Wi Fi router

Hi, I need WiFi in my shed. Shed is out of radio range of the ORANGE router, so can't use a Wi Fi booster. I don't want to use a mains setup, as the house is 3 phase (common neutral). Ideally I can run twisted pair cat 5 underground cable in an existing duct, from the Orange router, but what sort of Wifi thing do I need in the workshop?
BobH

Why not just run an ethernet cable from the router out to the shed

it would be faster and more stable

you wouldn't need anything else simply plug the ethernet cable directly into your computer or device be it a splitter box or ?

Trevor

Edited By Trevorh on 25/08/2016 14:34:25

Hello,

As Trevor said, I ran a cat5 cable from the house to the shed then plugged in an access point,

Ethernet cable from house to shed with something like this plugged into it perhaps?

The wifi network in the shed would be different to the wifi network in your house but I think it should be possible to configure a laptop to connect to either.

Cheers,

Dave

Dunno what the problem is using 3-phase. Although you may have "single phase" in the house, it's actually just one phase of a 3-phase supply. Powerline should work fine. Presumably the sockets and lights in the shed aren't 3-phase/(!).

I have a 300Mb Powerline system in the house now, as the British brick walls don't work well with wifi, unlike the majority of US houses that are wooden framed. If you get one of the dual Ethernet / wifi access point plugs, it will even clone the wifi in the house so that you can simply walk from the house to the shed and it will seemlessly change over from the router to the Powerline AP, same SSID and password.

Look at something like this TP-Link system, although the Powerline kits are generally interchangeable.

But do be aware that, if a powerline router can clone your house wi-fi then so can anyone else, which is fine if you don't mind people using your wi-fi and potentially hacking into your PC etc. Also the TP-Link routers seem to be eminently hackable in their own right.

Do you really want wifi in your shed, or just Internet? As Trevor suggests, run a cat5 cable to an Ethernet socket from your router and just plug your PC into the Ethernet - if it has wifi it will probably have Ethernet.

"if a powerline router can clone your house wi-fi then so can anyone else". Hmm, only if they sneak into your house and press the clone button on both units.

If you really are paranoid - or are actually developing national secrets in your shed then perhaps - you need to remove the internet router because somebody can hack that. At some point you have to stop taking yourself too seriously and get into the shed and do some machining.

But, if you insist, there are Powerline-only versions.

Edited By Muzzer on 25/08/2016 16:42:41

Running cat 5 in the same duct as mains might give some noise issues especially if you are using a VFD. (not quite applicable but I did try my Powerline deliberately on the same extension lead as a 1hp motor to see how it would cope but not with a VFD. )

I would go for the cat 5 cable. You may need to make a lead up yourself. It's possible to buy the cable, plugs and a crimping tool to attach the plugs - bit messy without that.

It's possible to buy shielded cat 5 cable but as the ordinary stuff is all twisted pairs I doubt if you will have problems. I would probably use the thin stuff that they run round offices and factories as it will probably be easier to get through. It's grey and stiffer than the cable that is usually used to plug pc's etc.

John

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Doh so slow I hit the post button twice - TalkTalk are useless at some times of the day.

John

On the other hand you could just buy an extender and even have it in the house. It will just put out a more powerful signal than your router.

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Edited By Ajohnw on 25/08/2016 17:18:26

Edited By Ajohnw on 25/08/2016 17:20:26

If you can get a wired connection (cat5) into the shed the rest is fairly easy. You just need a redundant (I seem to acquire them regularly from my ISP) modem with a combined switch. Turn the modem off and just leave the wifi and switch working. You then have a fully functioning switch with both RJ45 plugs and fast wifi assuming you have a modern modem/router.

I have 4 running in my house and garden etc. Full coverage all over my spot which is great (just have to set-up access on each router) and it is all fast wifi. It's still not fast enough for the TV mind.... stuck with running a fixed line but the house was wired anyway when I refurbished the place.

Mark

Ok, so a bit more info. The shed phase is the same phase as the distant end of the house where the wifi signal is lost (big house, stone walls). i don't want to move the ORANGE router, so that's the reason I said Cat 5 between shed and ORANGE router. I want WiFi in the shed for a WiFi internet radio, plus an ancient Windows laptop plus Mobil Phone internet access. So its still the same question, what sort of kit runs off Cat5 network cable and delivers WiFi (or have I missed the point somewhere ?) Also I think the VAP11 needs software and a Pc running at the remote end to make the WiFi work ?
BobH

You need an "access point" on the end of the cat5 cable in your shed. Note you can configure some routers to behave as an access point.

