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Wi-Fi and network installation in Campbell
Downtown bungalows and postwar ranch tracts. Santa Clara County, California.
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Homes in Campbell
Campbell grew up around a railroad stop and its fruit canneries, and the blocks near downtown still show it: early 20th-century Craftsman houses and bungalows on small lots under mature trees. Homes of that age usually sit on a raised foundation with a crawl space underneath, and many still have plaster walls that soak up Wi-Fi signal.
Most of the city is younger. The typical Campbell house is a single-family home from the 1950s through the 1970s, around 1,000 to 1,600 square feet on a 6,000 square foot lot, usually a single-story ranch with a low attic. The San Tomas neighborhood is less uniform, with a wider mix of house styles and lot sizes.
Benjamin Campbell bought 160 acres here in 1851, and the first subdivision was recorded in 1887. Fruit drying yards and canneries carried the town until orchards gave way to postwar housing, and Campbell incorporated in 1952.
What that means for your Wi-Fi
Plaster walls in the downtown bungalows
Old plaster soaks up signal, so one router in the front room rarely covers the back bedrooms. We run Cat6 through the crawl space and attic to wired access points on the ceiling.
Ranch houses with the router at one end
In a 1950s or 1960s ranch the internet line often lands in the garage or a corner bedroom. We pull cable across the attic and put access points in the middle of the house.
A garage, workshop or ADU behind the house
Lot sizes vary in San Tomas, and a detached garage, workshop or ADU at the back of a larger one is usually out of reach of the house Wi-Fi. We connect it by buried cable, or a wireless bridge when trenching is impractical.
Around Campbell
- Ainsley House: The 1925 English Tudor-style home of canner J.C. Ainsley was moved downtown and is now part of the historical museum.
- The Pruneyard: The open-air shopping center was at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court case on free speech.
- Campbell Water Tower: Built in 1928 to hold 75,000 gallons, the tower is now lit with multi-colored lights at night.
Questions about Wi-Fi in Campbell
Why is the Wi-Fi weak in the back bedrooms of my Campbell bungalow?
Usually it is the walls. Many of the early bungalows near downtown Campbell still have plaster, which soaks up signal before it reaches the back rooms. We run Cat6 through the crawl space or attic, where the house has them, to wired access points on the ceiling.
Where should the access points go in a 1960s Campbell ranch house?
Usually near the middle of the house, not where the internet line comes in. In a Campbell ranch that line often lands in the garage or a corner bedroom. If there is a low attic, we pull cable across it and mount ceiling access points over the rooms you use most.
Can you get Wi-Fi out to a detached garage or ADU in Campbell?
Yes. A building behind the house is usually beyond the reach of the indoor Wi-Fi, so it needs an access point of its own. We connect it with buried cable when a trench is practical, and with a point-to-point wireless bridge when it is not.