Stucco Creating Faraday Cage for Wireless
While installing a wireless network at a youth camp where I volunteer, I was having issues getting the wireless distribution system to see the wireless access point in the building where the main router is located. If I place the WAP in the attic I could get a decent signal. So I moved the WAP to the end of the building, in the attic and mounted it inside the wood eave of the building. I was then getting a good signal to my other building. It wasn’t till after I had done this that I realized it never would of worked the first way I was trying. Most of the older buildings, such as the one the network originates from, have stucco exteriors. Part of the process of installing stucco (at least the old way) is to wrap the building in a wire mesh to help hold the stucco. It finally occurred to me that the wire mesh was creating a faraday cage around the building preventing the wireless signal from reaching outside.