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Wi-Fi and network installation in Petaluma

West side Victorians and east side tract houses. Sonoma County, California.

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Homes in Petaluma

The Petaluma River and Highway 101 split the city into two kinds of housing. West of the river are the old downtown and the Oakhill-Brewster and A Street historic districts, with Victorian, Queen Anne and Eastlake houses. Buildings older than 1906 survive here because the earthquake did little damage. Houses of that age usually have raised foundations and plaster walls, and some have a garage or cottage at the back of the lot.

Once Highway 101 became a freeway in the 1950s, new housing shifted to the east side. Those subdivisions are mostly tract houses of one or two stories, usually with an attic and an attached garage. Rural properties at the edges of town often have barns and other outbuildings.

Incorporated in 1858 as a river port, Petaluma later became known as the egg capital of the world. The freeway pulled new building to the east side in the 1950s, and a 1971 plan capped permits at 500 a year.

What that means for your Wi-Fi

Pre-1906 houses were never built for cable

West side Victorians usually have plaster walls and no wiring chases. We work from the crawl space and attic, fish Cat6 up interior walls, and mount access points where they stay clear of the original trim.

East side two-story tracts leave upstairs weak

With the modem in the garage or a downstairs corner, upstairs bedrooms drop out. We run cable through the attic to a ceiling access point on the upper floor and wire another one downstairs.

Back cottages and barns beyond the router's reach

For a rear cottage on a west side lot or a barn on a ranch parcel, we run buried or overhead cable, or a point-to-point bridge, so the second building has its own wired access point.

Around Petaluma

  • Petaluma Historic Commercial District: The downtown district is on the National Register and is known for its iron-front buildings from the 1880s.
  • Petaluma Adobe: Mariano Vallejo's Rancho Petaluma Adobe dates to 1836, two years after he received the land grant.
  • Helen Putnam Regional Park: The 216-acre regional park covers open hills at the edge of the city.

Questions about Wi-Fi in Petaluma

Can you wire a west side Petaluma Victorian without damaging it?

Usually, yes. These houses typically have plaster walls and no wiring chases, so we work from the crawl space and attic where they exist. We fish Cat6 up interior walls and mount access points where they stay clear of the original trim.

Why is the Wi-Fi weak upstairs in my east Petaluma house?

The modem is probably in the garage or a downstairs corner, so the upstairs bedrooms sit at the edge of its range. We run cable through the attic, where the house has one, to a ceiling access point upstairs, and wire a second one downstairs.

How do I get a signal to the cottage behind my house?

Give the cottage its own wired access point. We run buried or overhead cable from the main house, or use a point-to-point bridge when a cable run is not practical. The same approach works for a barn on a rural property.

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