Internet in the garage
Discussion
The garage is question is about 15-20 metres from the house. House is mostly 3' thick stone walls, so wifi can be interesting.
When my wife worked down there, we had the router propped in a back window, and a double-aerial receiver on the window sill in the garage. It worked ... ok-ish, most of the time.
For the last couple of years, I've been using a powerline adaptor plugged in the garage. The computer has been running fine with a cable connection to it, and my phone picks up the wifi well. It does drop very occasionally, but no more than the adaptors in the house.
There have been no wiring changes or anything, but in the last couple of weeks it has refused to give internet. Happy to connect the wifi, but there's no data there. It's not the adaptor, as that adaptor works fine in the house, and a working one from the house does the same thing down there.
So i have to assume something has degraded enough in the wiring between the house and the garage to mean it can not longer carry the data well enough. To be honest, I didn't really expect powerlines to work down there, but it has been a welcome bonus.
In the meantime, we've lost/binned the posh receiver we used to use, and the router has moved to another room (next to the phone point and a power socket). I don't fancy re-laying extensions, and SWMBO likes it not hanging around the upstairs landing with messy wires etc.
So....
Any ideas what/why the data no longer reaches the garage - and is it worth pursuing this?
Or give up on powerlines, in which case, do the plug-in wifi extenders work at all well? I can plug one at somewhere at the back of the house and hopefully boost the signal across the garden....
When my wife worked down there, we had the router propped in a back window, and a double-aerial receiver on the window sill in the garage. It worked ... ok-ish, most of the time.
For the last couple of years, I've been using a powerline adaptor plugged in the garage. The computer has been running fine with a cable connection to it, and my phone picks up the wifi well. It does drop very occasionally, but no more than the adaptors in the house.
There have been no wiring changes or anything, but in the last couple of weeks it has refused to give internet. Happy to connect the wifi, but there's no data there. It's not the adaptor, as that adaptor works fine in the house, and a working one from the house does the same thing down there.
So i have to assume something has degraded enough in the wiring between the house and the garage to mean it can not longer carry the data well enough. To be honest, I didn't really expect powerlines to work down there, but it has been a welcome bonus.
In the meantime, we've lost/binned the posh receiver we used to use, and the router has moved to another room (next to the phone point and a power socket). I don't fancy re-laying extensions, and SWMBO likes it not hanging around the upstairs landing with messy wires etc.
So....
Any ideas what/why the data no longer reaches the garage - and is it worth pursuing this?
Or give up on powerlines, in which case, do the plug-in wifi extenders work at all well? I can plug one at somewhere at the back of the house and hopefully boost the signal across the garden....
defblade said:
There have been no wiring changes or anything, but in the last couple of weeks it has refused to give internet. Happy to connect the wifi, but there's no data there. It's not the adaptor, as that adaptor works fine in the house, and a working one from the house does the same thing down there.
No new devices or appliances plugged into the mains network?Wifi extenders work OK... I've used them. Basically amplifying a sniff of signal into something usable.
I bought an EV a couple of years ago and needed solid wifi in the garden - so ran a cable, which wasn't too tricky, with a BT Whole Home disc as an Access Point on the end of it. In two years it's been rock solid.
It's not exactly what you want to hear, but wired is much better.
I bought an EV a couple of years ago and needed solid wifi in the garden - so ran a cable, which wasn't too tricky, with a BT Whole Home disc as an Access Point on the end of it. In two years it's been rock solid.
It's not exactly what you want to hear, but wired is much better.
sgrimshaw said:
No new devices or appliances plugged into the mains network?
"Couple whose TV wiped out whole village’s internet for 18 months get new flatscreen"https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/29/couple-whose-tv-wip...
sgrimshaw said:
No new devices or appliances plugged into the mains network?
Wife and I had a good think, going through each room, but we can't think of anything...At the moment I have 3 bars out of 4 with a powerline adaptor on a short extension in the window upstairs, and the receiver with its aerial shoved through the top of the blind in the garage to keep it in place, and a long usb lead gaffa'd across the ceiling
I think I could get more elegant, both ends....
Things I’d try.
A pair of new devolo powerline devices (from Amazon so if they don’t work back they go)
I know you said they work in the house but I’ve seen some strange failures with powerline in the past.
Are you using powerline in the house as well as garage?
You could use a point to point wireless bridge (it’s a replacement for running a cable between buildings)
You’ll still need a wifi access point in the garage but it saves laying a ethernet cable.
These are cheap but I think have to be mounted outside as they don’t do a window mount.
https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/19215-tp-l...
More expensive but do make window mounts
https://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-nanostation-mount-...
https://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-nanostation-mount-...
As with everything the faster you need the link to be the more it costs but the above are good for wfh / Netflix / web browsing
A pair of new devolo powerline devices (from Amazon so if they don’t work back they go)
I know you said they work in the house but I’ve seen some strange failures with powerline in the past.
Are you using powerline in the house as well as garage?
You could use a point to point wireless bridge (it’s a replacement for running a cable between buildings)
You’ll still need a wifi access point in the garage but it saves laying a ethernet cable.
