Unable to connect to Wifi Home Hotspot Plus 600

[DIG]

I have a small studio in the garden which is connected to the main house power supply. Until a couple of months ago I had used a Wifi Home Hotspot Plus 600 to provide a reasonable wireless service to  it for the last few years. When the Wi-Fi failed, I  replaced the set up with a Home Hotspot Flex 600 Kit. 

Whilst I could see the new network on a wireless device in the studio, I was unable to complete a connection to it, which led me to believe that the original Hotspot Plus 600 was still working.

I tested both Hotspots back in the house and found them both to be working well, and was able to make connections to both, in the house, as separate wireless hotspots, but neither would allow connection, to the visible hotspot when plugged into the studio socket.

I wonder if anyone might advance some pointers as to what the issue might be, given that historically, the original set up was working well, up until late March?

Are there minimum electrical circuit standards/measures that must be met, to ensure a wireless network can be deployed and connected to, that I could test for? I dont really understand what else could have compromised the original set up.

Any insights shared would be much appreciated,

Dig

[imjolly]

you can only have 1 set connected to hub at any one time

[DIG]

Thank you for the quick response @imjolly 

I understand your response, but in this case I can have both remote extender hotspots operating in the house using the one 'controller' plugged into the mains supply and the home hub.

The remote hotspots both deploy unique WiFi networks, and can both be connected to, within the house. In this scenario there are effectively three networks in the house and I am able to connect to either extender hotspots or the home hub!

When plugging only one of the extender hotspots into one of the Studio's  power sockets, and turning the other off/removing it from its house socket, I can see the extender's wifi network ( a strong one ) in the Studio, but am unable to connect to it. 

If I take the same extender hotspot back to house and plug it in there, it deploys its Wifi network and I am able to connect to it again, or connect to the Home hub network.

The underlying question is all about the inability to connect to the wireless network in the studio down the garden, when only a few weeks ago, there was a network that could be connected to and used freely without any problems.

Does that clarify the issue?

Many thanks

Dig

[Les-Gibson]

You need to pair the new units to the existing ones as described in the manual, it'll be under a heading of something like 'Adding extra units to expand your network' or some such.
Once this is done you should have two SSIDs' both of which should work

[DIG]

Thank you Les-Gibson,

I already have both extenders capable of deploying unique SSID's, however, I can only connect to them within the four walls of the house. They do not allow connection to the SSID, when I plug one or the other into a socket in the studio, down the garden, despite being able to see the network name and signal.

It has only recently stopped working in the Studio, which led me to believe my original equipment had failed, but that was a false assumption.

thanks for the reply,

Dig

[Les-Gibson]

Power line adapters work best when they are both using the same ring main and therefore the same consumer unit.

It can be very hit and miss if (say) one is on the house ring main and the other is on a spur and more than one consumer unit is involved.

They particularly don't like it if one or both units are plugged into mains extension leads especially where surge suppressors are in use

[DIG]

Thank you Les, this is the answer which best fits the issue.

At a point earlier this year, the extender on the 'spur' to the Studio ( additional consumer unit) in the garden, decided it would no longer provide a network we could connect to. What I would really like to know is why it is hit and miss? What is it, that the additional consumer unit is restricting in the overall set up, and what action could I take, to overcome the 'restriction'?

Failing any further suggestions to resolve the issue, are there other solutions which I could invest in which would provide a wireless network in the remote studio?

Thank you again for your assistance,

Dig

[licquorice]

The only reliable method of providing a network in a remote location is to run an Ethernet cable from the router to a wireless access point in the remote site.

[Les-Gibson]

@DIG 

I also use powerline converters where one of them is on a spur off a different consumer unit and I have suffered the frustration you experiencing, I can only think that it is some kind of inductance, reactance or capacitance issue.

As has already been stated, the only reliable way to achieve your aim is to connect the two buildings together by ethernet cable but if that is not practical then I have found a 'solution' which mostly works for me but of course there are no guarantees that it will work for you.

A couple of years ago, I simply added a third unit which is plugged into spur off of the house consumer unit and set all three up to work together (it's termed something like 'Expanding your network' in the user manual).

As far as I'm concerned the third unit performs no practical function at all, it just sits there gathering dust but it must be doing something as failures are no longer anywhere near as regular as they once were and I can live with that.

I still have to reset the two at each end of the link every three or four months but the regular early morning failures that frustrated me so much are gone.

[DIG]

Thank you Liquorice - I will definitely look at this solution, as the final option - It will give me some challenges, but it will provide me with certainty. I can test this option without high drama.

Cheers.