I have a shed that is located 3 m from the house and would like to get wifi in there. If I set up the house modem on a desk near a window that faces my shed I get a signal in my shed if the door of the shed is open but once it's shut I don't get a signal. I could put a window on that side of the shed but don't really want to. Any suggestions would be great. I am not very techno so you will have to explain things in kindy computer lingo. TIA
How to get a wifi signal into my shed from the house modem
LJane Mercat on 05/07/2018 - 21:07
Comments
If you put this as close to the shed
in the middle of the lawn?
OP already tried putting the modem next to a window
If I set up the house modem on a desk near a window that faces my shed I get a signal in my shed if the door of the shed is open
I did read that however I was thinking more if there was an undercover outside area you could chuck one in.
Maybe there is, the OP did say no windows on that side of the shed though :(
Maybe some ethernet over power arrangement to get it to the shed instead?
@JimmyF: Thought about powerline extender. Could be a really good option but like everything it will depend on what's going on over there!
So will a wifi extender make the signal go through the tin? When the door of the shed is open I can get reception but when it's raining I can't leave the door open.
No, the shed is a Faraday cage…
the only way you'll get Wifi inside it is to use a cabled solution with an Access point inside, or cut a hole in the shed and re-wall with something transparent to RF, like timber, or perspex.Your best bet would be to use Powerline Ethernet (Ethernet over Power) which uses your electrical cabling to transmit data.
So will a wifi extender make the signal go through the tin? When the door of the shed is open I can get reception but when it's raining I can't leave the door open.
I'm thinking if there is a strong enough signal then I can't see why not. Only guessing however.
Funnily enough, someone had the same problem just a few months ago!
I did read that. So if I get some sort of antenna thats attached to the shed and is waterproof. That will pickup the signal from the modem in the house window and I presume the is a cable going from that through a hole in the tin. What is the cable from the antenna connected to inside the shed. Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.
It's connected to a Wireless Bridge.
Easier to go with Powerline Ethernet
Me three.
I wanted internet in my shed as I had converted it into a study. ran a ethernet cable from the modem in the house to the shed. dug a trench and ran the cable through conduit pipe.
I would have to dig up paving to do that : /
or - put it over head. get some strong gauge wire from the house to the apex of the shed. cable ties to hold the ethernet cable to the wire.
Yep, I would be going this route also.
Leave a run of thin rope in the conduit just in case you want to run some thing else to the shed in the future.Some good sparkies do this, thumbs up to them.
hope you used the right outdoor cable not indoors data cable as it will fail overtime.
Have you tried a Powerline adapter? It'll only work if your house and shed share the same distribution board though.
What does a power line adapter do? What do you mean exactly by share the same distribution board? There's no power board in the shed, just a conduit going underground from the house metre box to the shed.
Powerline sends an ethernet connection via your home's electricity wires. Some models even have a wireless transmitter to give you wifi at the far end without an extra box.
https://kb.netgear.com/20233/Product-FAQ-Powerline-Adapters
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basics/lanwan-basics/32768-s…The distribution board is where all your house's circuit breakers or fuses live. If the same board holds the circuit breakers for both your main home and your shed, and assuming your shed's power lines aren't too long, there's a good chance Powerline will work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_board
Other than the Powerline adapter (which is a good solution) you can just run a network cable out the window and into the shed - and put the wifi repeater/access point in the shed.
Yes that would work as a temporary solution. Just wanted a solution with no wires lying around outside.
Would the Powerline Adapter work if the electricity for the shed come from a conduit that I presume goes to the meter box for the house.
If both circuits share the same distribution inside the meter box then yes.
Thanks …. i'll find that out and if they do i'll try the Adapter. Would be so easy if that works.
@Jane Mercat:
We used Ethernet over power.
To determine what circuit flip your fuses/circuit breakers off and when you determine which one the shed is attached to then find out where inside the house is also connected to same circuit.
Then you connect one side on the house circuit side which in turn has your cat cable connected to the modem, and plug the other adaptor in the shed. Viola.
It’s brilliant, no fricken idea how the electrons jump around but it works a treat.
instal a window in the shed which directly faces the house. signal will go through glass easily. I'm assuming it is a tin shed (mine is a tin shed - no signal passes through, hence the ethernet cable underground conduit). it's easy to add a window.
I speed read the title
How do I get the wife into my shed from the modern house
Was thinking what's so special about the shed. Swings?
lol
I once rented a house on the front lot and later the granny flat for workspace. However, I couldn't get the signal from the house to the flat, so similar to your issue.
I ended up using an old router (Cisco E1500) and followed the instructions at DD-WRT to flash new firmware to it, which turned it into a wireless-repeating-bridge. I needed it to serve wifi AND have active LAN ports, as I needed to plug in desktops with LAN cables. Worked great.