Les.

Do not forget there is length limit on cat5 cables, 100 metres if memory cell is working.

Les, That's what I was saying - "most" modern routers will do this even the ones specific to a particular ISP. You just need to search the internet for "how to do it" and you will be up and running in no time. So in summary, you need a bit of wire a spare router and some time with google!

Mark

Any worse than a WiFi booster broadcasting to the neighbours as well as the shed? Not to mention any script-kiddie with high-gain antennas within a few blocks. (And it's not what you're doing on your machine that's the problem so much as what they are doing on your connection).

But as you and others say: much safer to run cat-5. I have my whole house wired. I do use a WAP for the i-devices but the power is cranked down to 30% and is undetectable on my driveway (by regular devices). I also don't broadcast the SSID - I know what it is; no reason to blab it to anyone else.

Edit: If you're running cat-5 to the shed, I'm not sure why you'd want to run wi-fi (WAP) at the end of it. Unless it's for i-devices or similar. I which case, I'd crank the power down as low as you can. If you can manage with just the cat-5 I would.

Edited By Bandersnatch on 25/08/2016 18:28:21

#2 for the suggestion from Mark C to use a redundant modem / router / WiFi box on the end of a Cat 5 cable to make a local WiFi net for the shed. Most such boxes can be so configured but it may take a bit of Googling to track down the details of how to do it. I have a BT Home Hub 5 doing the modem proper and house WiFi bit with a Home Hub 2 slaved to it via 30 m of Cat 5 cable to give me WiFi in the workshop. Found the set-up instructions on the internet somewhere and printed them out but seem to have lost the reference. Works a treat. Same duct as mains castle and no interference issues that I'm aware of.

I ended up with 3 or 4 Home Hub 2 boxes for some reason. BT even sent me one out of the blue after I signed up for the old type Infinity (fibre) Broadband where a separate fibre aware modem was slaved onto the existing modem / router. Later got an automatic upgrade to a Hub 5 which is fibre aware.

Related point if you are with BT make sure you have a proper contract with them so any equipment faults get dealt with for free. For example if you are under contract and the router dies you get a new one for nowt. You can also wiggle your way into a free upgrade after a couple of years. Just because you are paying the (same) bill doesn't mean you have a contract running! I avoided having to pay for a new router after my first Hub 5 died because I reported it one day before the contract ran out. Two months later they tried to bill me for it which was when I discovered that I was no longer under contract! Much phoning and shouting before that was sorted. At a discount! Hafta say I never realised I had alimited time contract in the first place having simply upgraded from POTs over the years and simply paid the bill.

Clive.

Hi Bob,

The magic word for this kind of network application is "bridge".

The amazon link for the VAP11 has photos of typical setups and some blurry descriptive text that I read to say "it should work". Slightly better is the quick setup manual. Not enormously clear but it says the device has two modes: the first is as a wifi repeater (not what you want) , the second provides "WiFi intelligent bridge function, wireless to wired, wired to wireless intelligent switching". Apologies if I've misunderstood, but I think you want wired to wireless.

You would need a laptop to initially set up the device's operating mode and SSID etc but thereafter it's just part of your network.

It's so cheap I'm tempted to buy one just to play with.

By the way I think you're right to question whether or not expensive ethernet over power adaptors would always work properly in a 3-phase house. I believe the adaptors start by determining which L, N, E pair provides the best signal path between them. As your shed is on a different phase the L route is effectively missing. This leaves the N,E pair as the only option, and it might not be a good one. So the link might work, not work or work indifferently. If you happen to have a spare pair of adaptors it would be worth trying. If they do happen to work you're saved the bother of installing a cat-5 cable.

Cheers,

Dave

The guys that wired my shed foolishly ran telephone 4 core cable instead of cat5 and espite theory i couldn't get that to work so I ran an exterior grade weatherproof cable overhead and simply plugged into a wifi router. It does mean the shed is on a seperate network to the house but the shed PC stays there so not an issue.

It should be possible to route through to the other network but I've lost that info.

I've been using a TP-Link powerline adapter between the house and a barn with 3-phase. The connection passes through two consumer units with RCDs and MCBs, with about 50 metres of overhead cable in between. It doesn't even seem to matter which phase it is plugged into. The only time I had problems was when I had a 12v battery charger plugged in the other half of a double socket. For some reason that kept tripping out the ethernet connection.

I can watch streaming cctv footage with no trouble.

I can't vouch for the security aspect.

Edited By Farmboy on 25/08/2016 22:29:07