting a signal from the living room to the back bedroom was a total joke. Ended up having to run an Ethernet cable through the attic to get anything decent.