Which WiFi gadget please

ButterCheese

Help please. We have a garden room that has a wired ethernet cable running to it. But phones and devices can't pickup the WiFi from the house. Can anyone link to a device that you plug the ethernet in and it creates a WiFi signal? I tried a TP links one which has ethernet (IN) and antennas, but it doesn't work, and apparently is only a range extender that has to "see" a WiFi signal first. I've scoured online and not sure if such a thing exists?

Labtebricolist

The wired cable from the garden room needs to run into your router.  We use an Orbi mesh network, with a satellite plugged into the Ethernet point in the garden room.

grumpycrab

ButterCheese said:

We have a garden room that has a wired ethernet cable running to it. 

Obvious question - what's at the end of the ethernet cable in the garden room?  Guessing its just a connector which plugs into a laptop, desktop...   You need an "ethernet access point".  eg. TP-LINK TL-WA801ND

M25

You need some sort of wi-fi access point (AP).

They can be dirt cheap or free if you can learn a few basics and turn an old wi-fi router into an AP.

If you want something really simple and cheap with a good app to control it get an eero 6 router from CeX.

You can make the SSID/password the same as your other router in your house and as you pickup the better signal moving around your devices will swap over seamlessly. That should work assuming you don't have an ancient main router.

All the options above: you have to plug your ethernet cable into the new router (AP).

flaneurs_lobster

ButterCheese said:

 I tried a TP links one which has ethernet (IN) and antennas, but it doesn't work, and apparently is only a range extender that has to "see" a WiFi signal first. I've scoured online and not sure if such a thing exists?

Could you give the model no of that TP-Link device?

Something like this?

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/tplink-tlwa855re-v2-wifi-range-extender-n300-singleband-10175583.html

You need something that will run as an Access Point, some will, others won't.

ButterCheese

Thanks everyone. I didn't realise I needed a new router but it makes sense now. We have a virgin media hub router, this runs to a 1>4 splitter. One of those wires goes down to the garden, the other 3 go to bedrooms but only 1 is used, but they do work.

In the garden room all we have is an rj45(?) terminated end which we plug into playstation or whatever source we need, and that works. But we would benefit from having wifi to connect phones etc to, and a fire stick. 

I will take a look at the above linked router thank you. Hopefully this will be compatible with the VMhub or maybe it doesn't matter

ButterCheese

flaneurs_lobster said:

ButterCheese said:

 I tried a TP links one which has ethernet (IN) and antennas, but it doesn't work, and apparently is only a range extender that has to "see" a WiFi signal first. I've scoured online and not sure if such a thing exists?

Could you give the model no of that TP-Link device?

Something like this?

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/tplink-tlwa855re-v2-wifi-range-extender-n300-singleband-10175583.html

You need something that will run as an Access Point, some will, others won't.

Yes it was TP-Link TL-WA850RE N300Mbps WiFi... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AHXXJVW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Vitor

 - We have a virgin media hub router, this runs to a 1>4 splitter -

The Virgin Super Hub isn't the greatest and a lot of people switch it into basic MODEM mode and add their own router and setup a mesh WiFi.

Anyhow, for your purposes just add a WiFi Access point using the ethernet cable already run out to the shed, something like this unit which also incorporates a multi-port splitter so you can keep the Playstaion wired for minimum latency when gaming. Ubiquiti UniFi HD In-Wall 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi Access Point 4 Port Ethernet Switch, UAP-IW-HD : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

or just get a basic unmanaged 4 port switch for the shed plus a simpler access point TP-Link TL-WA1201 Access Point Dual Band AC1200, Supports Passive PoE, Supports Access Point, Range Extender, Multi-SSID, and Client modes, Boosted Coverage : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

flaneurs_lobster

Yes it was TP-Link TL-WA850RE N300Mbps WiFi... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AHXXJVW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

As you deduced, Wi-Fi repeater only, won't work. The TP Link box I linked to above will do the job for about £18.

Do you have an old router lying around that might be tweaked to do the job? You'd get a Wi-fi access point and some wired ports too.

QrizB

flaneurs_lobster said:

Yes it was TP-Link TL-WA850RE N300Mbps WiFi... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AHXXJVW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

As you deduced, Wi-Fi repeater only, won't work.

Are you sure?

Section 4.2.1 of the manual says you can use it as an access point:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/B14e54R2QsS.pdf

OP have you tried that?

Frozen_up_north

A laptop running Windows 10 or 11 has built-in Ethernet (if fitted) to WiFi and WiFi to WiFi extender capabilities.
Another trick is that many WiFi access points work both ways, you can use them to provide WiFi access to equipment that only has RJ45 Ethernet.
I have a Netgear EX6120 that I bought some time ago, it works “both ways around” as well as being a WiFi to WiFi extender. The price seems to have more than doubled since I bought it in 2021.
Like many network related matters, extenders can sometimes be awkward to configure…