fat_jay Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 I have a detatched annexe that i am building an office in for my wife. its about 60ft from the house, and in total i would guess around 75-80ft from the router. As it is we can just about connect to WiFi in the annexe, is there any way to extend the range so i can get a more stable/better/quicker connection? Thanks in advance Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogey Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 I have a detatched annexe that i am building an office in for my wife. its about 60ft from the house, and in total i would guess around 75-80ft from the router. As it is we can just about connect to WiFi in the annexe, is there any way to extend the range so i can get a more stable/better/quicker connection? Thanks in advance Jay Can you not run a cable from your providers modem to the annex. You can buy a cable ready made at various lengths and will just plug in, If your unable to run cable all the way then run it as close as you can and put in another router Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 You can use a digital sender to send the signal along the mains cables. It's a simple plug in at both ends, around £30.00 for a decent one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throttlemonkey Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 You can use a digital sender to send the signal along the mains cables. It's a simple plug in at both ends, around £30.00 for a decent one.+1👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShootingEgg Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 You can use a digital sender to send the signal along the mains cables. It's a simple plug in at both ends, around £30.00 for a decent one. I would suggest this. Simple solution, plug into wall socket at each end and have network lead connected to the router and then laptop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat_jay Posted December 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 Can you not run a cable from your providers modem to the annex. You can buy a cable ready made at various lengths and will just plug in, If your unable to run cable all the way then run it as close as you can and put in another router Unfortunatly there is no way to run the cable from where it is. You can use a digital sender to send the signal along the mains cables. It's a simple plug in at both ends, around £30.00 for a decent one. Will that work via the SWA which connects the 2 buildings? Anyone used the wireless plug in jobbies?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint1 Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 You can buy something called a 'Bear Extender' which will boost the receiver capability to pick up wi-fi. We use it in the camper and works well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 Just Google network powerline adapter, I have them all over the house so don't use wifi, make sure you get the passthrough type so you don't lose your 3 pin socket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 Just Google network powerline adapter, I have them all over the house so don't use wifi, make sure you get the passthrough type so you don't lose your 3 pin socket. I also use Powerlines, both to extend the ethernet and also some that extend the wifi range. The have to be on the same electricity meter so assuming that the annex is on the same one as the house they should work fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/network-wifi/18-best-powerline-adapters-2015-2016-uk-3490638/ this will give you some idea of how they work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 Run cat 5 to the building and stick an access point in the new building. Trying to boost it by any other means will just lead to horrible speeds. Cat 5 20m is about a tenner and an AP £15-100 depending on how good you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wascal Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 Run cat 5 to the building and stick an access point in the new building. Trying to boost it by any other means will just lead to horrible speeds. Cat 5 20m is about a tenner and an AP £15-100 depending on how good you want. +1 It would be a simple job to install but If you need a hand give me a shout I'm not far away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4eyes Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 Could you not simply change the current router to one with a stonger wireless signal, if its currently marginal? Some of the more industrial versions can acheive a good range. That said, if running a new cable is pracriclal, it is a much more reliable option and what I would do. In the office then connect what you can using Ethernet, not wifi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxshooter69 Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 Is the power to the annexe on a separate ring main or is it part of house ring, if it's a part of the house ring youcan get a signal booster set that you just plug the master into your router and a slave into a socket in the annexe. Done this in my detached garage to connect my Xbox, tv and it also boosts your mobile phone signal as you sign into both master and slave on your phone and it automatically picks up the strongest signal.I've got BT ones but there are others on the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 (edited) Could you not simply change the current router to one with a stonger wireless signal, if its currently marginal? Some of the more industrial versions can acheive a good range. It doesn't work like that. The wireless device still needs to be able to 'reply' to the transmitted wireless signal. You could pump megawatts worth of power and send the signal for miles, but if the device can't return anything, it's pretty useless. More expensive routers are good at listening for weak signals, but you'll be dropping a LOT of packets. If you want your router to work better, get a wireless analyser for your laptop and have it scan the wireless environment. You'll see your neighbours wifi networks - pick the channel no one is using. Edited December 30, 2015 by Billy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat_jay Posted December 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 The an annexe is on a different ring but from the same dis board as the house, it's fed via steel wired armoured cable so not sure the plug ins will work. Will try a net gear signal bouncer first I think, they are very cheap. Thanks everyone for your help. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Have to agree with Billy, run a CAT5 cable from your existing router to the annex; Especially if it's intending to be an office, this is the most reliable method to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyRich Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) I had same problem as I have a man cave down bottom of the garden that is typically just out of range of any decent usable signal. My router in the house has three antennas so I took one of the antennas off the back of the router and got an antennae cable (can buy the extension leads on amazon or anywhere)and fed it through a hole in the wall and I made a parabolic dish for the routers antenna up out of a wok which is stuck on the side of the house pointing down the garden For the mancave down bottom of garden I then used a regular old usb wifi dongle which I did the same with (on the end of a 5m usb lead) and it works a treat. Directional wok-fi for the price of two cheap woks and a few quid cable (something like this but the shorter the better, under 3-4m is ideal otherwise you start to suffer loss) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Accessotech-Antenna-Extension-Routers-Netgear/dp/B00E8NDBQA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1451559210&sr=1-1&keywords=wifi+cable+lead )Google wokfi for the basic principles of building a decent parabolic wifi dish. Edited December 31, 2015 by HuskyRich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob21 Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 Just another suggestion...you can get a point to point wireless bridge which I think would do the trick. You can pick them up starting at around £125 depending on model/brand/etc...Some offer 100mbs full duplex which I'm sure would meet your needs. Basically you plug an ethernet cable from your router into one of the bridges, affix it to a wall, then on your annex you'd attach the receive bridge, and then route the cable from the receive bridge into a wireless access point or switch in your annex. These will work up to 2km so distance shouldnt be an issue, and I'm pretty sure that the software they come with has signal indicator so that you can tweak the position of the bridges accordingly so that they are aligned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.