Is There a Better Way to Do This?

Matt P on 23/02/2025 - 23:59
Last edited 24/02/2025 - 00:00

For Christmas, I bought a family member a 9th gen i5 ex corporate pc for him to set up in his "studio" which is a shed at the back of their suburban housing block.

NBN router is at the front of the property. Surprise surprise, no connectivity in the studio.

The very rear bedroom of the house has wired Cat5 off the ISP router, so i thought of pinching this for a Wireless AP and sticking it to the backyard facing window and bobs your uncle, but the family member living in that bedroom is insisting on wired internet for reasons unbenownst to me.

Is there a piece of hardware that will do the job below "all in one" or should i proceed as below.

MS Paint diagram because this is ozbargain

https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/23973/119981/diagram.j…

Cheers

Computing

Comments

  • pinchies on 24/02/2025 - 00:13

    Do the separate switch + access point, to avoid any complications. If the wired resident cares that much about ethernet, they would probably appreciate the better reliability and lower latency that option offers. Can recommend the GL.net devices for AP use, or if the distance is long, you could be better with a directional antenna.

  • heysi on 24/02/2025 - 00:15

    You can use a WiFi router that supports bridge mode to serve as both the switch and wireless AP.

  • AustriaBargain on 24/02/2025 - 01:15

    If he owns the house it's probably possible to fairly discreetly run a cable to the shed or whatever. And put the wireless access point in the shed for his phones or whatever else. Downloading music samples with gigabit NBN wired straight into his computer would be swell. I hope he remembers you when he is a famous millionaire music producer.

  • joka on 24/02/2025 - 05:49
    +1

    How did you know I have an uncle named bob?

  • Hirolol on 24/02/2025 - 07:40

    Surely the studio pc would pick up the signal from the wireless AP, or is it too far?

  • barge-in hunter on 24/02/2025 - 08:02

    What router do they use?

    Some brands (like asus) have an extensible mesh mode that you can simply add to by buying another asus router and hooking it up as a space/node.

    Eg, main router remains, plug a second wireless router into the rj45 point in the bedroom as a “slave/secondary node” - giving a significant boost to wifi coverage outside, and leaving a few wired connections available in the back bedroom

    If their current router doesn’t support this, then it might be time to upgrade entirely to a multi unit mesh setup - same config as above

  • try2bhelpful on 24/02/2025 - 08:56
    +3

    Powerline Ethernet adapter?

  • JimmyF on 24/02/2025 - 09:06
    +1

    Is there a piece of hardware that will do the job below "all in one" or should i proceed as below.

    Some access points like the TP Deco Mesh units have 2 Ethernet ports, so the AP can be hard wired and also provide a Ethernet connection.

    NBN router is at the front of the property. Surprise surprise, no connectivity in the studio.

    What sort of NBN connection is it? Might be time to dump it all and go a mesh setup.

    • bbinc on 24/02/2025 - 10:13

      TP Deco mesh - I do exactly that to run two devices that do not have wifi. A NAS and an old PC - yes, I could run a wifi dongle on the PC, but I had a cable right there and can’t find the dongle.

      • JimmyF on 24/02/2025 - 10:20

        They also work that way as well :)

        If the OP is on HFC/FTTP/FTTC then might be time to drop some money on a mesh system.

  • Matt P on 24/02/2025 - 11:38

    Re: Mesh - this was one of my first thoughts and would have been my solution if it were my home.. unfortunately one of the people in the household has some strong feelings about radiation… lets leave it at that.

    The owner of the rear bedroom used to be similarly minded but appreciates data not coming from his data plan while he's at home so has come around somewhat.

    I forgot i have a powerline ethernet adapter in one of my many cable boxes.. i'll give that a shot first but if no good, i'll go down the path of a wireless router in bridge mode.

    Cheers

  • joshjosh210 on 24/02/2025 - 12:43
    +1

    Correct way to do this would be to use a wireless bridge at the house and another at the shed (ie. Ubiquiti Nanobeams) and this would give you an ethernet output in the shed which you can connect directly, to an AP, switch, etc. Considering the distance between the house and shed aren't particularly far, what you have drawn would be most likely appropriate if they're happy to use WiFi in the shed - check out TP-Link Omada or UniFi access points.

  • Boioioioi on 24/02/2025 - 15:51

    Use a wifi router you've got lying around, just turn off DHCP

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