Question extend internet to detached garage, will 100ft of Ethernet cable work? And use splitter, hub, switch or router?

[bum4evr]

The situation: My roommate and I are renting a detached garage turned into a studio apartment, due to that there is no cable or phone hookup and ISPs refuse to install internet here because its not a separate address and/or has no connections. The "main house" which houses the people we rent from, allow us to use their WiFi, but the house is 80ft away and is a duplex, so the signal has to pass through too many walls and distance to be usable. We tried hanging a WiFi extender from a tree at the halfway point but that is not working well either, works ok some days, other days connection says, "connected, no internet"

MY possible solution: The main house uses Spectrum and has a separate modem and router. my plan is to plug a 100ft ethernet cord into their router and run it along the side of the house to the garage, that's the easy part. The question is, what do I plug in to that cord once we have it in the garage? An ethernet hub, splitter, switch or can we just add another WiFi router? Any advice is appreciated as this is the first time I have ever come across this issue.

Note- Cant do Satellite due to latency (I play World Of Warcraft) and anything that connects to a cell phone tower would be a last resort.

We need to connect 2 laptops, a roku box, and roommates cell phone. (I told her she could use laptop's hotspot for that once we get everything else hooked up)

Thanks for any help

Sean G

 

[boju]

Easy. Cat6 cable is rated for 100meters. 100ft = 30.5m. Hook a 10$ Switch on the other end where you guys are and you're good to go.

 

[boju]

Can also connect wifi extender with network port to the switch to expand wifi.

 

[SamirD]

Yep, that's the easiest solution for sure. But unless the wire is outdoor rated, there's potential issues for the wire so don't be surprised if after some time it stops working.

If it does you can look into things like moca, powerline, or even vdsl bridges.

I would also be careful about what you are doing. If the garage is not considered to have an 'occupancy permit', you can get evicted by the city and the garage condemned and all sorts of trouble which would leave you homeless and without the rent money you paid. Honestly, this type of housing is typically third world and is not legal in the western world.

 

[bum4evr]

True Samir, but we are willing to take the risk for the cheap rent, me and roommate pay $215 a month each and includes all utilities and access to main house for bathroom and shower. All the houses on our block are same - A duplex with detached garage in back next to alley, and when I walk down alley its hard not to notice all the other garages also being rented out so we hope people just don't care and we can get away with it.

So we can plug extender into switch and use it as a wifi router? It does have a port on bottom of it.

And any switch would do? Like this one on ebay?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NETGEAR-Pr...Switch-FS205-Essentials-Edition/303145955516?

I figure its worth a few extra bucks for a brand name iv'e heard of, plus its in California like we are so shipping should be quick.

Thanks for help.

Sean G

 

[SamirD]

This type of stuff will turn the first world into the third world. Terrible that everyone is doing it and getting away with it.

Not extender, but ethernet cable. And yes--think of a switch as a 'port multiplier'. You can plug one in and have 4 more on the switch you posted.

Honestly you can pick up a switch at best buy. Hell, even the office supply stores and walmart carries them. No need to order anything fancy.

The number of ports can vary too, so you can get 4, 5, 8, 16, 24 and 48--at least these are the common numbers.

If you want a separate wifi, you would need an access point to connect to the switch. But honestly if you're looking at doing that, you should just get your own router as they have an access point and a switch built-in.

 

[Flayed]

You could get a wireless router and just use it as a switch with wifi

 

[doolittle]

If the renters are willing, highly recommend they get a router than supports VLAN configuration and create a new VLAN for your guest network. Not many consumer-grade routers can do this on a ethernet port without a custom firmware like DD-WRT or LEDE/OpenWRT, so look into routers that support the 3rd party firmware.

These days business class wired routers like the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X (ER-X) can be had for about $65 and can do VLANs without custom firmware (although there is a learning curve with the OS), and if their current router supports AP mode just plug in and get their WIFI back or upgrade to a dedicated AP if budget permits (well worth it IMO), good summary of VLANs on their support page

https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/115012700967-EdgeRouter-VLAN-Aware-Switch

If you are going to run a cable through your yard and it's not outdoor rated, consider using PVC pipe and run the cable through it, will protect it and will allow replacement of the cable quite easily.

 

[Sean87NC]

You can pick up a gigabit Netgear switch for like 20 bucks. 5 ports. I have used hundreds of them. They work fine.