Numpty WiFi Question

[NDA]

I should know the answer to this.... but I’m not entirely sure.

A friend with a barn 50m from his house needs WiFi in there. A repeater is too flakey - we’ve tried it and it’s not stable.

He has ducting to the barn, so we’re thinking to run Ethernet out there. One end into the back of the router and at the other an ‘access point’.

I’ve never used or set up an access point, I assume as soon as it’s wired into the router it’s just replicating the signal? As simple as that?

No other functionality is needed other than that.

What might I have misunderstood?

Thanks.

[telford_mike]

No it won’t unfortunately, the AP has no knowledge of the WI-FI setup in the main building. Dead easy to set up though.

[otolith]

I think you could probably get it to work with the same SSID and key, though.

[Andy-SP2]

What you could do is this:

Run the ethernet cable to the barn and plug it into a seperate wifi router that's intended for cable TV ( as opposed to BT). You could then set up a seperate wifi network in the barn with a different SSID

[Ynox]

Yep - simply chuck an AP on the end of the Ethernet cable.

I (and others) like Ubiquiti products.

Can have the same SSID etc configured so it should be seamless.

[LordGrover]

Create or extend network with ubiquiti box/

[Vipers]

What about those gizmos you plug into the ring main, and a cable to the router, and plug the other gizmo in the ring main in the barn with a cable to the PC, as these runs through the ring main I am assuming there would be no loss of signal.

If he has mains from the house of course.

[pterodroma]

You must have an old router in a cupboard somewhere... Run the cable and set that up as an AP. Plenty of guides online.

I have stable Wi-Fi in a barn ca.50m from my router thanks to an old home hub and a powerline adaptor. Wired would be even better.

Powerlines work in any plug my side of the meter as far as I can tell, over multiple consumer units, large distances, various wiring additions, etc.

[NDA]

I do have an old router - will have a go with that.

[gothatway]

pterodroma said:

Powerlines work in any plug my side of the meter as far as I can tell, over multiple consumer units, large distances, various wiring additions, etc.

I've been told that they won't work across multiple consumer units - but that was some time ago; do you know if that's definitely not the case ?

[telford_mike]

gothatway said:

I've been told that they won't work across multiple consumer units - but that was some time ago; do you know if that's definitely not the case ?

I managed to hook up to my neighbour's network no problem when we both used the default settings (now changed!).

[Murph7355]

otolith said:

I think you could probably get it to work with the same SSID and key, though.

This. Roaming between house and barn will be more or less seamless depending on the device and if you have a decent signal between the buildings.

gothatway said:

pterodroma said:

Powerlines work in any plug my side of the meter as far as I can tell, over multiple consumer units, large distances, various wiring additions, etc.

I've been told that they won't work across multiple consumer units - but that was some time ago; do you know if that's definitely not the case ?

They're pretty sensitive to many factors on the wiring IME. I've never had them working well in 2x properties. Lots of others have.

Best bet is always, always dedicated cable if it can be run.

[NDA]

Powerline adapters don't work in this setting. The barn has it's own fusebox etc and the adapters won't bridge that gap.

Ethernet to an access point seems to be the solution.

[Kermit power]

LordGrover said:

Create or extend network with ubiquiti box/

Do these things actually have a stronger signal?

I currently have our main (currently Virgin) router downstairs, and my study up in our loft conversion with the old BT router up in the study set up as an AP over powerline adapters.

Downstairs, I'll get around 150Mbps, but over Powerline that drops to around 35Mbps. I also have to run them as separate SSIDs and switch manually, because if I keep them the same, mobile devices tend to stay connected to the one they first connect to, so that 35Mbps would drop to 1 or 2 because it's still connecting to the router downstairs through lots of brick.

If I went for one of these Ubiquiti things, would I be able to replace both the current SSIDs and the Powerlines with a single system powerful enough to cover the whole house?

[NDA]

Kermit power said:

If I went for one of these Ubiquiti things, would I be able to replace both the current SSIDs and the Powerlines with a single system powerful enough to cover the whole house?

Yes.

I have the BT Whole Home system with 4 discs. It is a 'mesh' system, so the same SSID and devices don't cling on to weak signals, they switch seamlessly. The wifi has never been better in my house - a strong and fast signal throughout. I have been through a variety of power line systems and repeaters - the mesh technology is by far the best. I don't know much about the Ubiquiti system, but it's a bit more costly I think - essentially the same as the BT system though.

[xeny]

Kermit power said:

If I went for one of these Ubiquiti things, would I be able to replace both the current SSIDs and the Powerlines with a single system powerful enough to cover the whole house?

Maybe - often the problem isn't the client device receiving the signal from the router/access point, it's the router/access point receiving the signal from the client device, which typically has a relatively low power radio implementation (in order to stop your battery going flat even faster).

Orientation of the Ubiquiti units also matters, and they're typically intended for ceiling mounts, so in your scenario the best bet would probably be to place one upside down as near the centre of the house as sensibly possible.- is there a suitable staircase that could allow a decent connection upstairs without all the attenuation due to building structure?

[pterodroma]

gothatway said:

I've been told that they won't work across multiple consumer units - but that was some time ago; do you know if that's definitely not the case ?

I have 7 consumer units all under the same electricity meter. Power lines work over all of them. TP Link.

I also have a TV plugged in to one and it streams Netflix etc in HD with no issues.

That said, a cabled AP is best. The mesh stuff is also a better solution for WiFi but I can't justify the upgrade when I don't want for anything with my current setup.

[Kermit power]

xeny said:

Orientation of the Ubiquiti units also matters, and they're typically intended for ceiling mounts, so in your scenario the best bet would probably be to place one upside down as near the centre of the house as sensibly possible.- is there a suitable staircase that could allow a decent connection upstairs without all the attenuation due to building structure?

Yes, that would be easy enough to do and get power to it, but not ethernet. Does the Ubiquiti need both?

[xeny]

Kermit power said:

Yes, that would be easy enough to do and get power to it, but not ethernet. Does the Ubiquiti need both?

The Unifi product range needs ethernet or will accept a wireless uplink from another Unifi AP., but that doesn't help you unless you'd be prepared to buy two of them, which seems a bit of an ask just on spec. They expect PoE, but ship with a PoE power injector.

Ubiquiti also make some mesh products would would presumably do the trick, but they're a bit too consumer focussed for me to have deployed.

[NDA]

Ubiquiti software doesn't support Mac/IOS as far as I can see....