These are cheap but I think have to be mounted outside as they don’t do a window mount.
https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/19215-tp-l...
More expensive but do make window mounts
https://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-nanostation-mount-...
https://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-nanostation-mount-...
As with everything the faster you need the link to be the more it costs but the above are good for wfh / Netflix / web browsing
Captain_Morgan said:
Things I’d try.
A pair of new devolo powerline devices (from Amazon so if they don’t work back they go)
I know you said they work in the house but I’ve seen some strange failures with powerline in the past.
Are you using powerline in the house as well as garage?
You could use a point to point wireless bridge (it’s a replacement for running a cable between buildings)
You’ll still need a wifi access point in the garage but it saves laying a ethernet cable.
These are cheap but I think have to be mounted outside as they don’t do a window mount.
https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/19215-tp-l...
More expensive but do make window mounts
https://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-nanostation-mount-...
https://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-nanostation-mount-...
As with everything the faster you need the link to be the more it costs but the above are good for wfh / Netflix / web browsing
Yes, we have 2 powerline adaptors in use in the house as well. No trouble with those and the not/working doesn't matter which are in the house and which in the garage. So it's pretty definitely an issue in the garage circuit.A pair of new devolo powerline devices (from Amazon so if they don’t work back they go)
I know you said they work in the house but I’ve seen some strange failures with powerline in the past.
Are you using powerline in the house as well as garage?
You could use a point to point wireless bridge (it’s a replacement for running a cable between buildings)
You’ll still need a wifi access point in the garage but it saves laying a ethernet cable.
These are cheap but I think have to be mounted outside as they don’t do a window mount.
https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/19215-tp-l...
More expensive but do make window mounts
https://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-nanostation-mount-...
https://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-nanostation-mount-...
As with everything the faster you need the link to be the more it costs but the above are good for wfh / Netflix / web browsing
I don't need a great deal of speed on the connection - just solid, for Zwift, streaming Planet Rock and the occasional "how-to" YouTube videos that have replaced Haynes. With the receiver placed as described before, I can get Zwift and YouTube; I like to stream Planet Rock over my phone when Zwifting as I use better speakers and Zwift hogs the connection inside the PC even though it doesn't need that much, so I'd like to improve the wireless signal enough inside the garage that my phone can pick it up too... I think a posher wifi extender may be the (simplest) way to go as it shouldn't take much to push an extra 3 metres... should it?
If you've not tried this .... unplug everything in the garage, make sure all lights are switched off (inc PIR security lights if applicable).
Plug the Powerline adapter into mains socket in the house, connect a laptop to it directly using cable - Does the laptop connect to the internet?
If yes .....
Without doing anything else, unplug the Powerline adapter from the house socket and plug it into a socket in the garage .... does the laptop still connect to the internet?
If you can't do this with your Powerline adapters, might be worth grabbing these from Amazon ... can always return them:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Passthrough-Confi...
Plug the Powerline adapter into mains socket in the house, connect a laptop to it directly using cable - Does the laptop connect to the internet?
If yes .....
Without doing anything else, unplug the Powerline adapter from the house socket and plug it into a socket in the garage .... does the laptop still connect to the internet?
If you can't do this with your Powerline adapters, might be worth grabbing these from Amazon ... can always return them:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Passthrough-Confi...
sgrimshaw said:
If you can't do this with your Powerline adapters, might be worth grabbing these from Amazon ... can always return them:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Passthrough-Confi...
Do they not work on the same technology that powerlines do? Why would they be better? Genuine Q as I have some that are hit and miss, but mostly miss.https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Passthrough-Confi...
Have you tried plugging your adapters into different sockets? I had poor BB in my garage compared to the house, it was something I lived with but over time it degraded to a point where it was useless. I plugged my garage adapter into a different socket without change, but I then moved the adapter to another socket in the house and my internet speed increased ten fold.
I ended up replacing this socket and my usual throughput was restored.
I ended up replacing this socket and my usual throughput was restored.
I'd be looking at Cat5e cabling or something similar. Then all the issues should disappear. I connected up an external garage we had like this. Just put in some piping, I used the blue water piping and then buried this and fed two cables down that (for redundancy and in case one fails) you can always use a failed one to pull another new one through. Terminated the ends myself and it worked fine. I had power line adapters but sometimes they go a bit screwy or just refuse to work for some odd reason. Although it did help that I had and still have a few metres worth of cabling so it was cheap to do.
TimmyMallett said:
Do they not work on the same technology that powerlines do? Why would they be better? Genuine Q as I have some that are hit and miss, but mostly miss.
Powerline technology (as all do) is continually developing so it’s hard to say if they’d be better than your current ones as you’ve not said what make / model you have.Powerlines obviously depends on the state of your domestic wiring, I’ve seen improvements by simply cleaning the connections to the rcd’s & replacing rcd’s on the circuits in question if cleaning doesn’t work & also by upgrading older powerline devices.
Obviously not everyone is comfortable with this & it’s not a suggestion/recommendation to play with your own wiring.
Personally I prefer the devolo units.
