This topic

Outbuilding wifi

Mac7 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 14:24:30 GMT

Forgive me if this has been asked before but we have an outbuilding across the road that i use as a home office. I would like wifi there but it seems too far from the hub or discs in the house to pick up a decent signal. Is wired the only option and would this in turn connect to a ethernet access point? And if i want to hardwire a smart tv in i presume that the ethernet cable would need to plug into the access point in the "out" port somehow?

Re: Outbuilding wifi

Kodikid — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 14:51:04 GMT

Have you considered using a mobile hot-spot from your phone?

Re: Outbuilding wifi

gg30340 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:01:19 GMT

Are you able to run Ethernet cable across the road to the outbuilding?

If you are you could ren an Ethernet cable from your Smarthub to the outbuilding and connect it to a Wireless Access Point (WAP). This would give you wifi and if you buy a WAP which also has at least one Ethernet port, most do, you woud have the Ethernet for your TV and wifi for other devices.

Are the electrics in the outbuilding on the same consumer unit (fuse box) as your home? If it is you could try using Power Line Adapters. Depending on which type you buy you could have wifi and an Ethernet port.

The other option is to do as has been suggested and use your mobile phone if you have a good mobile signal as a wifi hotspot. This would of course not give you an Ethernet connection.

If you do have a good mobile signal you could subscribe to mobile broadband package which would have ab on going cost but you would get Ethernet and wifi. The mobile broadband packages start at about £20 a month.

Re: Outbuilding wifi

Mac7 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:01:50 GMT

yes a mobile hotspot is an option but if I can I rather use the same network / wifi details to plug in the various pieces of equipment in the home office

Re: Outbuilding wifi

Mac7 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:04:11 GMT

Thanks. i could run a cat5/ cat 6? cable to the outbuilding under or over the road to an AP, guess that is probably the most amount of work but the fastest connection.

The outbuilding in on a different circuit/fuse box so not sure if powerline adapters would work?

Re: Outbuilding wifi

gg30340 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:52:53 GMT

Presumably it is a private road because you can not run a cable over or under a public road without the proper approval, which I doubt you would get.

It would need to be at least a Cat 5e cable but better if it was Cat 6.

If your outhouse is on a different consumer unit it is unlikely that they would work although if the consumer unit is on the same circuit as your house there is a slim possibility that they may work. You would need to try them and see.

Re: Outbuilding wifi

Mac7 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 16:29:41 GMT

ok going to try a powerline adapter first otherwise its cat6 under the road (track really)

Re: Outbuilding wifi

WSH — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 16:40:04 GMT

Just to be clear, the ethernet cable would have to be exterior grade, which is somewhat heavier duty than the internal stuff. If it is overhead, it will probably need a support cable. If you do this, I would recommend getting a professional in to do it. As gg30340 says, cat 6 is the better option. Cat 5e* is maxed out at 1 Gb/s. While nominally 1 Gb/s, unofficially cat 6 will manage 10 Gb/s at up to 55m, so better future proofing.

Also, while gg30340's suggestions are the best way to go, I would round this out by pointing out that there is also the option of "point to point" wireless. This is a lot longer range than indoor Wi-Fi (as the power is all focused in one direction). You can look this up if you are interested but, again, it is really a professional install job.

(* The older cat 5 was only 100 Mb/s capable and is now obsolete. I doubt you can still buy it).

Edit: Ah, just seen your last post, so overhead is not an option. If you are burying it, don't forget to put it in ducting. It will make it a lot easier to replace in the future.

Re: Outbuilding wifi

Mac7 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:12:29 GMT

Thanks WSH, yes outdoor grade and to be sure it will go in a conduit.

Re: Outbuilding wifi

WSH — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:32:02 GMT

You are welcome.

While I think about it, something else you might need to know...max distance for ethernet is theoretically 100m. This is under lab test conditions, so working techies rarely push much beyond 80m.

Re: Outbuilding wifi

Mac7 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 19:53:57 GMT

Thanks, its about 50m so fingers crossed

Re: Outbuilding wifi

WSH — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 21:40:52 GMT

Mentioning point-to-point wireless tweaked my interest. (I’ve not been involved with anything like that since I retired, 6 years ago).

Anyway, I’ve just taken a look on Amazon and the price of a Point-to-Point Wireless Bridge has come way down. Might be worth a look as it might be a lot easier than burying ethernet.

Sorry, can’t post a link to a commercial site. It’s against forum rules. Just search for Point-to-Point Wireless Bridge if you’re interested.

Re: Outbuilding wifi

Mac7 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 22:37:16 GMT

I originally looked at a wifi repeater But 1) this still would need a cable from the router inside to the gadget outside and 2) this would just be wifi, not ethernet.

point to point looks interesting but relies on clear line of sight which i dont have (trees) so not sure how effective…