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Advice on stable internet in outbuilding

Jazzbouche

Registered
Joined
Jan 10, 2017
Messages
389
Location
Warwick
Hi All - this morning was the last straw!! maybe. I have an outbuilding office/pinshack and need stable internet. It's currently using the BT mesh discs that just about reach the outbuilding (probably 7-10 metres from the house), but its a weak signal and prone to dropping out (to clarify - I have a disc in the outbuilding that links to the next closest disc in the house). I've previously tried TP link plug repeaters but due to 'creative' electrics they were unreliable too. I'm getting by at the moment with the BT discs, but they're not really stable enough to have decent Skype calls, which I need for work. (Internet speed in the house is very good - roughly 70-80MB)

I have a phone socket in the outbuilding, as I initially thought I could just plug in another BT wifi box but that doesn't seem to be how it works. Any advice greatly appreciated, and please excuse how dumb I am in this capacity! Thanks.
 
I ran 4x ethenet cables into the ground - 100% speed, 100% of the time.

Is this an option?

Some others in the know might have opinions on better wire-less options. Personally, i love wires...
 
We use a Ubiquiti Unifi AC Mesh access point across the garden to my wife's She Shed
 
I had issues with mine across 30-40m (Not unexpected). External Cat5 Sorted the issue. Yes it's a pain, however is only needed to be done the once... Terminate on a Switch in the outbuilding (and use the Router in the house as your firewall to the outside world).
 
Nothing is going to be as effective, as stable or as “fit and forget” as running a cable (or several). Short term pain for long term sanity.
 
U need to lay a duct linking the main building to your outbuilding or armoured cable . Make sure your cable is classed as “pet” meaning petroleum jelly filled cable , this will insure no Fault issues in the future due to damp cables.
 
Thanks All. I agree, cabling is best - and here's where I'm a bit dumb. So I assume I would run a cat 5 cable from my main BT router out of the house to the outbuilding (doable - I have ducting in place). But then what? Would it connect to another wifi box? Would that conflict with the house box? I get that I can connect directly to my computer which is great, but I still need wifi in the outbuilding too.
 
That jelly filled stuff maybe over the top its also very messy, External CAT6 is what we have used for years no problems, go into a switch if you want hard wired then onto a Unifi AC-Lite Access Point for Wifi.
 
Thanks All. I agree, cabling is best - and here's where I'm a bit dumb. So I assume I would run a cat 5 cable from my main BT router out of the house to the outbuilding (doable - I have ducting in place). But then what? Would it connect to another wifi box? Would that conflict with the house box? I get that I can connect directly to my computer which is great, but I still need wifi in the outbuilding too.

BT router ---> Cat6A Ethernet cable ---> little 4/8port switch in your shed ---> Computer (if cabled) & WiFi AP.

I use the Ubiquiti US-8-60W switches, which allow me to power Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO WiFi access points (the Lite version would be fine) using their PoE (Power over Ethernet). So 1 mains plug - 2 devices.

The switch extends your network to the outbuilding, then you can broadcast a WiFi Access Point from there - the Ubiquiti will create a new SSID, not the same as your house. They should be far enough apart to avoid conflicts and intelligent enough not to use the same frequency channel if not.

So with an 8 port switch out there you would have 1 port taken with the cable coming from your house, plus 1 port for the 1x Access Point, and then 6 other free ports for cabled devices. Or just everything on WiFi, which i would hate :)
 
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Thanks All. I agree, cabling is best - and here's where I'm a bit dumb. So I assume I would run a cat 5 cable from my main BT router out of the house to the outbuilding (doable - I have ducting in place). But then what? Would it connect to another wifi box? Would that conflict with the house box? I get that I can connect directly to my computer which is great, but I still need wifi in the outbuilding too.


pet jelly filled is what the professionals (telecoms companies in their u/g network ) use and is the correct stuff used and is the best quality ,its not messy. .also don't run the cable in the same duct as any power as its a safety issue ,may hum and slow the speed down of your interent
 
Fantastic, thanks everyone - pretty clear what I need to do now! All the advice is very much appreciated! Cheers
 
Pleas don’t use BT cable. You need cat 5/6 to run rj45 for the www.
If you use bt cable it won’t work. The twists per pair are tight on cat 5/6 which saves having to use screened cable.
You can run phone lines down cat 5/6 but you can’t use rj45s on telecom cable.

I always advise people to run cat 5/6 for any communication purpose now.
 
Yeah, run Cat6 please. Cat5e is fine too but if you’re doing the job now then you might as well put decent stuff in - Cat6 solid core, job done.
 
Cool - i’ve been looking for decent cat6 cable. Any recommendations on where’s best to source it?
 
If you only need 10 odd metres then just buy a made up lead and bury it in house pipe or flexible conduit:


use 15 mtr cable (or whatever...)


