Best Way to Spread WiFi Coverage!

Indie · 31 Oct 2013 at 12:42

I would like some advice on how I can boost/spread my Wifi for as cheap as possible.

I drew this magnificent diagram below to help demonstrate my predicament!

p.s not to scale

Red box is at the bottom of the paint masterpiece is where my Virgin SuperHub currently is. Ideally, I don't want to move it as that's where all our PC's etc are.

The WiFi signal starts to bite the dust towards the end of the kitchen extension (red line), so doesn't actually reach to the man cave at the bottom of the garden, which is where I need some Internetz!

The garden isn't huge, probably around 20ft or so.

So whats the best/cheapest way to get a decent signal in my man cave?
Good enough signal to stream videos, if that makes any difference.

Psypher5 · 31 Oct 2013 at 12:43

would it be worth running a cat6 cable under ground/outside/along the external walls and stick a switch on the end?

Indie · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:00

Not a bad shout actually, could run it alongside the fence I suppose. Theres some 50m reels on the bay for around £35. Going to have to measure up to see if it will be enough though!

Any recommendations for a switch?

Any other suggestions?

Caged · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:38

If you don't fancy running a cable you could pop an external AP on the outside of the house and cable it back to the router.

Indie · 31 Oct 2013 at 14:02

Don't mind running cables at all. Just unsure on which hardware would be best suited to the job. Switches? APs? .. would CAT5e cable do the trick as it seems to be much cheaper, or would it be best going for CAT6?

bremen1874 · 31 Oct 2013 at 14:22

Cat5e would be fine. For Gigabit you'd see zero benefit by using Cat6(a).

Indie · 31 Oct 2013 at 14:43

Yeah it does seem much much cheaper, so long as it streams video okay then that's great! I can't imagine it will be used for anything else.

Vanilla · 31 Oct 2013 at 15:05

If I can hijack this thread...I need something quite similar....but not...

I have the same problem BUT I have Cat6 cable all the way down to the 'man cave'.

I have a Gigabit switch and everything connected wired. So while I have a lot of wired I would like to provide wireless for phones, Kindle, guests, etc.

What a cheap way of making a new wireless network?

neodude · 31 Oct 2013 at 15:06

Cable would be the best way. Homeplugs would be a good second choice.

Indie · 31 Oct 2013 at 15:19

Vanilla said:
If I can hijack this thread...I need something quite similar....but not...

I have the same problem BUT I have Cat6 cable all the way down to the 'man cave'.

I have a Gigabit switch and everything connected wired. So while I have a lot of wired I would like to provide wireless for phones, Kindle, guests, etc.

What a cheap way of making a new wireless network?

I guess an AP would do the trick, if you've already got cables laying around everywhere then thats a bonus

Tingtangmakadingdong · 31 Oct 2013 at 18:17

Without hijacking the thread I am also interested in something similar but I can't lay any cables. How good and far will wifi extenders work?

Indie · 31 Oct 2013 at 22:01

Spoken to my neighbor who also has Virgin Media with the same hub, also said how rubbish the WiFi signal is.

We don't have exceptionally large houses. Just a standard terraced house, so not sure why they are so poor.

I've ordered 50m of CAT5E cable.

Would this switch do the trick on the other end?

YOUR BASKET
1 x TP-Link 5 Port Gigabit Desktop Switch (TL-SG1005D) £19.99
Total : £22.97 (includes shipping : £2.48).

Indie · 1 Nov 2013 at 14:22

Or would I be better off having an AP/Extender so WiFi could be picked up as well as a cabled connection. Just thinking of things like iPads/Phones etc....

tomparker95 · 1 Nov 2013 at 14:25

Homeplugs worth a shout. Work well in our house