kevip6 Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Hi All, I posted this question on my sound system thread but I guess people may not read that so I thought I'd start a new thread with a more appropriate title for the question: I have setup an outdoor entertainment area and want to get Wifi down to the bottom of my garden. I had 2 Cat6 outdoor cables run at the same time as the power in case I wanted to run a Balun HDMI signal from the house but in the meanwhile I have one of these connected to my network as to get internet to the amp/device for streaming music/video. My question is: what would be a good outdoor wifi hub for connecting one of these cable to allow wifi access down the garden as the home Wifi is getting weak to non existent there? I was looking at something like this but I'd like it as simple as possible: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-Waterproof-Installation-Controller-EAP110-Outdoor/dp/B01N4EGN6H/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1504002374&sr=8-2&keywords=outdoor+wifi+access+point Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 That's frickin' cheap if it does what it says on the tin. The other option is to get a normal indoor access point and stick it in an IP rated box but I suspect that would cost more in both time and money. You may get folks getting snobby about it being a TP Link device and maybe offering things like Ubiquiti or Netgear or whatever but all the TP Link stuff I have used has been very good. If you leave it outside expect a shelf life of 3 to 5 years IMHO. Provenance? I do indoor and outdoor wifi for a living. My "standard" exterior grade AP is one of these; https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/wireless/aironet-1562i-outdoor-access-point/model.html but they're about 700 quid a pop. The last wifi network I did had 12 of these, and 41 of it's indoor cousins indoors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan France Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 I got fed up with the bt box dropping out and bought a twin channel tp-link box which has worked well. To get wifi to the garage I've added a tp-link booster. That gives a usable garden/garage range of about 25m.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevip6 Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 Thanks for the help @Blatman I have ordered one and will see! I don't need anything fancy so hopefully it will do the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACW Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Theoretically if your device supports 5GHZ it will need to be configurable as an outdoor device as it must support the use of DFS channels only and DFS. The reality for you application is stick an AP in a bag and hide it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevip6 Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 2 hours ago, ACW said: Theoretically if your device supports 5GHZ it will need to be configurable as an outdoor device as it must support the use of DFS channels only and DFS. The reality for you application is stick an AP in a bag and hide it. I understood next to none of that To what are you referring to as the Device (the Access Point?) and what is the use of DFS? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 DFS means avoiding transmitting on the same 5.0Ghz frequency as Radar/Doppler Radar. Very important if you live near an airport or military base. DFS is usually teamed with TPC and is likely on by default so no need to worry. DFS = Dynamic Frequency Selection. TPC = Transmit Power Control. And this is where I step away from ACW 'cos after this he'll kick my ass in the tech stakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 And if you really want a cure for insomnia, have a read of this: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/routers/access/3200/software/wireless/3200WirelessConfigGuide/RadioChannelDFS.pdf Me, I love a Cisco white paper but for the vast majority of non I.T types its just a lot of words written in a foreign language and only a masochist or an actual Cisco wifi engineer (that would be me) needs to go beyond page 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevip6 Posted September 1, 2017 Author Share Posted September 1, 2017 Can I assume that if it's sold as an outdoor device it should comply/be setup for this already? I live about 5 miles from North Weald Airfield and 15 miles from Stansted, I assume that won't cause a problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 I have a had a lot of trouble with my Netgear router(s), but found a TP link router to outperform them hands down. N'owt wrong with TP link in my experience and their customer service is good as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 Agreed on TP link stuff, haven't used it often, but it's been decent when I have. 1 hour ago, kevip6 said: Can I assume that if it's sold as an outdoor device it should comply/be setup for this already? Dangerous. It may be, but you MUST check. You're often teetering on the edge of gear intended to be supplied and installed by professionals with gear like this. In which case they may be supplied in anything from ready to go form to needing full set up. Most likely is usually somewhere in the middle! With just advanced stuff needing doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevip6 Posted September 1, 2017 Author Share Posted September 1, 2017 it looks like its a 2.4 GHz device anyway if that negates the issue? Thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 2.4Ghz negates the issue and yes if it was using the 5.0Ghz frequency then it *should* be set up automagically for this. This means you don't have to worry about altering the weather reports because you screwed the local Doppler radar images whilst airplaying/chromecasting Iron Man from your phone to the outdoor screen Wifi transmits at around 100Mw so the range isn't that far. Clearly someone somewhere when writing the specs took a very cautious line. I know it's not really accurate but when imagining how far wifi will go, imagine how much light a 100 Milliwatt bulb gives. That's how powerful your wifi is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevip6 Posted September 7, 2017 Author Share Posted September 7, 2017 So it works! And works very well! Was completely unsecured access as default so as soon as I plugged it in it allowed full access to my network and internet without logging in but it was very easy on my phone web browser to log into it and setup a new SSID with WPK security. Great signal strength and throughput readings so far. Thanks for your help guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 48 minutes ago, kevip6 said: with WPK security WPA2-PSK... [/pedantry] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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