Wireless network solution

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Steve

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Picture below. Wondering if anybody here can help with this. At the moment I have a newish sky router on an old copper line. It is in an unfortunate position on the hallway windowsill in the front corner of the house, where the master socket is. Reception is poor in both large bedrooms and the back garden.

There would be enough slack on the main phone wire coming into the house to reroute it through the gable end, loft, and into the airing cupboard which is central to the house. I can then fit a socket in there and centralise the network. From there I can run cables to access points and all the rooms where necessary for TVs etc. However, I still suspect reception would be poor in the garden. Openreach are currently putting in cables for fttp, which when my contract expires I will be signing up for. They can fit their termination point in the box room and I'll run a cat6 cable to it from the airing cupboard. I have a growing family with demands from smart TVs, tablets and phones, as well as smart switches in the house, shed and garden (when I can get a signal to them).

Is it possible to buy an access point such as this one

TP-Link EAP110-Outdoor 300Mbps Wireless N Outdoor Access Points, 24V Passive PoE, Easily Wall or Ceiling Mount, Free EAP Controller Software https://amzn.eu/d/fA9amZP

And configure it to broadcast the same network as the sky router for seamless transition from home to garden? Or would I be better buying an additional two APs for the house as well and abandon the sky router for WiFi?

I'm not fussy about a 5ghz network unless it's somehow beneficial - frankly I find it slightly troublesome when setting up certain smart switches which insist my phone is on the same 2.4 network as the device I'm setting up.
16826219650751360989153844976642.jpg
 
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Turn off the Sky box WiFi, connect a dedicated router to the ethernet port on the sky box. I use the Asus RT-AC86U, with multi directional antenna. It's by no means the best anymore I'm sure, but the signal across the house is double what the Sky box can achieve.
I then use powerline plugs from TP-Link to get same network up the garden
 
In answer to your actual question.
Yes you can buy any access point/repeater/wifi device you like and have it become an additional node on the same wifi network.
Just set the SSID and Password the same, and it will behave as another point of connection for the same wifi network. The client devices will (should/might/probably won't) pick the best quality signal.
 
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NB YOU are not supposed to interfere with BT Openreach cables and master socket connections... ;)

Running a new cable from it's consumer terminals as an 'extension' to another location is different. (Or run ethernet cable(s) from the router to other places - you can get UV resistant cable to go outside).

Look for mesh wifi systems to replace the ISP router wifi - they are designed to be more seamless that multiple APs using the same SSIDs. Mesh units also tend to allow the 5GHz to be turned off temporarily when adding smart devices on 2.4GHz.

Powerline adapters are a very variable feast. They only work on the same ring mains in my home. So no good for going upstairs from down.
 
I use Deco home mesh system, one unit plugs into router ( and actually provides better speeds than router) and one more units send to rear of property and rear annex where third unit sits ( about 100ft away).So far faultless performance .House units sit in loft (bungalow).
 
Don't bother moving the master socket, leave the router where it is, turn its wifi off, fit commercial grade PoE access points (eBay for ubiquiti unifi) in the upstairs hall, downstairs hall and outside. Run cat6 to all points - one wire carries power and data. Run more cat6 to sockets for TVs on bedrooms etc and hard wire them back to a decent gigabit switch connected to the sky router

One thing to note if powering wireless ap over PoE; there are different standards (voltages) - you can either buy an ap with a power injector bundled (easy, but bulky) or you can buy a switch that does compatible PoE (neater, pricier). If your switch PoE and AP PoE voltages differ you can usually get an inline voltage changer, but I'd strive to get switched and APs that were directly compatible
 
+1 for the Deco home mesh system

I had tried various repeaters, and powerline adapters , and all quite disappointing . I purchased a 3 unit Mesh from John Lewis
and its been fantastic - and i put one unit in the conservatory, the router is at front of house, and now i have garden access and no drops anywhere in the bungalow - much better.
I also have 1 unit behind the TV in living room, which supplies two LAN connectors to TV and PVR which dont have wireless , also the appleTV box on wifi works so much more reliably now.
 
Last edited:
Not all access points let you clone your existing network, plenty do though. Had 2 of these running for 5 years now, work very well WiFi thing
 
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