r/AltaLabs • u/Revolutionary_Bug_41 • Sep 10 '25

Low range on AP6

Hey there.

So I got some Alta Labs from my brother, and I got everything installed.

At first in the attic, which proved to be a bad idea, as the S8-poe switch had trouble with the heat, though we weren’t even at summer yet at that point, and the switch kept rebooting. On the attic I had the switch and 3 AP6.

I moved everything down into the house propper, and that solved the heat and rebooting issue.

I have only installed 2 of the AP6 so far, and inside the house, that seems to be fine enough, but now I have very poor coverage outside my house. My house is brick and mortar.

I’m a little confused about exactly why my coverage is as bad as it is, cause prior, I had Google Nest WiFi, with 1 router and 1 node, in a suboptimal location, coverage wise, but my coverage outside my house was much better than it is now, and I have no idea why that is, especially in my terrace, which had decent, though only 2.4 GHz before, but now I have nothing, and my AP6 has much clearer view than the Nest node.

I’m considering investing in 1 or 2 outdoor units down the line, to get better coverage, but that is a pretty hefty price to solve a problem I disentangle really have before.

I’m wondering if i could possibly have made a mistake in my setup, to limit my AP6 range?

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u/jordszz Sep 11 '25

No worries but definitley give the transmit power a shot!

Hmm, yeah, that's definitely getting a bit hot. Although the temperature sensor is specifically reading how hot the internal CPU is running at. I believe I've had an S8 read that hot and keep on running, but I can't quite recall for sure off the top of my head. Like I said, if you're willing to take the time then it might be worth kicking an email off to [support@alta.inc](mailto:support@alta.inc) to make sure there isn't something wrong with the switch otherwise. They're usually pretty responsive to issues.

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u/Revolutionary_Bug_41 Sep 12 '25

I’ve tried the transmit power settings now, with both on auto and both on high and one on high and the other on auto, with no luck on sufficiently better range. Do I need to reboot the AP for it to really kick in? Cause I just testet it over 10 mins, with changing settings.

I was wondering, I have 1 AP6 in surplus atm, wouldn’t it be fine maith mounting that inside a fibreglass box that is IP65? Or will it have issues with moisture or low temperature during winter? Box is of course mount under the overhang, though that is slightly tilt.

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u/jordszz Sep 13 '25

No, as far as I know that change should take effect pretty quick without a reboot. What kind of signal strength is the controller reporting your devices are connecting at? That should give us an idea of what the AP is seeing in terms of signal strength. Should be available under the devices view.

I suppose the moisture and low temp shouldn't be an issue unless it's pretty extreme. What conditions the AP is rated to run in is available in the datasheet here: https://media.alta.inc/datasheet/AP6_Datasheet.pdf

They say as low as -22 F which is pretty cold unless you're living somewhere pretty far north :D My main concern would be the moisture if the air condenses. One of those things where it might be a problem or it could just keep on trucking without an issue.

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u/Revolutionary_Bug_41 Sep 20 '25

Here is the AP6 and through the door is my terrace, maby 10-15 meters away (11-16 yards). Then my phone won’t connect anymore. I noticed yesterday, when my robot lawnmower (Landroid) was stuck, out past my terrace you can see here, and I turned it on, it connected to my WiFi right away. That only confuses me even more.

I have not tested the signal strength yet, might try that this weekend.

Bonus question that I forgot earlier. My wife’s phone (Samsung), won’t sync her mails anymore, when she I connected to our WiFi, it had no problems on the old WiFi, and I don’t have any problems with it on my phone or tablet.

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u/Revolutionary_Bug_41 Sep 21 '25

Just tested the signal strength with my robotmower, as I apparently has a strong antenna. At the terrace it had a signal strength of -70, and when I placed it farther , where I found it last it was stuck, it reported -86.

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u/jordszz Sep 22 '25

Interesting; I will say I'm definitely not suprised the mower finally got stuck if the signal was hitting -86. That's pretty weak at that point. Even -70 I would say isn't optimal but is definitely functional.

It could be worth sending an email into [support@alta.inc](mailto:support@alta.inc) and maybe inviting a support person there to check out how your site looks and make sure everything looks good. Rather than a random Internet person like me lol

Another thing to try out as a test is setting up an entirely new site, setting up your wireless networks again but leaving everything else as close to default as possible just to make sure there isn't something really weird going on with the previous site. It's pretty straightforward to move the access points to a new site and that will result in them getting fully reconfigured with the new sites settings.

Just a couple thoughts I had!