Setup for cottage and cabin

[Silkadin]

Hi all, hoping someone can advise me on my options...

My house is an old cottage... wifi barely penetrates the thick cob walls. The bt entry point is in the back bedroom which is currently ok as that's where my pc/router/telephone resides. From there I have a ethernet cable running to the living room where my old router is acting as a switch/extender type thing. Its ok... however its annoying having to switch wifi networks between rooms.

However my pc will now be moving into the cabin in the back garden... so in terms on layout, it's bt entry at the front on the house in the empty guest room, living rooms at the back of the house and the router wifi there manages to penetrate to the master bedroom above which is ace, then out the living room back door is the garden and cabin.

I've tried the plug in repeater type gadgets and the ones that are meant to use the house circuitry, but neither worked well enough so going with cables but also need wifi available in the 3 areas. Was thinking about chaining another router, but since I'd have to buy one anyway, I thought theres prob a better option.

The leccy doing the power to the cabin is also ordering some armored ethernet cable. I've requested the length to reach from the living room to the cabin as running it all the way from the front of the house would be a right pain and expensive.

Please folk, any suggestions? Would like to keep it under 100 quid if possible but will consider more if it fits the bill.

 

[anotherdrew]

First suggestion ... you can use the same SSID (network name) for all you WiFi hotspots (router, extender, etc). With the same SSID your devices will switch automatically when the signal from the current source becomes weak.

You have will have Ethernet to the cabin ... fantastic. This is the best way to supply service. Hopefully they can terminate the cable in a convenient space. The proper device to have in the cabin would be an access point (Ethernet to WiFi without the routing, security, and DHCP that your router is already providing) assuming you are ok with the cottage and cabin being on the same network (not great if your getting renters). Inexpensive models start around 25 pounds. I personally like the ceiling mount, "smoke detector" style, but that will set you back more like 75 pounds and are harder to wire up.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_7?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=access+point&sprefix=access+%2Caps%2C262&crid=1TYOO9JKPDN94

Hope this helps.

 

[Silkadin]

Thanks very much for the guidance mate.
Currently my devices will eventually switch if left for a while, so I think I may have it set up like you suggested already. I did it over a year ago following a guide on here showing how to reuse old routers.

As for the access point, do they come with a socket to cable it directly to my pc in the cabin? I stream a lot from both the net and from a couple of nas drives I have plugged into the main router in the guestroom.

If so it sounds like I just need to buy one of those and I'm set... if not, would a splitter either end of the armoured cable be the answer? Coming from the recycled router to the armoured cable, and at the cabin end splitting to the pc and the access point?

Thanks again for the help. Apologies if the above isn't as clear as it could be... 4.30cm and barely functioning lol

 

[anotherdrew]

If you are interested in offering both Ethernet and WiFi at the cabin, then a WiFi router might be better. (Access point would be WiFi only). The thing to remember is to plug the incoming Ethernet cable into one of the LAN ports rather than the WAN and turn off DHCP. Using the router in the fashion that the instructions will likely show will create 2 networks. While this is not terrible, it can lead to problem if you ever want to do sharing (or access your NAS back at the cottage).

The alternative is an Ethernet switch (10-20 pounds) + an access point, but this would likely cost about the same or more than the router. Depends on the features you want.

Get some sleep.

 

[Silkadin]

Will another bt home hub work? I've just won one on ebay for £7 including postage so no biggie if not. I think it's a bt home hub 5... same as I have in the living room which is hooked up to the main bt home hub 6.

Thanks for the responses, love this forum

 

[anotherdrew]

That should do the trick.