What's the best way to do this wireless internet setup?

#1
My house has a detached garage that shares a roof and attic space, but has a breezeway in between. Walls are stucco. Inside I have a wireless setup that our home PC uses and we also use for a laptop and cel phones.

Problem is that I want to set up a PC in the garage, but already the laptop doesn't get a signal in the garage.

I'm already going to be running TV cable from the room where the PC and wireless setup is, across through the attic and into the garage, so if there's a way to split the signal and hard wire it to the garage I could do it at the same time.

Or do I need to get a wireless setup for the garage PC and position the receiver somewhere in the attic close to the wireless unit?

Not sure what is possible and also the easiest or cheapest.
 
#4
I would say it's you wireless router age or model.

" A wireless router's antenna technology generally determines its Wi-Fi signal strength and hence its range. Generally speaking, 802.11g wireless routers offer better Wi-Fi range than comparable 802.11b units due to improved antennas.
802.11n and Wi-Fi Router Range

In general, wireless routers currently offering the best Wi-Fi signal range, however, are 802.11n (sometimes called "wireless N") units. Where standard 802.11b and 802.11g routers contain just one Wi-Fi radio and antenna, wireless N routers contain two or three radios specifically designed to maximize Wi-Fi range. Note that the actual range and performance of any wireless router varies substantially depending on conditions of the environment such as obstructions and radio interference."






What model router do you have????
The newer models go several hundred feet!

If you're current on the router then you might require a booster.
How far away are the garages? Is it made of lead???
 
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#11
As far as distance, my computer and wireless is at one end (left side) of the house and detached garage is opposite of that room. Almost like next door if it were another house or something.

The shop is directly behind the house about 100+ feet away and a metal building. If I have on of the garage doors open I can get Wi-Fi when close to the doorway.

The laptop in the front garage will work and drop out losing connection in the middle of things.
 
#12
I would advise to run a hard line if possible. You will get faster speeds and less hassle should something go wrong.
Ditto! Trust us, you will be a lot better off just running an ethernet hard line, especially since you'll be pulling cable already. It's cheap, fast, and reliable. You can put a hard wired WiFi extender on the end of it in the garage if you want more freedom of movement with the laptop or to allow your cell phone to use the WiFi too.

Hent linked to a purely wireless extender, which is great if it can get signal to boost. For that to work, you'd want to mount it as close to the garage as possible but close enough to your home router to get a good signal. Netgear also makes a wired extender, basically a cheap router/4-port switch. BB sells them as well. Or you can use an old WiFi router and configure it to act as an extender.

They also make extenders that use your AC home wiring to transfer data between 2 points. Don't waste your money. Speeds are marginal at best.

Clear as mud?
- run Ethernet lines regardless
- add hard wired extenders if wireless extender can't pick up a strong signal

One more tip... Install "WiFi Analyzer" on your smartphone. It's free and a great tool for checking your WiFi signal strength while you walk around the house. It could help you decide if and where you could use Hents device or if you have to go with wired WiFi extenders.
 
#13
So, someone would want to run a hard net cable to each garage at .25/foot, bury it or pipe it, install an access point at each garage to do what a router already does?

Would work but just why???
Speed & reliability. If your signal is weak, it's the best option. Or you can upgrade to a high power router for $150, but with every foot or wall, the speed drops. Hard wired to remote access points is cheap and fast and how businesses do it.
 
#14
Ok, being that I'm illiterate on this stuff, how would I split the system based on my pics and where would you get bulk cable?

Also, based on something someone else mentioned, I guess it's possible to mount the wireless extender in the attic and it should do the trick?
 
#15
Speed & reliability. If your signal is weak, it's the best option. Or you can upgrade to a high power router for $150, but with every foot or wall, the speed drops. Hard wired to remote access points is cheap and fast and how businesses do it.
First of all you need to tell your Netgear model number!
If you need to replace that router to get better speeds (DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU WANT TO DO) then all the cat 5 cables you want to run is a waste.

Then you should start at the router end, maybe replace it ans see what happens. Why in the world would you run cables all over just to replace the router later. You start at the source of the issue, not at the receiving end!:eek:ut::eek:ut::eek:ut:

There are lots of questions to be asked before you start throwning out solutions!

That certainly looks to be an older router or at least not current.
 
#16
Ditto! Trust us, you will be a lot better off just running an ethernet hard line, especially since you'll be pulling cable already. It's cheap, fast, and reliable. You can put a hard wired WiFi extender on the end of it in the garage if you want more freedom of movement with the laptop or to allow your cell phone to use the WiFi too.

Hent linked to a purely wireless extender, which is great if it can get signal to boost. For that to work, you'd want to mount it as close to the garage as possible but close enough to your home router to get a good signal. Netgear also makes a wired extender, basically a cheap router/4-port switch. BB sells them as well. Or you can use an old WiFi router and configure it to act as an extender.

They also make extenders that use your AC home wiring to transfer data between 2 points. Don't waste your money. Speeds are marginal at best.

Clear as mud?
- run Ethernet lines regardless
- add hard wired extenders if wireless extender can't pick up a strong signal

One more tip... Install "WiFi Analyzer" on your smartphone. It's free and a great tool for checking your WiFi signal strength while you walk around the house. It could help you decide if and where you could use Hents device or if you have to go with wired WiFi extenders.
Yep! I do networking all day for my work and it is much easier to run cat 5 then buy high end router and hope the signal will reach your shop at all times.
 
#18
Really?

You want him to buy a 40$ cable (and he has 2 garages) without any access point as compared to a 100$ to 150$ fast router? perfect solution!
 
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