Always buy from someone like Amazon so if they don’t work they can be returned.
defblade said:
Yes, we have 2 powerline adaptors in use in the house as well. No trouble with those and the not/working doesn't matter which are in the house and which in the garage. So it's pretty definitely an issue in the garage circuit.
I don't need a great deal of speed on the connection - just solid, for Zwift, streaming Planet Rock and the occasional "how-to" YouTube videos that have replaced Haynes. With the receiver placed as described before, I can get Zwift and YouTube; I like to stream Planet Rock over my phone when Zwifting as I use better speakers and Zwift hogs the connection inside the PC even though it doesn't need that much, so I'd like to improve the wireless signal enough inside the garage that my phone can pick it up too... I think a posher wifi extender may be the (simplest) way to go as it shouldn't take much to push an extra 3 metres... should it?
Yes, no, maybe, perhaps…I don't need a great deal of speed on the connection - just solid, for Zwift, streaming Planet Rock and the occasional "how-to" YouTube videos that have replaced Haynes. With the receiver placed as described before, I can get Zwift and YouTube; I like to stream Planet Rock over my phone when Zwifting as I use better speakers and Zwift hogs the connection inside the PC even though it doesn't need that much, so I'd like to improve the wireless signal enough inside the garage that my phone can pick it up too... I think a posher wifi extender may be the (simplest) way to go as it shouldn't take much to push an extra 3 metres... should it?
Other than the suggestions already given you could get a sparks in to check/replace the rcd’s on the circuits in question that could resolve powerline issues (or not)
You could try putting one of the wifi enabled powerline units in the closest socket to the garage, turn off the wifi the main router & turn off all the other powerline extenders so that’s the only one serving wifi & then check the signal strength from the outside of the garage near to the closest socket.
If you get reasonable signal strength on your phone then the chances are a repeater plugged into the garage will work.
If not well…
The thing to remember is that wifi is a two way medium so both nodes need a reasonable signal for a reliable link, think of it like dropping two stone in a pond, the greater the distance the weaker the ripples are when they intersect & that means a weaker link in wifi terms
TimmyMallett said:
Do they not work on the same technology that powerlines do? Why would they be better? Genuine Q as I have some that are hit and miss, but mostly miss.
They are indeed powerline adapters, but the tech improves over time.How old are yours?
I've been using TP-Link one's for years, and from time to time have "upgraded" them ... the later/faster one's have always been a positive upgrade.
sgrimshaw said:
They are indeed powerline adapters, but the tech improves over time.
How old are yours?
I've been using TP-Link one's for years, and from time to time have "upgraded" them ... the later/faster one's have always been a positive upgrade.
They certainly get faster over time (though not by as much as the official speed ratings would suggest) but I would say that my most solid, reliable powerline adaptors were my original AV200 setup.How old are yours?
I've been using TP-Link one's for years, and from time to time have "upgraded" them ... the later/faster one's have always been a positive upgrade.
Currently on some AV1000 adaptors which are faster but don't deliver as consistent a connection with the speed tending to jump up and down all the time.
I would bring the 3 powerline adaptors together and reset them, this is usually done using the button on them. I suspect the garage one has gone out of sync.
I've had this with mine in the basement. It seems to benefit from the devices being reset and repaired.
Also do you have Cockpit and have you checked for firmware updates?
I've had this with mine in the basement. It seems to benefit from the devices being reset and repaired.
Also do you have Cockpit and have you checked for firmware updates?
We've got mesh in our house (3 route things, duno what they're called)
from one of these mesh I run a cable (cat6 I guess) to our barn outside where the office is and plug the cat6 in to the back of a ethernet socket, then plug another mesh in to this.
= a barn with wifi and can plug an ethernet cable in to the back of the mesh too if you wanted to. Just like being in the house.
from one of these mesh I run a cable (cat6 I guess) to our barn outside where the office is and plug the cat6 in to the back of a ethernet socket, then plug another mesh in to this.
= a barn with wifi and can plug an ethernet cable in to the back of the mesh too if you wanted to. Just like being in the house.
Skimmed this so may have been covered...
...anything else plugged into the same/nearby socket ring that is used occasionally?
Had a power disturbance recently?
I setup my partner's oldish non-WiFi PVR's internet access through powerline. It took a while to realise that its non-working occasions corresponded to a device being charged from a nearby USB wall wart.
Moved that to another socket/don't charge when streaming and dropouts become very rare.
As another poster I also seem to recall an occasion where the dropout became extended and a reset/re-pair (of the powerline devices) was the fix. Happened after some power cut/disturbance IIRC
...anything else plugged into the same/nearby socket ring that is used occasionally?
Had a power disturbance recently?
I setup my partner's oldish non-WiFi PVR's internet access through powerline. It took a while to realise that its non-working occasions corresponded to a device being charged from a nearby USB wall wart.
Moved that to another socket/don't charge when streaming and dropouts become very rare.
As another poster I also seem to recall an occasion where the dropout became extended and a reset/re-pair (of the powerline devices) was the fix. Happened after some power cut/disturbance IIRC
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