@D-C The area in which in I need WiFi in the garden itself would be covered by a narrow band (maybe 30 degrees) from the corner of the house to the workshop. A "directional" extender would do the job, if such a thing exists.

The workshop w2ill have a number of IOT switches etc. which need reliable but very low bandwidth, and then when occupied it will need bandwidth for 1-2 devices like phones & laptops, 100Mbps would  work. Thanks

D-C wrote

akjohnston wrote

Hi,

 

I'm looking for the simplest way to extend WiFi from my house across my garden and specifically into a new workshop, which is about 30m from the house. I have tried using simple extenders like the WA850RE, but the range is just not sufficient.

 

I'm thinking I may have to use a pair of CPE210s. I can mount one inside a (wooden, upstairs) wall of the house with an ethernet connection back to the router, and another inside the workshop. However I have a couple of questions:

1. Does the CPE210 have the ability to work as a WiFi access point itself, or will I need to connect the one in the workshop to a separate access point?
   • CPEs are just wireless bridges, so you would still need an AP at the bridged location.
2. Is this "overkill" or is there a simpler/cheaper solution?
   • Maybe, but more details would help...
     • Do you need wifi in the entire area (garden) between your house and the workshop?
     • What do you need the wifi for and how much bandwidth will you require?
     • What's in the garden?  Trees? Tall fences? Anything else that blocks the view (or signal) between the house and workshop?
     • Is mounting equipment outside not an option?  I understand it can be more work, but eliminating the need to transmit through two exterior walls would be best.
3. Can I manage the signal strength down to limit the intrusion risk? I don't really want to be broadcasting a link into my Wifi over several km?
   • It's not broadcasting wifi like an access point, but it's still transmitting radio signals.  The devices are paired so someone can't just use another unit to join your network.  I'll stop short of saying it's impossable to hack because that's just being naive.

 

Apologies if these are "newbie" questions, but any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Andrew

Hi @akjohnston, see notes above.

@akjohnston, the setup that gives me the most confidence would require mouting equipment outside.  Install one outdoor AP on the side of the house facing the workshop wired back to the router.  Install the other outdoor AP outside the workshop on the side closest to the house.  The workshop AP would use a wireless mesh connection back to the house and a wired connection for POE and configuration.  I am making the assumption that the AP at the workshop can cover the inside when mounted on the outside, so I hope it's not big and/or made of brick and metal.  You can try putting one or both APs inside to see if it works like that first, but outside mounting would create a more stable and reliable link.

The eap110 outdoor should work based on your needs and is the cheapest option.  The eap225 outdoor does have the advantage of the 5Ghz band for the backhaul via the mesh but that works best w/o going through walls.

  @D-C Thanks. Are you saying that the EAP110 can effectively work as an extender on a similar model to the WA850RE, connecting to a WiFi signal from the house and providing a local access point?

If so there may be a simple and cheap solution, just mounting one EAP110 on the outside workshop wall facing the house. At that point my phone is showing a signal of about -70dB from the existing extenders, which might be sufficient if the EAP110 is designed for such applications. There should be no issue with the EAP110 signal getting into the  workshop - it has 44mm thick wooden walls and is only 3mx3m.

Does that make sense?

Thanks 

@akjohnston, most of the Omada APs can create wireless bridges between them.  I thought the 110 did, but I noticed that the eap110 actually does not support the mesh technology (probably because it doesn't have the 5GHz radio).  You'll need the EAP-225 Outdoor model.  You can't just use one because they only support the mesh between two Omada branded APs, thus you can't just install one.  See these links for more details...

Mesh FAQ: https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/2283/

Mesh Setup: https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/3596/