Extending Wi-Fi to garage - what do I need?
Discussion
Hoping someone with a bit more technical knowledge can help me out here....
Currently getting part of our detached garage converted in to a home office. As part of the fit out the builder is going to run a cat6 cable from my current router to the new office. What do I need to stick on the end of this to ensure a great Wi-Fi signal in the new home office?
Is it something like this?
https://eu.store.ui.com/products/unifi-nanohd
This looks like it will do the job but seems expensive - happy to pay this though if that's what is needed and it's decent kit.
If possible I want to keep the same Wi-Fi name / password rather than having a separate one for the house and the office and everything switching between the two every time I come in and out (or more likely keeping connected to the poor house signal when I'm in the office)
All recommendations / advice welcome!
Thanks in advance
Currently getting part of our detached garage converted in to a home office. As part of the fit out the builder is going to run a cat6 cable from my current router to the new office. What do I need to stick on the end of this to ensure a great Wi-Fi signal in the new home office?
Is it something like this?
https://eu.store.ui.com/products/unifi-nanohd
This looks like it will do the job but seems expensive - happy to pay this though if that's what is needed and it's decent kit.
If possible I want to keep the same Wi-Fi name / password rather than having a separate one for the house and the office and everything switching between the two every time I come in and out (or more likely keeping connected to the poor house signal when I'm in the office)
All recommendations / advice welcome!
Thanks in advance
If you already have unifi, then yes.
If you already have an existing mesh WiFi solution, fit another one of those.
Otherwise, an access point (not a router) from a reputable vendor. Configure it with the same ssid and password and all will probably be well.
You may find that devices hang onto the wrong AP a bit. A mesh is probably a more elegant solution, but a stand-alone AP is cheap to try.
If you already have an existing mesh WiFi solution, fit another one of those.
Otherwise, an access point (not a router) from a reputable vendor. Configure it with the same ssid and password and all will probably be well.
You may find that devices hang onto the wrong AP a bit. A mesh is probably a more elegant solution, but a stand-alone AP is cheap to try.
Edited by Mr E on Wednesday 20th April 18:47
Mr E said:
If you already have unifi, then yes.
If you already have an existing mesh WiFi solution, fit another one of those.
Otherwise, an access point (not a router) from a reputable vendor. Configure it with the same ssid and password and all will be well.
Thanks so much for the speedy reply. I don't have either unifi or any mesh solution at the moment (the router gives a fine Wi-Fi signal in the house and I have wired connections to all the rooms for son's Xbox / Sky box etc) so it sounds like I need an access point then. Any pointers in terms of reputable makes? If you already have an existing mesh WiFi solution, fit another one of those.
Otherwise, an access point (not a router) from a reputable vendor. Configure it with the same ssid and password and all will be well.
Dan 80 said:
Hoping someone with a bit more technical knowledge can help me out here....
Currently getting part of our detached garage converted in to a home office. As part of the fit out the builder is going to run a cat6 cable from my current router to the new office. What do I need to stick on the end of this to ensure a great Wi-Fi signal in the new home office?
....e
plug that ethernet cable into a router/adsl modem from a previous broadband deal and you're good to go.Currently getting part of our detached garage converted in to a home office. As part of the fit out the builder is going to run a cat6 cable from my current router to the new office. What do I need to stick on the end of this to ensure a great Wi-Fi signal in the new home office?
....e
Works a treat for me.
Configured it as a separate wifi network.
justin220 said:
Have you looked into a powerline adapter?
Yes, looked in to this but the garage electrics are on a different ring to the house ones so won’t work. Even if they did work then I would still need something to give me a strong Wi-Fi signal rather than the power line adaptors that I would need to plug in to.OutInTheShed said:
plug that ethernet cable into a router/adsl modem from a previous broadband deal and you're good to go.
Works a treat for me.
Configured it as a separate wifi network.
Alas no previous kit. The last router went back to Sky as everything is loaned rather than owned now…Works a treat for me.
Configured it as a separate wifi network.
Dan 80 said:
bigandclever said:
I just bought a £40 tp-link router and run it as an access point. Same SSID and password as the main router in the house, cat5e cable between them, job done.
Perfect, sounds like just what I need. Thank you - plug the new router into the existing one, with a cable, to do the initial setup. The new one will be going mad as a router until you tell it it isn’t one. And traipsing back and forth like I did becomes old, quickly.
- temporarily change your existing password (and maybe your SSID) to something easy to enter. Your super-secure password will become a pain in the arse the 2nd time you have to enter it. Once setup is complete, set it back.
- expect to have to reboot each device a few times until it all synchs.
- if you can, fix IP addresses for ‘stuff’. The new router won’t be assigning any (because you’ve told it not to), but the seamless ‘transfer’ of devices across routers seems to be more stable.
