Device placement is an important factor in having an operational installation. This guide aims to walk you through the best placement ideas for different kinds of nami devices.
Wi-Fi sensors
This section deals with Wi-Fi sensors, which are nami devices performing Wi-Fi sensing and exchanging information which each other over the home Wi-Fi network.
1 - Introduction to Wi-Fi sensing and the concept of sensing zone
nami Wi-Fi sensors performs Wi-Fi sensing, which consists in exchanging Wi-Fi frames with each other and analysing them, looking at any perturbation in the transmitted signals. Human bodies, made most of water, tend to reflect a lot the Wi-Fi signals. By exchanging Wi-Fi frames, two geographically distant devices create a virtual tripwire which defines an area of your place in which events will be detected (for example, someone moving in the area). This area is what nami calls a sensing zone. Below in blue are example of such zones, note that the covered area increases when you add more devices in the zone.
A zone with two devices will typically cover one or two rooms in your place, whereas a zone with three devices can cover an entire floor of your place. In any case, you will need at least two devices to define a sensing zone, as sensing in not possible with only one Wi-Fi sensor. We recommend to put between two and three devices in a zone depending on the area you wish to cover in your place.
Two devices allow to cover about 70 sq. m // 700 sq. ft.
Three devices allow to cover about 120 sq. m // 1200 sq. ft.
After three devices, we recommend to setup two zones of two devices, which will give you a more granular coverage of your place. See more in section 3 of this guide.
2 - Placement guidelines for devices of a zone
Devices belonging to the same sensing zone must be placed with the following requirements.
Generic placement considerations
- Place you Wi-Fi sensor above the ground, ideally at waist level. Don't put in on the ground or too close to the ceiling for optimal results.
- Avoid placing your Wi-Fi sensor behind large metallic objects.
- Do not stack multiple smart plugs into each other.
Distance requirement between a Wi-Fi sensor and the Wi-Fi access point
All devices of a zone will use the same Wi-Fi access point. It is essential that the zone you are installing is well covered by the Wi-Fi access point you intend to use. Make sure that all the devices in the zone are in a reasonable distance from this Wi-Fi access point, especially the first device you will set up in the zone. To know more about Wi-Fi access points, and why we require all devices of a zone to use the same one, please check out the following article.
Once the Wi-Fi sensor is set up, you can open the nami app and checkout the device information to make sure the RSSI value of the connexion to the access point is satisfying (above -60dB). If not, move your device closer to the access point for better results.
Distance requirements between two Wi-Fi sensor
- To perform Wi-Fi sensing, two devices must be geographically separated. We recommend having at least 2 meters / 7 feet between each devices of the same zone.
- If they are two far away from each other, they won't be able to exchange Wi-Fi frames which makes the sensing impossible. We recommend having at most 12 meters / 40 feet between each devices of the same zone.
Note that the distance requirements may vary depending on several factors in your home, like the materials used for walls and ceilings.
3 - Setting up sensing zone(s) in your place
Depending on the number of Wi-Fi sensors you will install, different coverage options are possible for your place.
If you have less than four Wi-Fi sensors
This means you will set up a unique sensing zone for your place. We recommend setting up the zone in the first floor of your place, in the area that you want to monitor closely. If you intend to use Wi-Fi sensors are a security system, cover the area containing the main entrance points of your place.
If you have more than 3 Wi-Fi sensors
It means you are able to setup more than one sensing zone in your place. This is good because you will have access to individual sensing data for each zone, meaning that you can locate motion events in a precise zone of your place. For example, if you set up a zone in each floor of your home, you can know in which floor the motion is happening. You can also split one floor with a very large surface area into several zones, keeping in mind the Wi-Fi access point constraint.
If you encounter any issues during the pairing process or need further assistance, reach out to our dedicated support team. We're here to help you every step of the way!
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