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Help with wireless in garage-home office

2K views 24 replies 5 participants last post by  Triple6 
#1 ·
Hi guys and gals. I'm putting a home office in my garage about 70' from the house. I ran a category 5 wire underground from the house when the trench was open (in conduit).

I have Xfinity Comcast and the wifi works good in the house but stinks 20' into the yard. The router-modem is in the middle of the house up on a shelf in the living room. It doesn't look great but otherwise I get no wifi outside of the house.

Ideally I want Internet everywhere on the property. The house. The backyard. The garage. Behind the garage. Property is about 75' X 200' (not too big not too small : )

I'd like to stay under $200 but will go to $400-500 if that's what it takes to get a good solid system running with no hiccups (more or less).

I work from home so I need it to be reliable and low maintenance once it's set up.

I don't even mind if it's two separate networks, as long as it works.

Help me please. I've googled around but I mostly find ways to extend my wifi from home and it really won't get me to the garage...I think.

Many thanks.

 
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#7 ·
Well, that sounds easy. So I buy this and plug it into the cat 5 in the garage and plug other end into router/modem and I'm golden? What do you think about this model or do you recommend something better? Thanks. Appreciate your help. MSRM Wi-Fi Range Extender 300M Wireless WiFi Repeater With Dual External Antennas and 360 Degree WiFi Covering https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E5CHZOC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_mR6ixbH1FHK8Q
 
#8 ·
A wireless repeater will slow your network unless it has dual band (say, 5 GHz to connect to the router and 2.4 GHz for devices) and needs a good signal to "repeat." Do you get a good wireless signal in the garage, or do you have some "mid-point" where you would install this?

The way you described your situation in your initial post I still think that a wireless access point (WAP) is best. A WAP is "always" the best solution for better wireless coverage or range unless running an ethernet cable is not feasible.
 
#10 ·
Your ethernet cable is cat 5 not cat 5e? You say garage is about 70' from router/modem? I just went outside and checked my signal and it's pretty impressive. More than 200' from the house with a tablet and connection was made as fast as my laptop that's 5' from our router modem.

Have you considered changing router modem? We have a Netgear N300 Model C3000.
This may be naive of me to say point out but I always start with simple work arounds.
 
#20 ·
You don't necessarily have to cover everything with one unit, sometimes multiple units are needed no matter how powerful router you get, walls, obstacles, and distance will still be a factor. But what a better router or access point will do is give you better coverage or better quality signal in a larger area of the coverage zone that a cheap unit cannot do. If after replacing your router you still have a weak signal or connection quality issues then use that Ethernet run to add a wireless access point.
 
#21 ·
That unit should be great. :)

There are (at least) two reasons why your current router is not giving you the desired coverage. One, mentioned above, is that it just may not be very good. But the other may be obstacles (Rob just posted this one!). You said it's in the middle of the house, which is good for the interior, but if it has to traverse three walls and some furniture to get outside that is the other strong possibility. And if you have steel siding (as my neighbor does) there is little chance of having a good signal outside.
 
#22 ·
It goes without saying, but I will anyway -
Research your selections. Read comments. Compare prices.
I don't buy top of the line. I usually shop mid-range depending on the product and what I want it to do.
With you working from home the right decision is important.
 
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