I’m starting to go round in circles a little bit with how to get wifi internet access to my garage..

My current setup: Vodafone hub (wifi disabled) plugged into TP Link Archer AX55. I then have a wifi range extender (TP Link RE505X) with OneMesh turned on further into the house. This extender only gives very patchy reception in garage where there are at least 2 devices that want access to wifi for zwifting purposes.

My proposed solution: Run a Cat6 cable from the ethernet port of the RE505X out through an existing conduit, and then connected in the garage to a TP-Link TL-WA1201 Access Point. All the garage wireless devices can then access this access point where the reception should be (nearly) as good as standing next to the range extender, which gives acceptable speeds.

First Question: Is this actually going to work, and what configuration options do I need to look out for in the setup of it?

Second Question: Is there a better way of achieving the same (planned!) result? Due to the way the garage is wired, I don’t think a powerline solution is viable.

Why is the wifi disabled on the Vodafone hub?

Our Vodafone hub sends Wifi all the way across the street and far beyond the coverage of the AX55 in the shed-office.

I’d be turning it back on and then seeing if you still have a problem.

(Edit – we don’t have a AX55 but another wired-router thing in the shed-office)

I think it should yes, certainly my BT Mesh devices are pretty flexible on how you use their ethernet ports, I wouldn’t have to make any config changes in that situation. I’d test it first before spending time running cables though – ie plug the 1201 into 505 relatively locally and check your connection via the 1201.

Powerlines can be surprising, for a painless test you could buy a pair to test and return if no good.

First Question: Is this actually going to work

I can’t immediately see why it wouldn’t.

Second Question: Is there a better way of achieving the same (planned!) result?

Cat5e.

Not familiar with the OneMesh thing, but goes the TL-WA1201 support it? If it does that would help, as the neither of the other two options (having the same SSID name for both networks in a non-Mesh set-up, or having two different SSID names) is ideal.

I’d also investigate whether you can just wire the RE505X to a second one in the garage, might be simpler/cheaper if it supports it.

Cat5e

Definitely this, 6 is a bit of a pita to pull blind and tends to break.

How far is the garage from the house?

For what it’s worth, if it’s for zwift, I’d put a cheap router in the garage in place of the extender and set a completely fresh WiFi network in the garage to be sure the devices you’re using all connect to the same network and same hardware. It can cause issues if you connect to multiple entry points with the same ssid.

Thanks all, reassuring, I think. Would definitely test before pulling any cables! Thanks for the tip on cat6, didn’t realise it was so much stiffer.

My plan was to deliberately have a different SSID name for the network in the garage – that way I could force the devices to connect to that network, rather than the scraps of the RE505X network.

I work in my garage and have tried a few different things (powerline/ mesh).

I now have a cable which runs in to the garage (direct from router) and a TP-Link TL-WA901N access point plugged into it. The SSID is different.

This works perfectly and is the best solution (for me) by far.

Thanks for the tip on cat6, didn’t realise it was so much stiffer.

Cat6:

• is horrible to work with,
• is more expensive than Cat5e,
• is almost certainly pointless in a domestic environment,
• will not result in a Cat6 installation.

Friends don’t let friends do Cat6.

Ohhh daft point. Depending on what’s already in that conduit you may well need screened cable…

That might have to be cat6 subject to availability

Sorry to hijack a thread but as the cable guys are here…

I’ll be building a new garage away from the house next next, which will require an armoured power cable laying in a trench across the garden. My question is what cable should I get that will allow the WiFi to work given that it wil be sharing a trench for 30m?

Depending on what’s already in that conduit you may well need screened cable…

That being the case then what you’d need to look for there is STP rather than UTP (shielded / unshielded twisted pair) cable.

Honestly though, even if you’re running it in parallel with mains cable it’s probably a non-issue, the standards take into account regular levels of EM interference. The only time I’ve ever seen a benefit from STP is in properly (electrically) noisy environments like a workshop. Unless you’ve got a lathe in your garage I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over it.

I absolutely agree with cougar.

Cat6 ughhhhh

Cat5e is wayyyyyy nicer

My question is what cable should I get that will allow the WiFi to work given that it wil be sharing a trench for 30m?

