PSA: I was wrong about wireless sensors in older brick buildings

I just read a study from a security tech lab at a university in Boston. They found that in solid brick walls over 12 inches thick, some common wireless sensors can have a 40% signal loss. I always thought the range specs were solid, but that's a huge drop. I installed a system in a 1920s brick apartment building last month and had two motion sensors keep dropping offline. Now I know why. Has anyone else run into this and found a good fix besides running more repeaters?

2 comments

2 Comments

linda_bennett444d agoMost Upvoted

That part about 40% signal loss in thick brick walls explains a lot. I used to tell people the advertised range was fine for older homes. Had a similar issue with a client's brick garage last year, sensors kept going dead. Wired sensors are the only real fix I found for those spots, even if it's more work to run the cable.

emma7684d ago

Yeah that brick wall thing @linda_bennett44 is so real. I ended up having to run a wire to a back door sensor at my place too, just gave up on the wireless signal.