How to use the planner
- Click New project and enter the width and depth of the lot or the house.
- If you have the floor plan as a photo or an image, load it under Plan and scale and set the scale with Measure.
- With the Wall tool, draw the outer and inner walls and pick the material. Doors and windows are walls too, made of wood or glass.
- With Mesh node, place the main router where the ISP modem is, then the other nodes.
- Switch between 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz and look at the heat map. Green is excellent signal; red is no usable signal.
- Use Suggest a spot to find where one more node helps most, and File › Export JSON to keep the project.
How much each wall takes from the signal
Every wall the signal crosses adds a loss in decibels (dB). Each 10 dB cuts the received power to one tenth, so two or three brick walls already make a difference. The values below are the averages the planner uses; real loss depends on thickness, moisture and steel reinforcement.
| Material | 2.4 GHz | 5 GHz | 6 GHz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brick or plastered ceramic block | 6 dB | 10 dB | 12 dB |
| Concrete, pillar or structural wall | 10 dB | 15 dB | 18 dB |
| Slab between floors | 13 dB | 18 dB | 21 dB |
| Drywall or plaster | 3 dB | 4 dB | 5 dB |
| Wooden door | 3 dB | 5 dB | 6 dB |
| Plain glass or window | 2 dB | 4 dB | 5 dB |
| Metal, mirror, fridge | 15 dB | 20 dB | 22 dB |
What each signal level means
Wi-Fi signal is measured in dBm and is always negative: the closer to zero, the better.
| Signal | Level | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| −60 dBm or better | Excellent | 4K streaming, online gaming and the full speed of your plan. |
| −60 to −67 dBm | Good | Stable HD video and video calls. The target for rooms you use. |
| −67 to −72 dBm | Fair | Browsing and messaging work; video may stutter. |
| −72 to −80 dBm | Weak | Slow and unstable. |
| below −80 dBm | No usable signal | The connection drops often. |
2.4, 5 or 6 GHz?
2.4 GHz reaches farther and goes through walls better, but it is slow and shared with your neighbors. Good for smart-home devices and far corners.
5 GHz is the everyday balance: much faster, with medium range. Check the map on this band first.
6 GHz, found on Wi-Fi 6E and tri-band Wi-Fi 7 routers, is the fastest and least crowded, but loses more at every wall. It shines in the router's own room and on the link between mesh nodes.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is the planner?
It is an estimate with a typical error of 8 dB either way. Use it to compare placements and decide how many nodes to buy. After installing, confirm with a Wi-Fi analyzer app on your phone.
How many mesh nodes do I need?
As a rule of thumb, one node per 80 to 120 m² (860 to 1,300 sq ft) in a brick house, and one per floor in multi-story homes. Concrete walls, slabs and long houses need more. Draw your plan and use Suggest a spot to see whether another node pays off.
Where should I put the main router?
As close to the center of the house as possible, about 1 meter (3 ft) off the floor, away from fridges, mirrors and metal cabinets. If the modem sits in a corner, run a network cable to a central spot or put a mesh node there.
Is a Wi-Fi 7 mesh with 6 GHz worth it?
The 6 GHz band is fast and uncrowded but goes through walls poorly. It is most useful for the link between nodes and for devices in the same room. For internet plans up to 1 Gbps, a dual-band Wi-Fi 7 mesh is usually enough.
Wired or wireless backhaul?
Wired whenever you can: speed does not drop and nodes can sit farther apart. Wirelessly, aim for −60 to −70 dBm between nodes. Below that, devices connected to the far node get much slower.
Where are my projects saved?
Only in your browser, in the device's local storage. Nothing is sent to a server. To keep a copy or open it on another computer, use File and then Export JSON.
Support the project
Planejador WiFi is free and open source. If it helped you pick the right router, you can send any amount of bitcoin over the Lightning Network with this BOLT 12 offer:
lno1pgv9qmrpdejk5ctydaezq4mfge5jqer0deshg6t0dcfpyurvv9hx26npv3hhyamfve5jucm0d5tzzq4uh5utfj7c2zmlwdeftewjv44sfdthp73slzgzv3hsnswea4ed65
Scan the QR code or paste the offer into a wallet that supports BOLT 12, such as Phoenix and Zeus.