Advice on extending wireless range in property please

Magic_x_uk

Magic_x_uk

Magic_x_uk

Soldato
Joined
11 Oct 2005
Posts
5,718
Location
Derbyshire
Hi, been asked by a friend to help with the following problem.


She has her ISP for broadband via O2 and they included a Thomson 02 wireless box iv router.

Wi-fi is okay within the house but soon she is starting a small business in one of her out buildings at home.

The Wi-fi is pretty much none existent in the out buildings.


What options are there to help with this please. I said I would help, but not really wanting to run a Cat5e cable to the out buildings. I was thinking something that increases wi-fi range or would a better router help.

Extenders etc?

Hope someone can shed some light with this for me please


thank you
 
What kind of distance are we talking from the router to the out building?
And what kind of walls, new build, or the old style solid stone stuff?
 
I've no experience in setting up wifi to a detetched building, but there are some wifi range boosting kits you can get but they do tend to cost more than the standard routers that you use for home. Google extending wifi range boosting. Sorry I can't be of any real help
 
I'd assume there's power to the building if she'll be using it as an office so what about a homeplug WAP / extender?
 
If your 'out building' is on the same electrical meter, then a homeplug system would work.

If there's 3.5G in the area, you could get a Data package router from a mobile provider.

If not, you can use wireless routers to extend the range of the wireless signal.

Have you got any pics of your female friend?
 
If the power for the out building comes from the main property then Powerline could work. I can get usable connection out to my shed, but it isn't as far from the house.

You may just be able to get away with adding an internal wireless access point inside the main building as close as possible to the out building.

If you use an access point with detachable aerials you could keep the access point inside, but use external aerials.

You could also just get an external access point. Something like the TP-LINK TL-WA5210G would probably be okay and they're only £50-ish.
 
oh right. i was just hoping there was something quite simple to sort this problem out,

Bremem, i do not know what you tried to link to, but i cannot find it within overclockers shop site,

I do not know if it is on the same 'ring/consumer unit'

I was hoping there was something easy out there to help her
 
It is easy. You just need to install an wireless access point that's positioned close enough to the out building to give it a usable signal.

Adding an additional access point isn't difficult. The best approach, and the exact choice of kit, will depend on local factors that only you can decide on.

There are many things that OcUK don't sell, including external access points. If the forum rules were different I'd have provided direct links, but that isn't allowed. The search engine of your choice should turn up suitable kit.
 
So if i buy a wireless access point. Does that need wiring to the existing router or does that wirelessly talk to the existing router and in turn extend the range.
 
Wire it back to the existing router. You can use a Powerline connection for this if it isn't possible to run a cable.

It is possible to do it all wirelessly, but it doesn't tend to work very well.

Have you just tried relocating the existing router to move it closer to the out building?

There's always the option of replacing the existing router with something that has better wireless, and hope it reaches.

Without a site survey it's all guesswork.
 
Going there in half hour to have a look.
If home plugs would work, do they give a wi fi signal then or do you just plug your computer into them?

As I know she wants to use a laptop & her iPad in the out building as well
 
Okay just got back from there.

Router is at front of house into master socket. Basic ISP router as mentioned in 1st post.

Out building is at opposite end of the property from router. At the moment though she has wi-fi in the out building. Some times she gets it, others she doesn't. Perhaps down to weather?

She has tried Belkin Home plugs before and they did not work. Perhaps on a different fuse box?

I suggested one option would be to move router into center location of the house thereby giving more wi-fi coverage to out building and would only need a telephone cable and neat routing. One option.

Not feasible to router cable from router to out building really as house recently been renovated, same as outside.


I do not know much about wifi extenders etc. Hence me asking on here.

Hopefully someone may shed some light now.


What about a better, more powerful router and if so which one(s)? would they give a much larger range for wi-fi.

Thank you.
 
I'm no expert here but just a thought - is the outbuilding in line-of-sight of any of the windows in the house?

Maybe homeplugs within the house to an access point on/near said window sill?

I get great wifi in the shed at the bottom of my garden but I can just about see my router from there through a window.
 
You need someone more savvy than me really :)

From what little I do know it will work as you want but may be slower than using at as a "proper" access point wired to the router. This is because it first has the "read" the incoming wireless signal from the router, then process and retransmit it. Working as an AP it gets the wired signal straight from the router (faster) then simply transmits it, so it's doing half the work.
 
Sounds like she needs a wi-fi repeater. Google it.
Huawei sell one on Amazon for roughly 30quid.

This will extend your wireless network, just needs plugging in (inside the house nearest to the out-building).

If that doesn't work - you're going for a 3.5G mobile wifi router as mentioned before.

PR

PS. They can be a bit of a pain to set-up sometimes, so you may need to assist with that if she's not tech-savvy.
 
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