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Comment by Rabidgremlin | Hacker News Reader

Someone should build a web app that lets you upload a floor sketch to run these calcs on :-)

At least if the solution of this is not normally "place the router in the middle of the flat", as this is the standard advice.

Got me thinking...could you integrate a wireless AP into a light fixture without fear of interference, either EM or physical? I'm sure there is a clever solution for something like a hanging chandelier.

Maybe there are products out there already that allow people to hide their networking hardware in plain sight?

It doesn't seem necessary to hide it to me. All the bigger deployments I've seen just put APs on the ceiling. There are enough things on there (smoke detectors, lights, sprinklers) that adding another box probably wouldn't make much aesthetic difference unless you went out of your way to hide all the other things.

Aruba Networks used to make a model called the AP-65WB. The WB means "wall box" -- it basically fits in a standard wall-box, the same kind of fixture that could also hold a couple of outlets or light switches (or a combination thereof). Not sure if that unit's been replaced or retired, though. Also, it's not exactly targeted at home users.

Many of the enterprise APs with integrated antennas are designed for ceiling installation. They often have an antenna that's intended to radiate its best coverage down from the ceiling in a cone.

That was my first thought, too - but you'd probably have to specify things like wall materials and thicknesses to get decent results.

I'm hoping for precise indoor navigation, Google and Apple are currently working on that. All you'd have to do is walk around with your phone, measuring signal strength and then visualize that.

>I'm hoping for precise indoor navigation, Google and Apple are currently working on that. All you'd have to do is walk around with your phone, measuring signal strength and then visualize that.

I'd wager there are _a lot_ more folks that that looking the problem. Its difficult to just use signal strength as this is heavily multi path dependent and time-varying as anything (e.g., moving your phone and hand around) within the environment changes.

There are results in the literature floating around that show some basic success, but nothing at all like the dreams of indoor GPS we're all hoping for. It's a fun problem space, but still in its infancy.

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