The 25mm ducting will easily let the rj45 plug to go thru.

You could even cleat it to your fence.

Easy.
 
Just run loose tube gel laser optimised MMF OM4 50/125 and do a proper job, stick in some ducting. Terminate on LC fibre panel....
Easy enough to terminate, hire a fusion splicer.....a kid could use one, not too much to hire for a week

No seriously.....
7-10 metres stick a washing line up with some external grade CAT5e and your good to go 😂
 
Just run loose tube gel laser optimised MMF OM4 50/125 and do a proper job, stick in some ducting. Terminate on LC fibre panel....
Easy enough to terminate, hire a fusion splicer.....a kid could use one, not too much to hire for a week

No seriously.....
7-10 metres stick a washing line up with some external grade CAT5e and your good to go 😂
You joke, but that's what I've got out to my shed!
Think it's only om3 actually, ran it in about 5 years ago, still havent finished the shed!!

Only put fibre in because I had it lying around at work though, not recommending it to people who have to pay for it. The cable is cheap enough, splicer is not too bad but the testers cost a fortune.
 
Thanks All. I agree, cabling is best - and here's where I'm a bit dumb. So I assume I would run a cat 5 cable from my main BT router out of the house to the outbuilding (doable - I have ducting in place). But then what? Would it connect to another wifi box? Would that conflict with the house box? I get that I can connect directly to my computer which is great, but I still need wifi in the outbuilding too.

Use the BT disc connected via cable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Just run loose tube gel laser optimised MMF OM4 50/125 and do a proper job, stick in some ducting. Terminate on LC fibre panel....
Easy enough to terminate, hire a fusion splicer.....a kid could use one, not too much to hire for a week

Ha! No idea what any of that is - but a fusion splicer sounds awesome!! I want one!! :D
 
Use the BT disc connected via cable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Good point - but it only has one cable connection point on the disc, and I need more wired points so will need a switch box I guess. the ubiquiti 8 port box looks good, and could then go to the BT disc maybe? or maybe easier to use a ubiquiti disc with it and keep the BT ones for the house.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone - hopefully it helps others too if they search for this topic in the future. Cheers
 
Without fear of Hijacking: Any dedicated fibre guys on here?
I know fujikura is the top brand for splicers but noticed the Chinese are doing some cracking deals on Splicer / OTDR packages. Half the price of the top brands - anyone tried any of these Chinese models?
 
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Good point - but it only has one cable connection point on the disc, and I need more wired points so will need a switch box I guess. the ubiquiti 8 port box looks good, and could then go to the BT disc maybe? or maybe easier to use a ubiquiti disc with it and keep the BT ones for the house.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone - hopefully it helps others too if they search for this topic in the future. Cheers

A managed switch is overkill for this and adds hassle you don't need. Ubiquiti networking is good and their mesh Wifi is excellent, but it all adds up and needs managing.

If you're sticking with the BT disc, just use a cheap 1G ethernet switch - TP Link do several or great something like a Netgear GS108Tv2 for under 30 quid
 
A managed switch is overkill for this and adds hassle you don't need. Ubiquiti networking is good and their mesh Wifi is excellent, but it all adds up and needs managing.

If you're sticking with the BT disc, just use a cheap 1G ethernet switch - TP Link do several or great something like a Netgear GS108Tv2 for under 30 quid

OK - so I've already ordered the ubiquiti switch and also a disc. I can always return it though. So from what I can tell, I need to get a cat6 cable over to the outbuilding. Then I need a switch box of some sort (managed or unmanaged) to connect to multiple devices, then I connect a wifi disc (BT, ubiquiti or other) to get wifi.

So I could probably get a cheap unmanaged switch box and connect it to the BT disc which would then presumably have full signal.

With that said, I was impressed with the ubiquiti stuff and felt that it might help get some wifi across the garden (fairly big area) and would be scalable in the future. However - is it 'plug and play' with a BT home hub or am I going to have a game getting it all set up? Maybe I'm biting off more than I can chew. I don't know what the difference between managed and unmanaged is, so I probably won't notice or use the benefits.
 
ubiquiti stuff is good but sounds like overkill for your needs. I have it at home but I have a 40Gb/sec Internet link and a 1Gb/sec Internet link also.

initially getting ubiqiti up and running can be challenging as it needs a management device... netgear have some decent unmanaged switches, and yes with the disc connected you'd have great coverage.

Neil.
 
As above, i stated what i use, which is mostly Ubiquiti, but it might well be overkill and will need some initial minor set-up. I’ve got a super simple 1Gbps 8 port netgear switch, similar to what was mentioned above, in a box you can probably have for the postage and a couple of quid, assuming i can find the PSU! That’ll probably be enough & should require zero set-up. See how you get on.
 
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