Internet to the guesthouse

[Kat11]

Hi,

I am currently living in my parents' guesthouse that is separate from the main house by about 50 feet. They have Verizon Fios and the cable works great in the guest house TV. However, the wireless internet is very spotty and slow, even with a Net Gear range extender.

I am about the last thing from a techie imaginable. But I called Verizon and they originally suggested going from our current 50/25 speed to 75/50 speed. It hasn't made much difference. When I called Verizon, they said the only thing I can do is set up the guest house as an entirely separate account. I told them the cable piece of Fios works great in the guesthouse, but they said internet is different. They also said that there can only be one router per account, so getting a second router wouldn't make any sense.

Does anyone out there have any suggestions for me to be able to get internet in the guesthouse? Is there maybe a better extender than Net Gear? Please help if you can. Thanks so much!

 

[Dogsnake]

That is such BS. Tell them to run a second internet hard wire to the Gh. I assume you need internet in the main house. So all they need to do is put a splitter on the internet and run a connection to your other location. I use cable myself and have hard wired internet and tv in every room I want. Also there is a wifi net in the house for the portable devices.

 

[USAFRet]

That is such BS. Tell them to run a second internet hard wire to the Gh. I assume you need internet in the main house. So all they need to do is put a splitter on the internet and run a connection to your other location. I use cable myself and have hard wired internet and tv in every room I want. Also there is a wifi net in the house for the portable devices.

An ethernet wire, from the main router, to the GH, yes. A second full router in the GH, no.

FiOS internet must run off the main router. Period. The only 'split' is an ethernet wire off the main router. Or WiFi. Or a second full connection.

There is nowhere before the router to 'split it'.

How far is it to the guest house?

 

[Kat11]

Thank you, Dogsnake. But, and forgive my ignorance here, wouldn't that require going underground? There is no way a wire could run from the house down to the guesthouse outside.

USAFRef, it's about 50-60 feet and it's open air yard in between.

 

[USAFRet]

Thank you, Dogsnake. But, and forgive my ignorance here, wouldn't that require going underground? There is no way a wire could run from the house down to the guesthouse outside.

USAFRef, it's about 50-60 feet and it's open air yard in between.

If you can run a Cat5e off the main router, that will work.
Failing that...WiFi.

Stand in the guesthouse. Look in a straight line to exactly where the router is. What is in between you and it? Walls, kitchen, whatever.
That will have an effect on the WiFi connection.

 

[Kat11]

Looking from here out the window up to the house, there is lawn and a cement pathway. I can see the Net Gear extender in the den facing this way through the sliding glass door, and if I walked through the den, I would be in the poolroom, which is where the router is located. Does that paint enough of a picture??

 

[USAFRet]

With no real obstructions, 50-60 feet should work well. Hell, the EyeFi card in my camera does that through a brick wall.

Antenna orientation, maybe? Conflicting channels with neighbors?

 

[Kat11]

Yeah, I don't know. It's frustrating because my iphone and ipad can't pick up wireless at ALL down here. My MacBook Air is the only thing that can actually get a shred of wifi. Would it do any good to pay the service visit to get the Verizon techs out here to try and troubleshoot - or will I just be throwing away the $100 for the visit?

Also, it's weird because the network I am able to join is the non-EXT one. It is the original. The EXT one shows up but any time you click on it, you lose a connection or on my mobile devices it either says my passwrod is incorrect, or it is unable to join that network. I'm so frustrated!

 

[USAFRet]

Standing next to the main house, can you connect? What happens as you walk away from the house?

 

[Kat11]

Yes, I can connect my mobile devices to the main network if right next to the house. As I walk away from the house (maybe 20 feet) and down to the guesthouse, my wifi signal/icon drops and I am told I have no connection.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, I can connect my mobile devices to the main network if right next to the house. As I walk away from the house (maybe 20 feet) and down to the guesthouse, my wifi signal/icon drops and I am told I have no connection.

OK...if this starts happening at 20 feet, there is an issue. Don't know what it is, but something is not right.

 

[Dogsnake]

Is the guest house powered from the same breaker box as the main house? There are adapters that will provide wifi over the power lines. They usually require same main bus however. Here is an example of what I am speaking about (http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WPA281-300Mbps-Wireless-Powerline/dp/B008IFXQDW/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1374203367&sr=1-4&keywords=powerline+wifi+extender).