I got 99 problems but my WiFi ain't one

Cheers

I have a very basic question.

I run an ethernet cable from my router in the house down to a garden office. But I am just plugging that ethernet cable into my laptop to get on the internets. What can I have in my office to give off a signal in the garden office that I would just plug my the ethernet cable into. I don't to always have the ethernet connected to my laptop.

Thanks

Depends what you've got already.
Two options (broadly speaking):

1. Another mesh point to add to existing network
   
2. Separate wifi point with another network / SSID
   
   

What do you already have as your wifi setup?

So, right now I have the main router in my house which provides the wifi for the house. I then just have a 50m ethernet cable plugged into that router which then goes down to the garden office. Pretty basic. I just want to be able to plug the ethernet cable (which is currently plugged into my laptop) into something else and create a wifi signal - if that is even possible.

It's totally possible. Do you know the brand / model of the router?

Easiest thing would be just of these with a separate SSID (network name / password) that you connect to when you're in that office. Would be super easy if you don't already get access to your home wifi network in the garden office as your laptop should connect automatically.

Nice! I have no idea what brand it is. Just the one that our ISP provided (EE) - what you'd linked to looks like it would do the trick though. I can just plug the ethernet cable in and set up the new network.

The office is a little too far away and I messed around with extenders that I borrowed it was still too far away (about 25m) to get a good signal for calls etc.

Yeah - the thing I linked to will do the job then.

You could just set it up with the same network name / password and your laptop should automatically switch to the better connection. If that doesn't work, then a separate SSID will ensure you remain connected to that node.

Awesome thanks!

You should be able to manage them without any APs.
If you are still planning to get rid of the UniFi kit then let me know - I'm on the lookout

Also, dredge...

Ha, tp link kit is here and in a box.

I've not yet got round to doing the switcheroo.

I'll let you know when I do.

I've finally got around to switching out my unifi kit for the new stuff.

So, I have:

1 X AP AC Lite with PoE injector
1 X AP AC LR with PoE injector

1 X Dream Machine (not Pro, the cylindrical one) with power supply.

Looking for £175 for the lot or can talk about individual pricing.

Anyone interested?

WFH and just upgraded my WiFi, on checking speeds hoping a tech minded person on this thread can explain how/what have my work done to the (work) computer/network to confuse the tests on the upload speeds, I either get nothing reported of speeds beyond the physical capabilities of the kit/physics? I would have thought these tests were fairly simple based on timing test packets?

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Some sort of VPN accelerator that is caching the payload that gets transferred repeatedly?

What test site are you using? fast.com almost always works for me and is lovely and simple.

must be something like that, issue I think persists even with vpn off, fast.com shown below (a nice site), I believe(?) the download is correct having upgraded to 500 MB/s so it is the upload, only an issue if I want to query/complain about average speeds or trouble shoot when things go wrong.

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Why is my WiFi so shit? A speed test says 45.5 download mbps is “fast” but I constantly have to switch to 5G and back on my iPhone just to load images on Instagram etc. This is the second new iPhone I’ve had in this house. Also streaming Netflix etc, sometimes we get the spinning wheel. It’s bullshit. It’s 2023. There’s 4 metres and one brick wall between the router and the TV.

Shitty DNS resolution? Are your clients using the router as a DNS server? Perhaps try setting it to Google/Cloudflare/OpenDNS direct?

I honestly don’t know what most of that means; this is part of my problem. I’ll look it up! Thanks

Getting the outdoor building/cabin electric sorted and thinking of network, I just about get WiFi signal from the front of the house to the back of the garden 35~ ish meters. Do I run a cat6 cable and get a WiFi access point in outdoor building or do I just go for a WiFi mesh system? The outdoor connection will be mainly for a laptop without ethernet connection, wireless printer and potentially a Mac mini/Mac with ethernet.

Not clued up enough to make a decision, I know wired connection more stable, but I won't be using it wired due to new Mac usb c only.

Cable, every time.

Another vote for cable. Fibre if you are feeling fancy.

Depends; how is your house network right now?

A mesh system could improve connection in the house and provide seamless connection to the back of the garden. If your house network is fine, a simple access point for the back of the garden will be cheaper.

Either way, an outdoor rated ethernet cable has to connect both solutions.

Thanks for this!

So networks is fibre cable to modem -> router = WiFi(nothing wired)

So even a WiFi mesh network requires cat6 cables to each access point?

What's a good wireless access point that won't break the bank?

No - you can definitely use modern wifi6 mesh in your house without ethernet but, unless the router is literally at the rear window of your house, pointing at the point in the garden, you won't get a decent connection from 35m.

My suggestion would be:

1. Wifi 6 mesh in the house (something like the XT8 - I have this and
   it's excellent). Depending on the size of your house, you can cover
   it easily with two access points.
   
2. Cat6 to the back of the garden
   
3. Lower power mesh point at the back of the garden (something like the XD4)
   
   
   

This is the setup I have in my house, though the XD4 is in the garage, not the bottom of the garden, and I get 700mbps minimum in all parts of the house on a gigabit connection.

So even a WiFi mesh network requires cat6 cables to each access point?

If you don't use a cable between mesh nodes then you use half the finite radio spectrum for backhaul. If you can get a cable installed then you have more spectrum available for your clients.

In theory there is more than enough spectrum available but unless you live in a castle in Scotland surrounded by forest you will be sharing with your neighbours so move as much as you can onto cables that you control.

Another vote for cable. I'd actually say two cables, then if needs be you can use the second one for video or audio or something.