Best Way To Extend WiFi To A Garden Building

Whether your garden building is an office, pub shed or just a summer room, you will probably want a decent internet connection. While there are several ways to extend WiFi to your garden building, which is best?

In my opinion the best way to extend WiFi to a garden building is with a second WiFi router and an ethernet cable. Fit the second router in your garden building, then connect an ethernet cable to your main router and the new one. Instant WiFi in the garden building that is reliable and won’t drop off.

This is what I have recently done, and it works like a treat.

Table Of Contents

How Do I Get WiFi In My Pub Shed?

Obviously this applies to any garden building, but in my case it is a pub shed. Up until recently the signal from my house router has been reaching my pub shed.

It was enough to play music, which is all I need right now. However I was only getting a maximum of one bar on my tablet, which I use for the music.

Every now and then the signal would drop off and the music would stop. A little bit annoying, but it always came back within a few seconds.

This prompted me to seek out the best way to get a reliable WiFi signal in my bar. I basically asked myself the question ‘How Do I Get WiFi In My Pub Shed?‘

I recently posted about it, and in that post I researched the different ways to get a decent internet signal in any garden building.

After trying an easy method that didn’t work. This is what I ended up doing, and it works perfectly.

How To Extend WiFi To A Pub Shed

There is a little work involved, but nothing to difficult. The good thing is that it isn’t too expensive, but it works really well.

What You Will Need

• WiFi Router
• Cat 6 Ethernet Cable
• Cable Ties
• Cable Clips
• Silicone Sealant

Tools You Will Need

• Hammer Drill
• 400mm x 16mm Masonry Drill Bit
• 16mm wooden drill bit
• Small Hammer
• Side Cutters
• Screw Driver
• Electrical tape
• Long Thin Metal Rod

Extend Your WiFi

Here are the steps I used to get WiFi in my pub shed.

1. Using a hammer drill and 400mm long 16mm drill bit, I drilled a hole 20mm below where my telephone cable goes through the wall. This is where my telephone/broadband socket and router sit.
2. I use electrical tape to tape the ethernet cable to a long thin metal rod ( a wire coat hanger straightened ). Then feed this through the outer wall, cavity and inner wall. The ethernet cable is then ready to be plugged into the main router.
3. Run the ethernet cable using cable clips and/or cable ties the shortest viable route to your garden building. The first part of my route I used cable clips to fix the cable to the wall with a small hammer. The second part of the route I used cable ties to tie the ethernet cable to the already installed electrical cable going to my pub shed and clip the cable ties using side cutters. This part is easy because you follow the same route as the electrical cable.
4. Drill a hole through your garden building wall, I used a 16 mm drill bit because my pub shed is wooden. But use the appropriate drill for the material of your garden building.
5. Feed the ethernet cable through and run it along the wall using cable clips to the point you intend to place your second router.
6. Next connect the ethernet cable to the appropriate port on your main router, and the other end to the new router. Switch the new router on and you’re ready to go.
7. Connect your hardware (in my case a tablet) to your new router. This involves finding the new router in the available networks on your device. Once you find it, click on it and enter the password that is on the back of the new router, job done.
8. Finally, using some silicone sealant I seal around the ethernet cable where they go through the holes I drilled in the walls.

That is it, as soon as I connected my tablet to the new router my tablet had full signal, and it hasn’t dropped off yet.

There is a TP-Link Tether App that you can access and manage your router. You can either download it from an app store or scan the QR Code. The QR code is on the back of the router, as well as in the instructions too.

What Type Of Router Should I get?

When I was searching for the right product to do the job. The router that seems to be the most popular is the TP-Link AC1200 WiFi Router.

It has 3in1 functionality as a router, range extender or access point.

Router

The router is just what it says, you can use it as your main router in the house.

Range Extender

You can extend the range of your internet by connecting the TP-Link router to your main router wirelessly. I am not sure how effective this is with this particular product.

However before I got this router along with the ethernet cable, I did try another manufacturers range extender. It didn’t work for me and did nit extend the WiFi range to my pub shed.

Access Point

This is the set up I am using for my pub shed internet connection. Connect your main router via ethernet cable to the TP-Link AC1200 WiFi Router.

This is by far the best way to get a reliable internet connection in your garden building.

What Type Of Ethernet Cable Should I Get?

As my cable is run outside I needed to get an outdoor ethernet cable that is waterproof and UV proof. This is the one I got:

VOIETOLT Outdoor Cat 6 Ethernet Cable 40m, Waterproof Direct Burial LLDPE UV Jacket – 24AWG 10Gbps High Speed Gigabit Internet Network Cable – CCA, UTP with 40 Ties – Black.

It is an outdoor cable which is waterproof and for direct burial with a UV jacket. It also came with 40 black cable ties which is handy ( I used them all too).

Obviously the length of cable you will need depends on the distance between each router. It is best to measure the whole route before picking a cable length. This is an important point, there is nothing worse than guessing and then finding the cable to be too short.

My route measured around 38m, so I ordered a 40m cable which gave me a little spare to play with.

I already had cable clips and silicone sealant, but these are easy to source, just get the right size cable clips for the size of your ethernet cable.

Conclusion

So having originally tried a range extender to extend my WiFi to my pub shed, which didn’t work. I decided on a second router and ethernet cable.

I am glad I did because it works perfectly and I have had no drop off in signal at all. In fact it is just as strong in the pub shed as in the house.

I have connected my phone and laptop to the new router and they all get full signal in the pub shed. I will also be able to connect a TV to it, when I go down that route, and enjoy sport in my pub shed.

In my opinion using a second router in your garden building connected via ethernet cable is the best way to extend your WiFi to a garden building.

If you have any questions, then do pop them below and I will answer as soon as I can. Or if you have another system that is working for your, then do share it below for others to benefit.