Oops - found one..but it's TP Link.... ??
https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-EAP1...n-Controller/dp/B07CG3YRTR/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-EAP1...n-Controller/dp/B07CG3YRTR/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
WIFI outside
- Thread starter GOS
- Start date
Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:
Crap...hadn't thought about the need for power......hmmmm.
200m range
, you would need to get the passive power inserter with it as well, but that would make fixing it up outside a lot easier as you only need to route the Ethernet cable. You plug the APs Power supply into the inserter, and cable the output to the AP, and take a cable from the input side back to the switch/router.For what it's worth (maybe nothing!), I've used switches and routers and even hubs (for my fellow antiques) by Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, Asus and TP-Link. I've tended to buy somewhat fancy routers and cheap, unmanaged switches. They all worked fine out of the box. After many years, some are still running 24/7 while some have failed and been replaced.
I've never encountered a piece of networking hardware that started out as junk. Literally the only difference I've noticed between them is longevity, and even then I haven't noticed a clear pattern. Even the less long-lived ones lasted for years.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that no matter what you do, you'll probably wind up with something that works for you.
Other options you might explore in your situation are power line adaptors (sends ethernet through your electrical wiring) and range extenders (picks up your existing wifi near the end of its effective range and retransmits it). I have no experience with either, but know there are happy customers.
TP-Link seems to be very low on the price list. I've had one of their switches for several years now with no complaints.
I've never encountered a piece of networking hardware that started out as junk. Literally the only difference I've noticed between them is longevity, and even then I haven't noticed a clear pattern. Even the less long-lived ones lasted for years.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that no matter what you do, you'll probably wind up with something that works for you.
Other options you might explore in your situation are power line adaptors (sends ethernet through your electrical wiring) and range extenders (picks up your existing wifi near the end of its effective range and retransmits it). I have no experience with either, but know there are happy customers.
TP-Link seems to be very low on the price list. I've had one of their switches for several years now with no complaints.
My switch, access point and cat6 cables came yesterday......they are all installed and everything worked right out of the box. Heck, it was 100% plug and play...geez. Couldn't be simpler.
And, I now have killer wifi outside...clear out to my property line with a full signal. Fast too! Whoop
And, I now have killer wifi outside...clear out to my property line with a full signal. Fast too! Whoop
Sorry I was out of town but looks like you got it all sorted.
The only comment I would have made is in the list of switches you provided, the first one it fine, the middle one is junk and the third one would have been my choice because it supports POE so you can use it to provide power to your access point reducing cable clutter to it.
The only comment I would have made is in the list of switches you provided, the first one it fine, the middle one is junk and the third one would have been my choice because it supports POE so you can use it to provide power to your access point reducing cable clutter to it.
As it turns out, my access point came with a power source...which I didn't know. But yeah......it all worked out just fine.
MUSIC432HZHEALS
New member
wifi is not the way
OK, I'm curious. What is the way?
Wired will almost always be faster and more reliable, even if the speed increase doesn't have a practical benefit for every application. But with so many devices out there that ONLY work wirelessly or would be painful to use wired, WiFi is a necessary evil. And for some (many? most?) it works just fine. Fundamentally, there's just a lot more that can go wrong with wireless than with wired, but that doesn't mean that everyone will have those problems.
The only two forums I routinely hang out on are this one and another dedicated to the Logitech Squeezebox. Whenever someone on the latter posts some version of "I'm having a problem with..." it seems like the most common root cause is wireless networking. I had to string a cable to hard-wire my kitchen Squeezebox to the network because trying to run it wirelessly meant the music would die whenever I used the microwave oven. Come to think of it, years and years ago it also used to die when I used an older cordless landline phone. I'd completely forgotten about that until just now.
I'm curious Gene, have you tried just putting a wireless router next to a window to see if the signal can get through?
