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How can I add Internet (Wi-Fi) to a SHOP, BARN, OUTBUILDING, GARAGE on my property?
John Doe
Colton, OR

Using a P2P WIreless Solution

Your home Wi-Fi typically won’t reach beyond the walls of your home. Glass is a Wi-Fi killer as are any metal sided buildings. But you can get Wi-Fi to remote locations at a reasonable cost. If it’s within 100 meters (300 feet) CAT5/6 can be used to run to the building and then use a AP (Access Point) to provide Wi-Fi within the building. The CAT5/6 wire (also called ethernet) would connect ONE end to your router in your house and the other end to the AP. If wire is not an option and you have line of sight (no trees, obstacles in the way) you can to use Wi-Fi to get it there but a different Wi-Fi device then what you are used to. A Wireless Point to Point setup would be used in place of the wire. You can think of this as a flashlight where there is a beam of Wi-Fi to the far location. You would put one end outside on the side of your house connected to the router and the other end outside at the far building. When purchasing a Wireless Point to Point setup, look for features such as POE (Power Over Ethernet) this allows the units to draw power from the Ethernet line, which means you won’t need power outside for each unit. Ultimately it looks something like this:

Follow up question: Why use an AP at the far end and not another router? 

Because the AP would allow the Access any devices in the house and vice-versa. IE: Camera in the Barn/Shop or a Printer in the house would be the most common. 


Using POWERLINE ADAPTERS

If the location you want to get WiFI to has AC power and is on the same service as the location where the router is installed. You can use PowerLine Adapters (Uses your homes electrical wiring to carry ethernet traffic). There are a couple of caveats to this.  

  • They must be installed on a circuit which is on the same phase. The electricity coming into a home is 220v and consists of 2 110v phases (commonly called split phase). These phases run to the various lights, plugs within a home. These devices can’t JUMP from one side of the power box to the other. They don’t physically need to be on the same circuit breaker, but on the same side of circuit breakers within your house.   

Take a look at this article for more on that:

https://www.techreviewer.com/tech-answers/powerline-adapters-same-circuit/

These device can also be used to get WiFi to a certain dead zone. 

 

The end result would look something like this:

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