If you think you can manage this, go to their site and find the routers known to work perfectly and see if you can snag one off of gumtree.
What about just running some Ethernet cable with some waterproofing of some sort into the open into the shed? Then attach a router at the end point which is the shed.
If it is a high traffic area just find the edge of a wall or side and tape it to that. If it is ugly just cover it with some house decoration or diy something.
As long as you don't have rats or something that nibbles on the cables you should be fine.
Drill a hole or find an opening or crack into the shed or just use the doorway and you have an Ethernet port available at your shed.
Plug in a router at the shed and enjoy your new sheds access point.
If you want to avoid wires you have to invest in "satellite" or "dishes" technology and beam the signal to a receive point which will require two installations of uni directional parabolic dishes to receive and transmit the signal.. Should be a fun project and googling experience.
TL;DR try a protected rugged heavy duty reinforced Ethernet cable option first before trying to install two satellites (one on the house and one on the shed) for a 3m line of sight connection to go completely wireless between the shed and the modern house, signal will have high delay and input lag however going the satellites option.
Hi Jane. Before jumping the gun, it's probably worth trying something that won't cost you any money. Most people don't know there are different kinds of wifi signal. Worse still, many technical people forget!
You haven't said if you're using a computer, laptop, or mobile in said shed. I sometimes use an Android app called wifi analyser to find my good and bad wifi spots. This might help you find a spot in the shed that's better. Often the thing that makes the real difference is the wifi signal frequency.
There is a very common one these days, that lets you transfer lots of data really quick, and it operates on 5GHz. The problem is, it doesn't go very far. There is another older standard that's still used everywhere, and it operates on 2.4GHz. this one isn't as fast, but the difference isn't noticeable to most people. The lower frequency gives a better signal for often 3 times the distance of 5GHz.
It might not make a difference if the tin is blocking all signal, or if you're router is already using 2.4GHz, but when a little information is free, it's worth a try.
Never even knew that there was such a thing as a wifi analyser! It's only 3.30am & I've already learnt something, Cheers! +1
The shed is acting as a wi-fi signal shield so there are 2 ways to get the wi-fi signal inside.
First is as many had recommended. Line a cable straight from the router into your shed.
Second is place a wi-fi adapter/receiver extension, that is connected to your PC, outside your shed. Something like this https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0XM-00B5-00… with a long USB connection cable.
If I could get a wifi receiver that is waterproof and attach it to the outside of my shed with a cable from the receiver going into my shed and attached to my macbook….that would be oerfect….s there such a thing? I am using a laptop (macbook) in my shed.
I would imagine it'll be something easy to do yourself. Drill a hole on the shed wall and pass the cable through. Make a receiver housing from a plastic milk bottle (water proofing!) and glue it onto the shed wall. You can even decorate the milk bottle to your own taste. :)
Four options…
1) Run an Ethernet cable from your house main router into the shed via existing mains power cable conduit. Running Ethernet cable alongside mains may cause interference but it will only degrade slightly being ~3m length. Try looking for the conduit ends and see if you can stuff an Ethernet cable in but of course you will need to run a wire for it to go through then you need to attach the plugs.
2) Drill a hole on the roof or walls, attach an wifi antenna with extension cable. You will need a 2nd wireless router in the shed with detachable antenna, this is quite common.
3) Two powerline adapters, not always suitable or the fastest but among the easiest solution.
4) Longlife plan 4G LTE wireless AP modem router. Telstra/Optus/Voda your choice.
I went with no.3 but then one of the unit died. Then I went with solution no.2 which work quite well if your house wifi signal is strong.
I'm confused why, surprised how many, and jealous that people have a shed and need internet in them.
My CNC mill and 3D printer is in the shed. My PC that runs the CAD program is in my study. I beam my CAD g-code to the wimpy shed computer that controls the CNC via WiFi. Spotify, Youtube all the internet apps you name it. I spend a lot of time in the shed.
Who else was wondering if her grow lamps are Wi-Fi enabled?! 🤔
Why not just run a cable to the shed or set up a "repeater"
Mount this to the outside and point it towards the WAP/router in your house. Connect the pigtail to whatever Wi-Fi receiver you're using in the shed. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-4GHz-20DBI-RP-SM-30W-50-Ohms-W…
Don't know if you have already fixed this issue but I had the same problem only a couple of weeks - I got this one below and works perfectly. I placed it in my garage.
https://www.ple.com.au/Products/612923/TP-LINK-WA850RE-300Mb…Thanks for your help everyone. I got 2 powerline adapters and and now have internet in my shed.
So if you just want WiFi you could get a signal extender like a Netgear EX6100. If you put this as close to the shed as you can where you still get WiFi coverage you should be all set.