WI-FI In Detached Garage

[Doug Walls]

I recently bought a Heat Storm 6000-watt heater for my garage, here's a post of mine on it https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....-Garage-Heater

It has an option for controlling it using WI-FI from a cell-phone.
I'm pretty illiterate when it comes to these smart phones & all the WI-FI wireless stuff, but I know I need some sort of WI-FI booster/extender to get better reception out in the garage.

I have AT&T fiber internet with VoIP for my home phone "no cable" with an ARRIS NVG589 modem/router https://www.speedguide.net/routers/a...2-gateway-3984 .

What would be the best way to get the WI-FI signal out to my detached garage!
House Sat. Photo .jpg
The garage is about 40' from the house & there's an aluminum screen porch on the back of the house & aluminum awnings over the rear windows.
The modem/router is located in the Livingroom that's near the front of the house.

[mike stenson]

The best way would be to either run ethernet to another WAP in the separate building or use a point to point wireless bridge. At about the same distances, I'm using a mesh system.. but that has it's own problems, and I need to do get a point to point setup going too (digging between the two is not going to happen for me)

[Allan Dozier]

At 40 ft. you could run direct bury cat 6 since it is less than 300 ft. However it will be at risk for lightning damage, something about different ground potentials that is out of my league. My shop is around 300 feet from my house and I use the over the air wireless bridge. IIRC it is Ubiquiti Nanostation. You need line of sight to project the beam. I also have the same setup to project the signal a quarter mile up to the road for a security camera there. They are surprisingly inexpensive. Another option that I am not knowledgeable on is optical fiber and a converter at each end. Much more knowledgable folks on here that will probably respond.

[mike stenson]

I would not recommend fiber, it's a sledge hammer where a tack hammer is needed.

[Doug Walls]

The best way would be to either run ethernet to another WAP in the separate building

That's kind of what I thought also!

digging between the two is not going to happen for me.

Back when installed a 60-amp subpanel in the garage, I also added an extra 3/4" section of PVC conduit just in case I needed it later on.

[mike stenson]

That's kind of what I thought also!


Back when installed a 60-amp subpanel in the garage, I also added an extra 3/4" section of PVC conduit just in case I needed it later on.

Then you got it easy! Run that ethernet!

I have a 14" thick concrete pour between my two buildings, I'll be shooting p2p.

[Jimmy Harris]

You might want to consider calling AT&T and ask them. I bet they have a solution that they're willing to charge you a monthly fee for.

Ordinarily, I'd recommend against going that route. However, any solution you choose is probably not going to be bulletproof, and you'll likely need someone who knows what they're doing to install it, and later troubleshoot problems that arise. So it might be worth it to pay for the worry-free route.

Otherwise, for something like controlling a heater, I'd probably start off by trying a good wifi router that can output a strong signal and placing it the room closest to the garage. Then buy a separate modem (the stuff they rent to you is junk anyway). That will likely save you money in the long run, because you won't have to rent that gateway from AT&T. 40 feet is nothing for a good wireless wifi router, even going between two exterior walls. A 2.4Ghz wifi signal ought to be pretty strong up to around 150 feet out, as they say. I know I pick up some of my neighbors wifi signals that are at easily double that distance and more. And some of them are two houses away, so they're passing through at least 4 exterior walls to get to me.

Worst case scenario, if that doesn't work, you at least got a better router and modem and probably saved money in the long run doing it.

[Doug Walls]

Then you got it easy! Run that ethernet!

Yeah, I was thinking of using that conduit basically for the wiring of a three-way switch circuit for the outside garage lights.
However, with good WI-FI at the garage I could always install some WI-FI outside lights.

I have a 14" thick concrete pour between my two buildings

Wow What kind of equipment are you parking on that.

[mike stenson]

Yeah, I was thinking of using that conduit basically for the wiring of a three-way switch circuit for the outside garage lights.
However, with good WI-FI at the garage I could always install some WI-FI outside lights.


Wow What kind of equipment are you parking on that.

Just don't run ethernet and voltage in the same conduit. It'll cause you no end of difficulty with data transmission.

It's just a sidewalk!

I didn't pour it. It's one of those things about this place when I bought it, I just don't understand (like the 8" floor height difference in the pours in the unattached building).

[Michael Burnside]

I think running some cat6e is a great idea. I did the same for my shop. My entire home is powered by networking gear from Ubiquiti (https://ui.com/us/en/introduction) excellent, commercial grade stuff that is absolutely rock solid, but expensive. They do offer a building-to-building mesh which I hear is pretty good, but more expensive than a cable if you can swing it.

[Doug Walls]

You might want to consider calling AT&T and ask them. I bet they have a solution that they're willing to charge you a monthly fee for.

I'm probably going to double check with them just to see if they have any reasonable solutions!
The modem/router I currently have is about 4 years old & I'm guessing that they have better versions out now.

Ordinarily, I'd recommend against going that route. However, any solution you choose is probably not going to be bulletproof, and you'll likely need someone who knows what they're doing to install it.

Yeah, with me not being too Wi-Fi Savvy that could be a good option.

[Doug Walls]

Just don't run ethernet and voltage in the same conduit. It'll cause you no end of difficulty with data transmission.

Yeah, I knew that!

It's just a sidewalk!

Well, it's surely not going to move any on you!

[Tom M King]

I think a mesh system in the house with a node (satellite) out there will take care of it. We have a mesh system in a rental house on the lake. I put one of the nodes in a building about 75' away and I have full signal in the mechanic shop almost a hundred feet past that building. I have three cameras around that shop talking to the node and have never had any kind of dropped signal. There are also cameras around the house where that router is, plus 6 tv's in the house. Never had the first complaint from any guests about a lost signal or anything not working.

Here's the system I'm running there on a 500mbs wifi system: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[Paul J Kelly]

I have an outdoor WAP from Rukus for my backyard that was originally installed to give me wifi to control the sound outside - total overkill for a half acre lot. Fast forward 4 years and I am building my shop in the backyard and had an access point put into my budget. After I had it framed, tile roof and the stucco completed I did a test for speed on the existing outdoor WAP. I am at 350-550 mbps in the shop. I eliminated the access point from the budget!

I did run 3 cat 6 lines to the shop to hardwire the TV, audio/video and the PC...

PK

[Tom M King]

Any time I dig a trench between buildings, I put in a run of black polyethylene pipe for any future use. It's pretty cheap and comes in continuous lengths. I've been doing that from the road to the houses I built since the late 1970's. I've had second and third owners of the houses I sold back then stop by my house to thank me, and one even gave us a nice gift card to the fanciest restaurant here. Tie a little piece of cloth to some masons line and pull it through with a shop vac for pulling a wire.