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Wi-Fi and network installation in Atherton
One-acre estates behind gates and hedges. San Mateo County, California.
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Homes in Atherton
Atherton is zoned for single-family homes on lots of at least one acre, and there is no commercial district at all. That tends to mean a long driveway, often a gated entry, and a main house set well back from the street, usually with company on the lot: a guest house, a pool house, a detached garage or an office above it.
The big 19th century estates were broken up over time. The Flood estate was subdivided in 1938 and its land became Lindenwood, and more than eighty subdivisions followed in the 1940s and 1950s. Older ranch-style houses and a few Eichlers now sit beside much larger homes built in recent decades. Streets are flat, heavily wooded and often have no sidewalks.
The area began as Fair Oaks, a flag stop added in 1866 on the railroad between San Francisco and San Jose for the owners of large country estates. It incorporated as Atherton in 1923, separately from Menlo Park.
What that means for your Wi-Fi
One router cannot cover a one-acre property
On a lot this size the house, the pool and the guest house are effectively separate coverage areas. We design one UniFi network across all of them, with wired access points indoors and outdoor units where you spend time outside.
Guest houses and pool houses need a real link
A wireless extender aimed across the lawn is the usual weak spot. We connect each detached building with buried cable, or a point-to-point wireless bridge when trenching through mature landscaping is not practical.
Gates and long driveways call for cameras
The front gate is usually a long way from the house. We run cable or a wireless bridge out to it so cameras at the entry sit on the same managed network as everything else.
Around Atherton
- Holbrook-Palmer Park: The 22-acre former estate was donated to the town in 1958 and now serves as Atherton's public park.
- Lindenwood: The neighborhood in the town's northeast section occupies the former James Flood estate, which was subdivided in 1938.
Questions about Wi-Fi in Atherton
How do I get Wi-Fi across a one-acre Atherton property?
Not with one router. On a lot this size the house, the pool and the guest house are effectively separate coverage areas. We design one UniFi network across all of them, with wired access points indoors and outdoor units where you spend time outside.
Can you connect an Atherton guest house without digging up the garden?
Usually, yes. We prefer buried cable to a detached building, but when trenching through mature landscaping is not practical we use a point-to-point wireless bridge instead. Either way the guest house or pool house ends up on the same network as the main house.
Can cameras at my front gate work when it is far from the house?
Yes. A gate at the end of a long driveway is usually beyond the reach of indoor Wi-Fi, so we run cable or a wireless bridge out to it. The cameras at the entry then sit on the same managed network as everything else.