Dan 80 said:
Mr E said:
Do you have any particular need for very high performance WiFi in the garage?
Yes, it will be my home office and I have to connect via Wi-Fi rather than a network cable so I want a reliable, strong signal out there.What are you doing? General office type work with a need for voice/video calls and file transfer?
Or, are you a video editor needing to move massive amounts of data over the link?
How fast is the Internet supplied to the house?
You probably only need ~£20 of 802.11n AP.
But if you have serious performance requirements, you may need more capable kit.
What about about those gizmos you plug one into a 13 amp plug and a connector to the router, plug similar gizmo in another 13 amp plug in garage, and cable from it to the computer, sorted.
Signal transmit via house wiring, I used it upstairs when my first PC wifi didn’t want to work.
Not knowing too much about this stuff, no idea if it will support what you are looking for, but worked for me.
Signal transmit via house wiring, I used it upstairs when my first PC wifi didn’t want to work.
Not knowing too much about this stuff, no idea if it will support what you are looking for, but worked for me.
bigandclever said:
It wasn’t a huge ballache to setup either, though it did take an hour or so. A couple of hints, if you go down this route ..
- plug the new router into the existing one, with a cable, to do the initial setup. The new one will be going mad as a router until you tell it it isn’t one. And traipsing back and forth like I did becomes old, quickly.
- temporarily change your existing password (and maybe your SSID) to something easy to enter. Your super-secure password will become a pain in the arse the 2nd time you have to enter it. Once setup is complete, set it back.
- expect to have to reboot each device a few times until it all synchs.
- if you can, fix IP addresses for ‘stuff’. The new router won’t be assigning any (because you’ve told it not to), but the seamless ‘transfer’ of devices across routers seems to be more stable.
Thanks for the advice - will definitely bear all of this in mind!- plug the new router into the existing one, with a cable, to do the initial setup. The new one will be going mad as a router until you tell it it isn’t one. And traipsing back and forth like I did becomes old, quickly.
- temporarily change your existing password (and maybe your SSID) to something easy to enter. Your super-secure password will become a pain in the arse the 2nd time you have to enter it. Once setup is complete, set it back.
- expect to have to reboot each device a few times until it all synchs.
- if you can, fix IP addresses for ‘stuff’. The new router won’t be assigning any (because you’ve told it not to), but the seamless ‘transfer’ of devices across routers seems to be more stable.
Vipers said:
What about about those gizmos you plug one into a 13 amp plug and a connector to the router, plug similar gizmo in another 13 amp plug in garage, and cable from it to the computer, sorted.
Signal transmit via house wiring, I used it upstairs when my first PC wifi didn’t want to work.
Not knowing too much about this stuff, no idea if it will support what you are looking for, but worked for me.
I think this is a Powerline adaptor referred to in an earlier post. Won't work for me as the garage electrics are on a different ring to the house. Signal transmit via house wiring, I used it upstairs when my first PC wifi didn’t want to work.
Not knowing too much about this stuff, no idea if it will support what you are looking for, but worked for me.
Mr E said:
Signal strength is not performance.
What are you doing? General office type work with a need for voice/video calls and file transfer?
Or, are you a video editor needing to move massive amounts of data over the link?
How fast is the Internet supplied to the house?
You probably only need ~£20 of 802.11n AP.
But if you have serious performance requirements, you may need more capable kit.
Internet to the house is circa 500mbps. At the moment it will be general office work with video calls but there may be a need to do some large file transfers in the future so it would be good to future-proof.What are you doing? General office type work with a need for voice/video calls and file transfer?
Or, are you a video editor needing to move massive amounts of data over the link?
How fast is the Internet supplied to the house?
You probably only need ~£20 of 802.11n AP.
But if you have serious performance requirements, you may need more capable kit.
Have been looking at access points and think something like this would meet my needs:
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/kcnetgear-wac104-s...
Do you agree or is there anything better for a similar sort of price?
Thanks again for all the input.
In theory at least, by extending cabling to another building you're at more risk of damage to your Ethernet connected equipment due to lightning strikes and power surges.
Given you're connecting your PC over WiFi though, I think the impact would be pretty minimal so it's not worth worrying over.
Given you're connecting your PC over WiFi though, I think the impact would be pretty minimal so it's not worth worrying over.
Dan 80 said:
Internet to the house is circa 500mbps. At the moment it will be general office work with video calls but there may be a need to do some large file transfers in the future so it would be good to future-proof.
Ok, so 802.11ac at a minimum.That linked net gear looks like it will do what you need. Plug it into the ethernet cable, configure your ssid/pw and you should be good
Edited by Mr E on Thursday 21st April 08:22
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