Need to boost or extend WIFI coverage to the shop!!

JD Seller

Well-known Member
I insulated the shop this summer. Now with the doors closed the signal in the garage is too weak for a laptop to receive it. I want a device that I can mount an external antenna on the shop and boost the signal to the inside of the shop. Wilson makes cell phone boosters that do this. I just want the same thing for the Wi-Fi.

I see outdoor WI-FI antennas, Wi-Fi boosters and WI-FI repeaters. It is confusing to me what I need. I want to stay wireless because I am not running a line to the shop just for the internet/Wi-Fi.

So what do I want/need????
 
Sundays paper had an add from Staples for a booster, and it was cheep. Around $40.00
 
John This is what type of thing I am interested in. I went to the link to Amazon. The reviews are very mixed on this product. 33% are very bad saying it is junk. I worry about complicated setups. How easy is this to setup???
 
Amazon says I bought this August 2013, so I've been using it since.

My shop is 200 ft from the house

Wifi can get spotty in the far corner of the shop if the doors are closed.

Shop has steel walls inside and out, and is insulated.

My provider isn't real fast by most standards (2-3 mbps), but it's the best we have, speed is slower at the shop, but I'm not streaming HD movies out there anyway.

This is a link to the article I read on setting it up

https://www.telcoantennas.com.au/site/how-extend-wifi-coverage-using-ubiquiti-nanostation

Fred
Ubiquiti NanoStation locoM2
 
JD,
I'm not clear at all if your shop/garage is away from or attached to the house.
Either way, you could start with a PicoStation plugged into your router in the house.
You may not even need to place it closer to the shop/garage or in a window.

If needed you could use a second PicoStation dedicated to the shop/garage.
PicoStation
 
If you go cable to the shed route, make sure to buy direct bury cable, anything else will work, for a little while... been there done that. Direct bury cable has a gel in it to keep out the water, pain in the hind end to get the cable ends on it, but it works and lasts i have almost 500 foot to my shed, has been in the ground for 10 years still works great. also had to get a "black box" signal booster to go that far, I have a wifi switch at the shed which allows for web access while out there working on projects.
 
JD, I use this one when were on the road in the RV. I've had several of the cheaper E Bay and Amazon units, but this one is more powerful and blows their doors off lol It has a 15 ft cord with a USB plug, simply plugs into my laptops USB port, plug n play rock n roll I love it.

http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wireless/marine-wifi-antenna.php

John T
Radio Labs Marine WiFi Antenna
 
(quoted from post at 00:42:39 10/11/16) Amazon says I bought this August 2013, so I've been using it since.

My shop is 200 ft from the house

Wifi can get spotty in the far corner of the shop if the doors are closed.

Shop has steel walls inside and out, and is insulated.

My provider isn't real fast by most standards (2-3 mbps), but it's the best we have, speed is slower at the shop, but I'm not streaming HD movies out there anyway.

This is a link to the article I read on setting it up

https://www.telcoantennas.com.au/site/how-extend-wifi-coverage-using-ubiquiti-nanostation

Fred
Ubiquiti NanoStation locoM2

Yes! I have something similar. Not the same brand, but I did get it from Amazon. A second Wi-Fi router out in the shop, set up with the same name and on the same channel, gives a seamless transition from the house to the shop. My smart phone doesn't know the difference.
 
NETGEAR...New Wireless WiFi Internet Range Booster Extender Plug In Router.

THis is what I used. I have wifi security on my property.. couple cameras on my large building which are easily 50 feet from house. Had issues with loosing signal. So I bought this and put it by a window closest to that side of house which building is near.. so far so good..good luck
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a239786.jpg
 
I have a small shop non insulated about 250' from the house and I want to be able to see youtube videos well while working. Don't want to
bury cable. What do you guys suggest? Thanks
 
A wifi extender or repeater will cut your speed exactly in half. A antenna works but your laptop will need a plug for an antenna. I've never seen an antenna plug on a laptop. A usb antenna works good by using none of your laptops wifi circuits. All you need is a spare usb port.
53569058.jpg
 
We just did this. We bought a linksys WiFi repeater and enough cable to extend one antenna port. Then bought a directional antenna. We pick up the signal from 700' and all works well. The single antenna in the shop works. All phones work. Tablet works WiFi and the computer is hard wired to the repeater. The only issue was the cable and router were not compatible so we ordered an adapter. We have not run a speed test but are very satisfied with the results. We have tried a number of the other solutions and they work well in a house, but not with any outdoor distance.
 
If shop is on same transformer, best thing to do is put power line extender between house and shop, then plug wifi access point into the ethernet, will be super fast.
 
Mine was easy to setup. I just used the quick setup in the menu and went right through it. Did have to reprogram it once after some power fluctuation, but that is the only time in the 5 or 6 years I have owned it.
 

I located a wifi repeater in the window of my shop on the house side...

And moved my main wifi box to the side of the house facing the barn, and set it about 5 foot off the floor on top of a cabinet to increase the range. Picking a high location for both wifi units helps greatly. Even the security cams that use wifi at the front gate and shed now work well. A newer main wifi unit with explicit and non explicit beam forming will also increase range substantially.

In the big barn, I hung a wifi bridge unit in the window and it feeds the second (my old )wifi unit mounted in the center of the big barn... That way all of the streaming devices there can home in on the 2nd wifi that is bridged to the primary wifi. Its good enough to stream video and music to and from the house and the media servers.
 
I tried the extra patch antennas and the likes, and power line stuff as well. It all "worked" but never well. Eventually I got tired of messing with consumer grade junk and dropped a little coin on the enterprise grade stuff. We have DSL at the house and the shop is about 800ft away or so. So I got two Ubiquiti NanoStation Loco M5 (5ghz) units and configured them as a bridge. Then added a Ubiquiti Airgateway access point to the power injector for the shop unit. Been using that setup for about 2 years now, flawless and fast. Now full disclosure I do work in IT so this wasn't very difficult for me, but the documentation is sound and step for step, so shouldn't be *that* difficult for just about anybody.

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-0000070700985-NanoStation-loco-M5/dp/B004EHSV4W
https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-AIRGATEWAY-Wireless-access-802-11/dp/B00HXT84DG


https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-us/arti...int-to-Point-Link-Layer-2-Transparent-Bridge-
https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-us/articles/204952264-airMAX-airGateway-The-Factory-Default-State
 

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