Extending WiFi into a detached garage

[KimberleyClark]

Hi. We’ve converted our garage into a home office and want wifi in there. We’ve tried various extenders but they don’t work without keeping the garage door and the back door open which is obviously not practical in the winter. The back door and garage door are about 5-6 yards apart. WiFi provider is VirginMedia. Anyone got any ideas?

How old is your router and what is the house made of?

We have Virgin Media and I usually have 50 - 75% signal (2 or 3 bars) when I'm in the office (in the detached garage, about 3-4m away from the house).

The plug in extenders were pants, and I was seriously looking at getting an electrician in to wire an ethernet cable out.

I'd look at upgrading the router first, and then moving it a bit closer if possible.

You must have sturdy walls!

have you played around with position of the extenders - if it could be looking out of a window toward the garage for example that would reduce the wall problem

play around with frequency bands - that should be an option on your hub settings - but can affect your maximum download rate

other than that you would need to have an Ethernet cable to the garage which is a pain for exterior use
and finally and just because this is the number one reason for extenders not working - it is plugged in I assume

We ran wired Ethernet under the driveway. DH is handy so did it himself.

The house is a 1930s red brick semi so it is sturdy. The router is pretty new about a year old.

We use this- https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Deco-E4-Seamless-Replacement/dp/B07RXLF5XZ/ref=ascdffB07RXLF5XZ?mcid=8feeca93689c373abd3e286c19e2390d&th=1&psc=1&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696386561239&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8074268561504682183&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045367&hvtargid=pla-780409193883&psc=1&hvocijid=8074268561504682183-B07RXLF5XZ-&hvexpln=0&gadsource=1
It's a mesh network rather than an extender and works great in our garden office.

Personally I would just get an ethernet point out there.
More disruptive initially (although it entirely depends on the location of your hub in relation to the garage) but when done you have a guaranteed connection (and can keep the door shut!).

I have just done this using an EERO mesh system from Amazon strong signal where I had none before

We use the 'pod' supplied by virgin - it's a mesh not just an extender and works really well.

Thank you,have ordered one.

I use a different combination of TP link devices but I also have their Mesh system set up across three floors, the garage and a shed which is at least 30 odd metres from the back of the house. Tempted to see if I can extend it to the far ends of the garden.
Prior to that I had 30 yr old 100mb cable running down the garden and around the house which worked but these days Mesh is more capacity for less hassle.

Most TP Mesh devices allow you to run 5GHz and 2,4GHz bands in parallel which is great for allowing your household devices to operate on optimal bands but some “smart" devices cannot manage grouping if more than one band is available.

If you have a 1Gbit connection I would run ethernet and to a switched 1Gbit hub, and connect the computers via ethernet, so you can use the full bandwith of the connection.

If you need wi-fi add a wi-fi access point.

Either ethernet cable.

Powerline might work.

If you have line of sight, point to point network connection.