This topic

extending wifi to outbuildings

grovey — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 00:01:33 GMT

I have some BT 300 extenders that run through my power circuit which I plug in via ethernet to my TV etc.

Can I use the same system to extend to my garage but instead of a device plug in a wifi attachment from there. If so what do I need. I need the device in the garage to be wire free. Sorry if this a silly question.

Thank you in advance

Grovey

Re: extending wifi to outbuildings

Gary_C — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 08:16:13 GMT

You can use a powerline extender to provide an ethernet port then plug an access port device to provide WIFI at that location.
The BT mini disks can work as the AP (does not need a contiguous mesh) with the advantage of the same SSID and password.

There are devices that do this all in one too: TP-Link AV1000 Gigabit Powerline ac Wi-Fi Kit

I tend to avoid powerline adapters as a rule though.

Is the garage some distance from the house ? A good mesh wifi system with enough coverage would provide you with wifi throughout the house.

Re: extending wifi to outbuildings

Les-Gibson — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 06:54:06 GMT

Isn't the BT300 a wi-fi extender in itself? if it's not (if its a powerline extender) then this is the perfect situation in which to re-purpose an old router if you have one and it's not difficult to do. Just make a few simple changes to the settings before connecting it to your extender.

For example if you have an old BT router, connect one of the LAN sockets via ethernet cable directly to a PC or laptop (not the network at this point)
Factory reset the old router
Login to the Hub Manager
Change the IP Address to (for example) 192.168.1.1
Disable the DHCP server (you don't need it as you already have one on your existing hub and having two on one network is not good).
Disconnect the network cable from your PC/Laptop and connect it to your BT300

NB: Don't change anything on your existing router

Re: extending wifi to outbuildings

grovey — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 11:49:16 GMT

Hi Les

Thanks for your reply.

I'm a real beginner so I have some other questions...

I actually have a BT extender 600 kit powerline extender. it does have an ethernet port which I can connect to an old router that I have. would this work or do I have to do anything to the router first.

Many thanks for your advice so far.

Andy

Re: extending wifi to outbuildings

grovey — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 11:51:39 GMT

Hi Gary,

Thanks for your reply.

I'm a real beginner so I have some other questions...

Many thanks for your advice so far.

Andy

Re: extending wifi to outbuildings

Les-Gibson — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 12:11:11 GMT

The extender 600 would be perfect for the job. Just set it (the extender) up as you would normally, make the changes I detailed in message 3 to the old router and connect the two together.

By way of explanation, which I deliberately avoided earlier to keep it simple, your Main hub will have an IP address of 192.168.1.254 and, if the spare one you want to use is also a BT one then that will be set for the same address, but IP addresses are unique i.e. one IP address = one device so you need to change the IP address of the old one before connecting it to the network.

Likewise, your existing router is already running a DHCP server and you absolutely do not need two DHCP servers running on the same network as there is a risk of IP addresses being duplicated

Re: extending wifi to outbuildings

licquorice — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 14:05:33 GMT

Probably best not to use 192.168.1.1 as suggested earlier in the thread as that is a common default address for many devices and could cause a clash. Use 192.168.1.15 say.

Re: extending wifi to outbuildings

grovey — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 19:47:28 GMT

Hi Les

Dug out my old router its PlusNet but I understand its all BT compatible. I noticed that my laptop only has usb ports...no ethernet ports. So how do I connect the router to my laptop.

Sorry for all these questions!

Andy

Re: extending wifi to outbuildings

Les-Gibson — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 20:55:43 GMT

Presumably it's labelled with an SSID and password, you can connect to it wirelessly.

It's a little more awkward as you'll probably lose connection to it at various points especially when you turn off the DHCP server so make sure that's the last thing you do.

Plusnet use the same gateway address as BT so logon to it by wireless by opening a browser and typing 192.168.1.254 into the address bar and change the IP address to whatever you decide as long as it's less than 192.168.1.63 (I appreciate what @licquorice is saying but I've used 192.168.1.1 before and, as long as it's properly managed, there's no problem)

You will lose contact with it when you change the IP address and click save but don't worry about it, just wait about a minute and enter whatever IP address you decided upon in the browser address bar then make the rest of the changes remembering to turn off the DHCP server last.