I also mainly use wired connections; when we bought our new house around 2003, I had the builder run Cat5 cables throughout and it's been great. I do use wireless for some things like our laptops / Apple ipads / phones; and I use an extender halfway in the house to reach the other end and have had little problems with that. I remember reading somewhere that fluorescent lighting/transformers can cause some wi-fi disturbance but don't know if that's true or not?
Just some chime in ramblings
I also mainly use wired connections; when we bought our new house around 2003, I had the builder run Cat5 cables throughout and it's been great. I do use wireless for some things like our laptops / Apple ipads / phones; and I use an extender halfway in the house to reach the other end and have had little problems with that. I remember reading somewhere that fluorescent lighting/transformers can cause some wi-fi disturbance but don't know if that's true or not?
Just some chime in ramblings
<snarky comment removed>
Yes, at same bandwidth cable > wireless.
Wi-fi for external network is absolutely the way unless you want to install external cabinetry, pull and bury ethernet and power cables.
More importantly, it is what GOS was asking about.
OK - so as many know, I have everything hooked up and working. Almost right away, I now notice my internet in the house is quite a bit slower. I don't understand this really. Inside, my laptop is hardwired directly to my router...which is hardwired directly to the modem. No change there.
Why would adding the switch and access point outside impact speed of my laptop?
Why would adding the switch and access point outside impact speed of my laptop?
It should have no effect as switches route point to point, so your laptop has the same bandwidth as before via the router/modem.
You have set the access point to use WPA2 encryption with a reasonable access code length? If not the only thing I can think of is someone has hacked in via the access point and is using your broadband!
I dunno. I didn't have to set anything. As I mentioned earlier.....it was plug and play. Worked right out of the box...with nothing to set. Well, the very first thing I did was set my SSD, username and password. Well, maybe it's placebo. But, when I checked speedtest.net, it was down 35-40 Mbps compared to normal. I checked it because I had noted websites were loading slower.
Maybe I'll go reboot my modem, etc. Hadn't tried that yet. But, it's good to hear you say that I shouldn't notice any difference in speed on my laptop.
Had a thought. Did you use your laptop outside via the new Access Point? It may be still connecting via the wi-fi and not the ethernet, which would give you a speed like that.I dunno. I didn't have to set anything. As I mentioned earlier.....it was plug and play. Worked right out of the box...with nothing to set. Well, the very first thing I did was set my SSD, username and password. Well, maybe it's placebo. But, when I checked speedtest.net, it was down 35-40 Mbps compared to normal. I checked it because I had noted websites were loading slower.
Maybe I'll go reboot my modem, etc. Hadn't tried that yet. But, it's good to hear you say that I shouldn't notice any difference in speed on my laptop.
Quickest test is to pull the new switch and AP to see if the performance returns. There are a few reasons a new switch may be impacting performance.
DuncanS point is a good one though. Your laptop may be attempting to use the wireless even though it has a wired connection. Just turn wireless off on your laptop to test if that is the issue.
Make sure you don't have a guest wifi enabled. You would have never noticed it outside before but it will be readily available now that you added the AP and may have foreign devices on it. Disable it, or secure it if you want another SSID.
You swapped out a ton of cable. It is possible one of them has a defect and is causing an issue between a pair of devices, switches in your case. Perhaps your laptop if you swapped it also. You can always test by swapping in the CAT5 cables you were using and worked.
It may be an unrelated provider issue that is causing you fits.
Your main switch should allow you to see performance, see if any device is hammering your network.
DuncanS point is a good one though. Your laptop may be attempting to use the wireless even though it has a wired connection. Just turn wireless off on your laptop to test if that is the issue.
Make sure you don't have a guest wifi enabled. You would have never noticed it outside before but it will be readily available now that you added the AP and may have foreign devices on it. Disable it, or secure it if you want another SSID.
You swapped out a ton of cable. It is possible one of them has a defect and is causing an issue between a pair of devices, switches in your case. Perhaps your laptop if you swapped it also. You can always test by swapping in the CAT5 cables you were using and worked.
It may be an unrelated provider issue that is causing you fits.
Your main switch should allow you to see performance, see if any device is hammering your network.
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