Who it is for
This is for a shop owner or office manager with a retail floor, showroom, workshop, or warehouse corner where the WiFi drops out in certain spots. Maybe the card reader at the back counter loses connection, the tablet on the shop floor spins, or staff walk to the front of the building to send a photo. You already have (or plan to buy) UniFi access points and want to put them in the right place instead of wherever the old router happened to sit. You do not need to understand radio engineering. You need a floor sketch, a phone, and about an hour.
A dining room that dies once the room fills up has its own walk-through in the restaurant WiFi guide. This page is about placing access points so a shop floor stays online.
What you need
- A rough floor plan. A hand sketch on paper with walls, shelving, and counters is fine.
- A list of the spots where WiFi matters most: registers, card readers, label printers, tablets, cameras, the break room.
- Access to the UniFi Network app (on the console or the mobile app) for your site.
- A phone with the free WiFiman app installed. Its signal-strength tools work best when your network has a UniFi gateway or Cloud Gateway.
- A ladder, and permission to run cable above the ceiling if you plan to add or move an access point.
How access points actually cover a room
A typical UniFi ceiling access point (the flat round or square ones) sends signal down and out, like a lampshade. It does not send much upward or straight through the slab behind it. That is why ceiling mounting in the middle of the space usually beats a box on a shelf in the back office. Walls, metal shelving, coolers, and stock all soak up signal, so “it reaches 150 feet” on a spec sheet means very little on a shop floor packed with product.
The goal is not maximum range from one device. The goal is solid signal where people and devices actually are.
Steps
1. Mark where WiFi has to work
- On your floor sketch, circle every spot where a device must stay connected: registers, payment terminals, handheld scanners, printers, tablets, office desks.
- Mark anything big and metal: steel racking, walk-in coolers, freezers, elevator shafts, electrical panels.
- Mark thick walls (brick, block, concrete) and any rooms behind them.
This sketch tells you more than any setting will.
2. Measure what you have today
- Open WiFiman on your phone and go to the Signal view.
- Stand at each circled spot and note the signal strength. It shows as a negative number in dBm. Closer to zero is better.
- Ubiquiti’s guidance is -70 dBm or better for a stable connection, with -65 dBm or better recommended (Ubiquiti on WiFi connectivity).
- Write each reading on the sketch. Anything weaker than -70 is a spot that needs a closer access point, not a settings tweak.
If you have a newer phone with LiDAR, WiFiman’s floor plan mapper can record this as a coverage map while you walk.
3. Pick spots for each access point
- Think in zones, not square footage. A common starting point is one access point per main work area: sales floor, back counter or office, stock room or workshop.
- Put each access point on or near the ceiling, roughly in the middle of its zone, with a clear view of the area it serves.
- Keep it away from metal: not on top of racking, not above a cooler, not next to ductwork, electrical panels, or a big TV.
- Do not hide it in a closet, above a metal drop-ceiling grid panel, or inside a cabinet. Out of sight is fine; boxed in is not.
- If a ceiling mount is not possible, Ubiquiti sells wall arm mounts that hold the access point out from the wall so it covers more like a ceiling mount (Ubiquiti mount options).
4. Run a cable to each access point
- Plan for a network cable (Cat6 is a good default) from your switch to each access point. UniFi access points are normally powered over that same cable (PoE), so you do not need an outlet at the ceiling.
- Avoid relying on wireless mesh between access points if you can cable them. Ubiquiti notes each wireless hop cuts throughput by at least half, and recommends a strong link of -60 dBm or better if you must mesh (Ubiquiti on meshing).
- Label both ends of every cable. Future you will thank present you.
5. Keep the settings simple
- Let the access points use the same network name (SSID) so devices can move between them as staff walk around.
- Leave transmit power on Auto to start. Cranking every access point to high power can make phones cling to a far-away access point instead of moving to the closer one.
- Prefer 5 GHz (and 6 GHz on newer gear) for phones, laptops, and tablets. Older scanners, printers, and some IoT gear may only support 2.4 GHz; that is fine, just do not expect it to be fast in a busy space.
- If you have a separate guest network, see our UniFi guest WiFi guide for keeping customers off the staff side.
6. Walk-test before you call it done
- Repeat the WiFiman walk from step 2 at every circled spot.
- Check that each spot reads -70 dBm or better, ideally -65 or better.
- Walk from one end of the building to the other on a video call or while running a speed test. The call should not drop as you pass between zones.
- In the UniFi Network app, look at connected clients and their signal. Devices that sit still (card readers, printers) should show healthy signal from the nearest access point.
- Test at a busy time too, not just when the shop is empty. People, carts, and stock all change how signal behaves.
Caution
- Do not stack everything in one spot. Two access points side by side in the back office do not cover the front of the store.
- Do not mount on or above metal. Racking, coolers, and ductwork block and bounce signal.
- Consumer extenders are a last resort. They often add a weak extra hop and make busy spaces slower.
- Ladder and ceiling work has real risks. Use a proper ladder, stay clear of electrical and sprinkler lines, and follow your building’s rules for running cable above the ceiling. Some landlords and fire codes require plenum-rated cable in air-handling ceilings.
- Moving stock changes coverage. A new row of steel shelving can create a dead spot that was not there last month. Re-check after big layout changes.
- Write down what you did. Note where each access point is, which cable feeds it, and what you measured. It saves time the next time something drops.