Your issue here is weatherproofing. You either need cable rated for outdoor use, or (better) ducting / trunking to route it through, or (bestest) both. As above, “sharing a trench” is neither here nor there unless you’re running it alongside 3-phase or something.

ObDisclaimer: I am not a ‘cable guy’ or a network engineer. Other opinions are available.

My question is what cable should I get that will allow the WiFi to work given that it wil be sharing a trench for 30m

5e will be fine over that distance, trenched might be more of an issue though due to it getting wet. Just get something external grade.

I was recommended to use FTP as i had a 4 or 5 m run parallel to a 3 phase cable.
Had no issues in the 8-9 years since it all went in. Even when the three phase is running at high loads, or switching on and off.

5e will be fine over that distance,

Any certified cable should be fine over that distance. Ethernet specifies ~100m for a point-to-point run, Cat has nothing to do with it.

I was recommended to use FTP as i had a 4 or 5 m run parallel to a 3 phase cable.

Separation is the issue and even then 5m isn’t much of the stuff it’s in contact, let alone if it’s separated, also both cables probably run straight over that distance.

If the trunk is a decent length and has a big chunk of swa pulled through though you can very often find the pull throughs and other cables are wound round it which in theory is much less good.

Any certified cable should be fine over that distance. Ethernet specifies ~100m for a point-to-point run, Cat has nothing to do with it.

True – though I don’t suppose pulling t&e would help 😉

😁

Sure, that’s under regular conditions of course. You “shouldn’t” run data lines closely parallel to power lines over longer distances but you’ll probably get away with it in practice. I’d expect dirty great coils of cable to be a greater source (or recipient) of EM interference than straight domestic runs.

True – though I don’t suppose pulling t&e would help 😉

@cougar you may laugh but I once had the misfortune to attend site where one of our products has failed and taken an entire floor with it, despite my protestations about the unlikelihood of this they insisted I drive to London immediately (from North Yorkshire at 4pm Because they went live the following day) and replace our kit, then pick up the tab for the other repairs – arrived to discover the installer had put 230V into the potential free switching connection.

That 230 was carried down a 2.5mm 3&e flex

So far so easy.

The switching connection he terminated to is an RJ45 port…

On the box with the kit in was a regulator and splitter to convert that switched input to a 24v DC and potential free signal but he didn’t know what it was so didn’t use it.

Apparently took him “ages” to separate out a fibre or two from each core then terminate it to the plug.

Separation is the issue and even then 5m isn’t much of the stuff it’s in contact, let alone if it’s separated, also both cables probably run straight over that distance.

Separation was zero. They run along the same channel.
And there’s a coil of three phase at one end, where it comes out of the fuse box. It’s not the best set up. Might have to rejig things a bit, depending on where the car charge box goes (if i go for 3phase/11kW charging).

Though for the extra tuppence a metre for FTP over UTP, and the added strength of the cable sheath, it was really a no brainer.

Anyway. How come not one of us has recommended the OP puts in fibre? This place is going to the dogs.

I’ve seen people run cat5e in blue water pipe and trench it seal up the ends with end stops then gunk up with a epoxy.
It’s had jcb and tractors roll over it on a gravel yard it’s been fine for 5/6 years

Love working for farmers

@dangeourbrain That’s … quite special.

Love working for farmers

Many years ago, a friend of mine attended a rural install in… Sweden? if memory serves. Complaints of slow Internet.

The farmer had extended to an outbuilding by separating out individual wires from the cable and clipping them to the horizontal steel wires that made up a fence across the yard. It – astonishingly – worked but really quite badly. 👀

It – astonishingly – worked but really quite badly

On a farm? Just needed more bailing twine.

You’d be amazed what farmers get to “work”

Well, thanks everyone – I plugged the above setup in as a test before pulling the cable through the existing conduit, expecting to have to fiddle around with the settings. However, it worked first time straight out of the box. Even better, I forgot it came with PPoE which also worked first time, saving me needing to find a plug for the AP in the garage. The conduit won’t be carrying power, so it should be absolutely fine.

I’ve turned down the power of the Range Extender, so now what was quite a flaky connection is almost non-existant – which will minimise chances of devices in the garage picking the “wrong” network to connect to at random.

A rare case of something going far better than I expected!