on 28-03-2022 12:32
I'm looking to get WiFi working in a garden office. We have tried a netgear extender as the office is super close to the house, but the outer walls block any signal. As the office is so close the next thought is to run an ethernet cable across
Is it just as simple as installing the cable and connecting it to an access point?
Answered! Go to Answer
on 28-03-2022 16:37
Probably an idea to use outdoor grade ethernet if it is exposed to sunlight, and I'd use Cat 6a. If it's 100% in trunking or conduit you can use indoor grade stuff. And however it is setup, make sure that you can replace the ethernet cable without too much trouble. Whilst the probability of the cable going bad is small if carefully handled and suitably protected, they can still sometimes go bad for no obvious reason, and if that happens you don't want to have to excavate buried conduit, or dig up a nicely laid garden path, etc
28-03-2022 12:56 - edited 28-03-2022 12:59
The short answer is yes.
The longer answer involves researching what you want from the access point. It can be done cheaply and still be effective or you can spend more for a smarter set up.
From a Virgin perspective you can get their plume pods and use the wired ethernet as wired backbone and use it as a WiFi accesspoint in the office.
From a cheap perspective, alot of old routers can be set up as access points that keep costs down.
The smarter setups use a mesh system and are really good at handing devices off to the other nodes as you move about the property.
on 28-03-2022 13:02
@Wisesophie12 wrote:
Is it just as simple as installing the cable and connecting it to an access point?
Basically yes.
One of the challenges can be terminating the cable with a plug. There are a couple of main choices;
Much depends on the cable run - the type of wall, and existing holes or gaps that can be utilised. There are a number of skills involved in running cables!
You can purchase a crimping tool online or from shops like screwfix. There are details of how to terminate the plugs online.
on 28-03-2022 16:27
A direct Ethernet cable is far the best option. It’s unlikely that a home mesh system would work very well as WiFi signals are very fickle and a lot of glass contains metal that blocks a large amount of the signal. Another thing the signal is easily dispersed when it’s raining.
on 28-03-2022 16:37
Probably an idea to use outdoor grade ethernet if it is exposed to sunlight, and I'd use Cat 6a. If it's 100% in trunking or conduit you can use indoor grade stuff. And however it is setup, make sure that you can replace the ethernet cable without too much trouble. Whilst the probability of the cable going bad is small if carefully handled and suitably protected, they can still sometimes go bad for no obvious reason, and if that happens you don't want to have to excavate buried conduit, or dig up a nicely laid garden path, etc
on 28-03-2022 17:14
In fact the cost of the actual cable is tiny compared to the expense of getting someone to lay it or the inconvenience of doing it yourself, so always install at least two runs of the cable. Properly terminate and use one of them and leave the other as a ‘backup’ And no, don’t be tempted to use both of them at the same same on the grounds that two cables will give faster speed - no? Because unless you know what you are doing and have equipment capable of dealing with this situation, then ‘bad stuff’ will happen!
on 28-03-2022 19:58
Over the years I have gone through a number of solutions.
Powerline are a waste of space.
Wifi Bridge using a pair of directional units ran out of speed at 700Mb
Outdoor spec 5e cable hung of 50m of catenary, l became concerned as to lightening risk and even using a lag connection still a bottle neck
Finally a 4 core om3 fibre. 20gb throughout and probably good for my needs for the duration. Most of my non WiFi need is 10Gb connected.
on 28-03-2022 20:05
Thanks for the swift replies all. Will definitely do some research into the points raised
on 29-03-2022 07:55
Don't overlook "quick and dirty", in the form of unprotected, surface laid cable, pushed under hedges or against the base of walls and fences. Whilst that's not good practice, we see it used often enough in VM coax installations, and it can avoid a huge amount of cost and effort. Whilst this has greater risk of damage, if you make sure that the cable entry and exit points are suitable for re-threading a replacement, then you don't need to run two cables, no digging, no conduit. If you want pre-terminated you'll need 14mm holes in walls or window frames to allow for the plug. If going through masonry walls and you have the tools and the bits, a 15mm hole in a wall with a length of 15mm water pipe creates a neat job and makes passing a plug and cable easy (just use some non-permanent wadding to fill the gap around the cable.
If buying pre-terminated choices are bit limited, but Cat 7 like this would do. Basic Cat 6 is more readily available, personally I'd choose Cat 6a or 7 because they're shielded, which is perhaps a good idea for surface laid cable. And subject to suitable doors or windows you might even find the flat cable can be run through the door or window shut, avoiding drilling.
on 29-03-2022 12:57
I would never ever use Cat7 cable because it’s proprietary and not recognised by any international standards body. Only use ones approved are Cat5e/Cat6/Cat6a and Cat8.