Mounting Airport Express Under Desk

Question

Mounting Airport Express Under Desk

I have a very small desk in a small office, so space is at a premium. I'm considering mounting my Airport Express below the desk using a product called TotalMount. The vendor claims this as an acceptable use case, but I assume this will block a substantial amount of signal. That said, I do not know the emission patterns of an Express. Is it through the top, the sides, all of the above? Would a wall mount be a better location?

Thanks,

MB

MacBook Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2)

Posted on Jan 8, 2018 12:01 PM

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Answer 1

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,220 points

Jan 8, 2018 9:09 PM in response to Mark Belanger

If you mount the AirPort Express on top of a desk, so that the Apple logo is facing upwards, then most of the signal will be directed in an upward fashion, as if it were an expanding balloon.

If you mount the AirPort Express upside down under the table, so the Apple logo is facing downward, then a fair amount of the signal will be directed toward the floor.

If you suspend the AirPort Express under the table, so the Apple logo is facing upwards, then most of the signal will try to go upward toward the desk surface, but will be absorbed by the desk, although some of the signal might make it through.

Wall mount, with the Apple logo facing the general area where the signal will be needed might be OK.

Ceiling mount with the Apple logo facing downward, would be ideal in almost any situation, since you would almost always have a line-of-sight relationship between a wireless device and the AirPort Express......the ideal situation for wireless.

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

362,023 points

Jan 8, 2018 12:10 PM in response to Mark Belanger

It's omni-directional. The less restricted the AEX the better the coverage. Where do you get your Wi-Fi? Why do you need an AEX?

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Answer 3

Jan 8, 2018 9:11 PM in response to Bob Timmons

While technically ideal, it would be marital-suicide as running power and cat5e up the wall and across the ceiling would quickly earn me the D-card...

Thanks for your feedback, Bob. Now that I know the signal is broadcast out the top, I'm going to play with a few lower wall settings and see how that works.

-MB

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Answer 4

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,220 points

Jan 8, 2018 9:45 PM in response to Mark Belanger

Now that I know the signal is broadcast out the top,

It depends on where the Express is mounted. If it were suspended in mid air, the device would radiate equally top and bottom, like expanding balloons in an hourglass or figure eight type shape.

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Answer 5

Jan 8, 2018 9:53 PM in response to Kappy

I get my WiFi from a series of AEX devices spread around the house in Bridge-mode. They are plugged into a switch that is plugged into a router that hands out DHCP addresses. With this setup, I have pretty solid coverage throughout my house and don't want the pending move of my office AEX to diminish it.

-MB

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Mounting Airport Express Under Desk

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