on 05-01-2022 17:29
Hi no matter what we do we cannot get the wifi to reach , we even tried a brand new asus super router wifi 6 and all the trimmings and modem mode (didnt reach more than 1 bar - useless) We have boosters in 3 rooms in the house (tried access point modes - mesh modes - different channels and everything you can think of) tried that virgin wifi dont reach option on that app help thing that did nothing too.Tried disabling smart channel selction on the router and many different wifi channels (which took hours ) to see if any reach any better, still no good . It sees the network but its not strong enough to use and just drops every 2-10 minutes as its too weak.
i just found out Virgin media did powerline adapters (we havent tried these - not sure how it would perform but the office is wired to the main house electrics) which has kind of annoyed me as we sent help emails for this problem time n time again over the last couple of years and no one mentioned anything or even replied to us (thx VM ) .
i called the broadband help team and the guy on the phone couldnt understand what i needed and that wifi doesnt reach and had to put me on hold while he searched what a powerline adapter was. he honestly didnt know .
what should i do anyone? or ask for or call or buy? if anyone could help with something that will definitely work or get me through to someone who actually is an expert and knows what adapters exist it would be such a help.
those intelligent pod things arent going to reach just like the boosters in the house that cost 80£ each surely?
I thought about as a last resort a sisco Access Point with a directional antenna instead of omnidirectional but not 100% sure how to set these up and if its compatible with a HUB 4?
thanks everyone im giving up all hope here :*( bought and tried so many things it unreal
on 05-01-2022 17:52
The problem is your trying to get WiFi to a separate building not within your own home which almost all the things you listed do.
The best solution is to run an ethernet cable from your router directly into your office and then have an access point there, anything else is just a bodge and not future proofing
on 05-01-2022 18:31
The only other viable option for a good signal is a point-to-point radio connection, although 60GHz ones are rather expensive.
on 05-01-2022 18:36
how is the elec run to the garden office - if there is a duct could you feed a lan cable down it - if so then an access point if you need wifi and wired or just a switch if you are happy with wired
05-01-2022 18:47 - edited 05-01-2022 19:04
Powerline adapters "should work" if the mains electrical circuits in the Garden office and where the Hub is plugged in to are both wired to the same consumer unit/fuse box. My lad uses a pair for his gaming computer/consoles connected on short ethernet cables, up in his bedroom with no issues whatsoever. VM do not supply these - its Pods only.
Are yours? Electricians will often wire up extensions, attics, outhouses etc., via a separate unit as its easier/less disruptive to do - and so powerlines wont works.
A good pair from Amazon can be had for ~£40-100 depending on the features/speeds that you want (some have inbuilt wifi, passthrough power socket is good, multiple ethernet ports) and you can always send them back at no cost if they dont work and get full refund.
Look at the TP-Link range
on 05-01-2022 19:18
on 05-01-2022 19:58
I tried powerlines, useless.
Then Mikrotik SXT 5AC point to point wifi bridge. Run out of steam at about 650-700Mb, so ran Cat5E on a catenery and got 2Gb (LAG) to the garden room/home office. But became concerned about lightening and replaced the 5e with fibre. I now have 20Gb between house and garden room.
The home backbone cascades off a Mikrotik CRS312 and the garden room has a CRS305. At either end I have a Asus RT-AX89X configured as access points.
Not a cheap setup. But excellent wifi/transfer rates between home office and my servers/NAS etc all tucked away in the loft.
In your case, I would recommend a pair of CRS305, 50m of pre terminated 4 core outdoor spec fibre and a pair of SR transceivers. Plug in what ever access point you need in the office for your wifi. and you are future proof for the next 10+ years.
05-01-2022 20:21 - edited 05-01-2022 20:24
@Timwilky wrote:I tried powerlines, useless.
Was that because your external 'garden room" is wired into a separate consumer unit/fuse box - and hence are not connected? If so then of course they will be useless. But if they are connected - and most internal standard house circuits are - then they should work just fine - with some caveats regarding "noisy" circuits etc. My garage is on a separate circuit and our PA's dont work at all in there - but perfectly well in all other rooms in our property. If yours were useless on the same circuitry, then something else was wrong, I know 4 or 5 of our neighbours who all use them just fine.
Its not the "professional" high end future-proof solution you are suggesting - or indeed - not as good as simply running Cat6a ethernet cable out to the garden office with a WAP, but if the OP just wants good ethernet connectivity in there - and wifi - either through the PA's themselves or by plugging in a wireless access point to the port on the PA, then it should work just fine. We get 60-70 Mbps on ours in the distant room on our 200 package and its been stable enough for my lad's semi-pro gaming activities over the past few years and for all other of our "modest" activities too.
And of course its simple and no risk to test with the Amazon no quibble return option.
on 05-01-2022 20:42
In my case the Garden room is powered from the garage consumer unit, not directly from the house.
The garage is electrically noisy with fluorescent lighting, compressors, extractors etc. But the fact remained even 1200 rated powerlines couldn't reliably deliver 100Mb. A small spend and I now have 20Gb between garden room and home.
I dug out my receipt of the CRS305 and that was £110.
So rough sums
2xCRS305 £220
50m fibre £130
2x SR transceivers £40.
So less than 400 to get a high speed network connection, that is future proof!
on 06-01-2022 00:56