Better wifi

[KCarpenter12]

I need to be able to stream to 3 TV’s out in that shed to the left…. It’s about 100 feet from the router inside the house…. I took this picture standing right over the top of the router. Right now there is an echo dot out there that has trouble connecting sometimes so I know I’m going to have issues with tge TV’s how can I strengthen my signal out there? Router is inside the house right in the window… shed it 2x4 framed with no insulation. I currently have a TP-Link Archer A7

 

[ochadd]

May sound too easy but do you have the broad side of the antennas facing the shed? You don't want the tip pointing at it.

Doesn't look like the antennas are replaceable on that unit as they call them fixed. If they did I'd try higher gain antennas.

I'd try a range extender in the shed from the same brand (another AP or range extender) that has external antennas. I'm not that familiar with TPlink but Asus makes this process pretty easy. Some brands allow for a backhaul channel that's different from the main channel so it doesn't eat up as much bandwidth on the LAN/client network.

Something else I would probably look into is powerline network adapters that work across your electrical panel. I've never used them but it's something I've kinda wanted to try. I think your electrical topology has to be a design that works with it, implying it won't work in some situations.

 

[pendragon1]

IF the antennas come off, upgrade them to a higher db set. even just doing the two outer ones should help. there are a couple sets in this thread:
(1) Do mobo antennas ever need to be upgraded? | [H]ard|Forum (hardforum.com)

 

[OFaceSIG]

100ft through structures changes the whole game. You want want a Unifi Point to Point between the building and then an access point in one of the two. That should do it. Or, just dig a trench and run a weather capable Cat5e or 6 out there in the trench. Consumer wifi sucks anus.

 

[kydsid]

Add an outdoor business class AP. Almost any brand will cover that distance.

 

[SamirD]

Something else I would probably look into is powerline network adapters that work across your electrical panel. I've never used them but it's something I've kinda wanted to try. I think your electrical topology has to be a design that works with it, implying it won't work in some situations.

Powerlines would be the first thing I would try. Just get a nice top speed set (as they do deal with challenges better) from your local best buy/office depot/staples and take them out of the box and try them--should take a whole 5 minutes to set them up. If they connect at a good speed, you should have perfect bandwidth for all 3 of those tvs.

If they don't work so well, what other wires do you have in that shed? coax? telephone wire? There's ways to get ethernet across those using moca adapters and vdsl ethernet extenders that both work reliably.

 

[ochadd]

Powerlines would be the first thing I would try. Just get a nice top speed set (as they do deal with challenges better) from your local best buy/office depot/staples and take them out of the box and try them--should take a whole 5 minutes to set them up. If they connect at a good speed, you should have perfect bandwidth for all 3 of those tvs.

If they don't work so well, what other wires do you have in that shed? coax? telephone wire? There's ways to get ethernet across those using moca adapters and vdsl ethernet extenders that both work reliably.

They would be good but if that shed has it's own electrical meter and panel they won't work. That's what has held me off of them in the past. I looked into powerline networking many years ago to try and put a surveillance system into a barn and feedlot so a farmer could watch heifers having calves. The house where the internet came in was on a separate meter from the rest of the farm. I called a guy that had used this stuff before and he told me it would not work.
I ended up using a Ubiquiti point to point wireless system that was less than $100 and got about 11 mbps out of it, which was pretty fast and fast enough at that time.

 

[pendragon1]

They would be good but if that shed has it's own electrical meter and panel they won't work. That's what has held me off of them in the past.

why the hell would a shed have its own electrical connection and meter? are you secretly bubbles from tpb?

 

[ochadd]

why the hell would a shed have its own electrical connection and meter? are you secretly bubbles from tpb?

Lol I don't know. How does it get power? Why does an uninsulated shed have three televisions in it?

 

[NIZMOZ]

A direct antenna like some said would be best, but you maybe able to get away with doing a mesh system and it may hop to it without much trouble.

 

[pendragon1]

How does it get power? Why does an uninsulated shed have three televisions in it?

mines just an underground run tied into the main breaker box on its own circuit. pr0n, lots and lots of it...

 

[SamirD]

They would be good but if that shed has it's own electrical meter and panel they won't work. That's what has held me off of them in the past. I looked into powerline networking many years ago to try and put a surveillance system into a barn and feedlot so a farmer could watch heifers having calves. The house where the internet came in was on a separate meter from the rest of the farm. I called a guy that had used this stuff before and he told me it would not work.
I ended up using a Ubiquiti point to point wireless system that was less than $100 and got about 11 mbps out of it, which was pretty fast and fast enough at that time.

The tech has changed so much since those days that it may work. I still remember using netgear 500av in a commercial environment where each was on a different panel that was installed back in 1995 and they worked really reliably even though in theory they shouldn't have worked at all. Hence why I would just get some and try it because if they work, they'll be great and if not, it's an easy test and easy return.

 

[SamirD]

Lol I don't know. How does it get power? Why does an uninsulated shed have three televisions in it?

LMAO! I was thinking it, but it was irrelevant to making a solution work, so I didn't ask.

 

[SmokeRngs]

As long as you're not needing a ton of bandwidth, get a wireless N AP and put it in the shed. At the moment I can't remember exactly how you need it setup but I'm pretty sure it's just client mode on the AP. Everything in the shed should be able to connect wirelessly and the signal between the AP (especially if it's sitting in a window) should be plenty strong. I've done the exact same thing at my parents' house although the distance is a little shorter there. However, the shed is metal and insulated but the signal is just fine and there are never any signal issues. I also did much the same thing at the river lot to get a connection from the neighbor's wifi to the travel trailer on my parents' lot.

I specifically went wireless N for the 2.4Ghz band since it will have better range and penetration through buildings than any 5Ghz band will and the bandwidth for Wireless N is more than sufficient.

This TP-Link AP is what I used for the river lot and is very similar to what I used for the shed. For the house to shed it's an Archer C7 router to the Tp-Link AP and at the river lot it's whatever router/modem combo from the ISP and the TP-Link AP.