Do I need an WAP or MESH?

[JimM169]

I want to get wifi out to my garage, it's attached to the house but given we have solid brick walls and there's a few of them between the router and the garage, the router signal isn't cutting it. I've tried a TP-Link wifi extender which helps but it's not reliable enough for what I want.
I'm going to (externally) run a cable from the router to the garage but not sure what I need at the end of it? Guessing some sort of WAP or Mesh? Could someone recommend something that ideally is plug and play and under £100?
Currently have a Virgin Hub 4 in modem mode and a Asus RT-AC86U router if that makes a difference.

Thanks

[Funk]

Mesh AP, using the ethernet cable for backhaul. What make is/are your other wireless AP(s)?

[BlueMR2]

I just have some aruba iap’s , I have a 335 and 2 325’s available.

Just plug it in, let it get a dhcp address, then you log onto it, set up your ssid name, password etc and off you go.

If you have more than one, one will be the controller, the others will connect to it and get the setup details.

So if they are all connected to the same switch inside the house and the one outside, they should automatically switch as they lose one signal and find the other.


The IAP version of the 325 and 335( which can run by themselves not AP which need a controller) are about £25 each on ebay. They will have no power supply but a poe injector is about £15.


They run at 2.4 and 5ghz 802.11ac so not the latest but a reasonable speed for most things.

Also both those models have 2 ethernet ports, iirc the 335 has a 2.5gbit port the 325 is 1gbit. So you should be able to connect a eg computer up to that.

Edited by BlueMR2 on Tuesday 25th February 14:16

[JimM169]

Funk said:

Mesh AP, using the ethernet cable for backhaul. What make is/are your other wireless AP(s)?

Don't have any other APs, the Asus router is the only wifi point I have at the moment and manages to cover the house

[Funk]

JimM169 said:

Funk said:

Mesh AP, using the ethernet cable for backhaul. What make is/are your other wireless AP(s)?

Don't have any other APs, the Asus router is the only wifi point I have at the moment and manages to cover the house

Then I would just stick the TP-Link out there on the end of the cable. You could give it its own SSID to stop devices trying to switch between it and the ASUS router.

[the cueball]

I have the same issue... house with a garage attached, at the side... around 10 meters away from the main router, through some stone walls.

Had the TP-link extenders and recently "upgraded" to TP link mesh Deco X50..

"Wi-Fi Dead-Zone Killer Eliminate weak signal areas with clearer, stronger whole home Wi-Fi generated from Wi-Fi 6. No more searching around for a stable connection."

"Boosted Seamless Coverage - Seamless mesh WiFi coverage up to 6,500 ft2 (3-pack)"

I now have 5 of them in my 2,500ft2 home and I still can't get decent wifi in the garage..

Starting to think it's actually a lead lined nuclear bunker...

[Captain_Morgan]

You could buy this to connect to the ethernet lead you’ve installed, it will give you aprox 100Mb/s speed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-TL-WA801N-Wireles...

If you need faster then
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-TL-WA801N-Wireles...

[JimM169]

Thanks for all the replies, I didn't even think about using the wifi extender as an access point. This is the one I've got and does appear to have an access point mode so will give that a go at the weekend

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Extender-Broadb...

[phil4]

Use the network cable you're running, pop a Wireless AP point or router on the end. Give it the same SSID and password as your main router, and stuff will pick up the strongest access point. You don't need to setup the WAN part of the router, every single one I've come across just acts as a switch/wireless access point as needed if you plug your new cable into one of the LAN ports. It's a bodge, but it's cheap.