Extension of Wi-fi network with long Ethernet cable

[JamesNash1975]

Hi there, I have a BT smart hub 2 with Discs, to boost the Wi-fi around my home. I have recently built an office at the end of my garden, about 50 meters away from the house. My electrician has installed a cat 6 Ethernet cable back to the BT smart Hub in the house. What port do I plug the Ethernet cable into on the Smart hub and what device do I need in my office, to create a Wi-fi network down there? Can I use one of the Discs?

[Keith_Beddoe]

@JamesNash1975 

Welcome to this user forum.

You could use one of the discs, but you might lose coverage in the house, and it would be a waste, unless there is one that you do not need in the house.

All you need is a wireless access point like this, which plugs into the Ethernet cable.

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/access-point/tl-wa901n/

About £26.

Any of the smart hub Ethernet ports can  be used.

[Silverbacker]

use any one of the ethernet ports in the hub, try one of the discs and see how it works.  If you still have sufficient coverage in the house and all good in the office, then you are sorted.  Otherwise any "Wired Access Point" will do the job in the office; look for one that has ethernet port rather than a "range extender" in order to make use of your cable, your only other decision on that is whether you put a little switch (say a 5 way ethernet switch) in your office before the disc/WAP and in this way you can allow for an ethernet connection directly for your computer/TV/music streamer (ie whatever) 

[JamesNash1975]

Thanks for your help and  suggestions guys. I have ordered that wireless hub, and look forward to testing it out at the weekend! Will let u know if I have success!

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@JamesNash1975 wrote:

Thanks for your help and  suggestions guys. I have ordered that wireless hub, and look forward to testing it out at the weekend! Will let u know if I have success!

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It should be fine, I have used a number of these in the past, before I upgraded to a wireless mesh.

They have a setup wizard, and you need to select the access point option. Its usually best to choose a different wireless name and password to the home hub network, so you can see which network you are connected to. Its unlikely you would be able to connect to the home hub network anyway, at that distance.

The devices have their own DHCP server which you need to turn off, as it needs to get its IP address from the home hub.

A better option is to set it to a fixed IP address, outside of the DHCP range of the home hub. Use something like 192.168.1.50. That also allows you to access its web interface without having to find out what IP address its been allocated.

IP 192.168.1.50

Subnet mask 255.255.255.0

Default gateway 192.168.1.254

DNS 192.168.1.254

[Keith_Beddoe]

@JamesNash1975 

Here is the software emulator, which you may like to play with https://emulator.tp-link.com/tl-wa901n-v6/userRpm/Index.htm

You may need to connect it to a computer to start with, as its default subnet is 192 168.0.xxx and not 192.168.1.xx.

As the setup wizard enables DHCP, your computer should be able to access it using 192.168.0.254

Once you have access to the web interface, you can alter its IP address to the one I suggested. Then once its saved, and it restarts, you can then connect it to the home hub, and you can access it directly.

[JamesNash1975 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for those details... sounds like I might have my work cut out... do I see the setup wizard when I connect a computer or phone to it wirelessly?

[Keith_Beddoe]

There Is some info here https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/download/tl-wa901n/

Its quite possible its now much simpler than I described, as it looks like it sets itself up automatically, as it seems to get its configuration  from the router.

See the video on that page which shows the access point setup, which now appears to be the default.

Earlier versions were more complicated.

[JamesNash1975]

It worked perfectly! Thanks for the advice everyone. Good inexpensive solution!

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@JamesNash1975 wrote:

It worked perfectly! Thanks for the advice everyone. Good inexpensive solution!

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Excellent 😀

I thought TP Link had made it simpler. Some of their original access points like the WA701ND, were quite tricky to set up, but things have moved on quite a bit now.