Wifi extension

We’ve just moved to a new house which has a lodge in the garden which we’re thinking of making into a holiday let.
But all these modern holidaymakers are bound to want t’internet…
The lodge is about 100m from our house, which is where the phone connection is. I don’t want the guests to be on the same wifi as us, and I also don’t want to dig a trench to put a cable in.
So does anyone have any experience of those fancy beamed wifi thingies, like the Ubiquiti and the like? Dp they actually function as a high=powered wireless router, or do you need a sender and receiver plus separate wireless router?
Or is there a cheaper option?

If you have good 4g coverage maybe think about a 4g router. e.g.

You could try home plugs and a separate WiFi access point. If you do this, they may be able to access your network unless you take some precautions.

There is 4G coverage, but I’m not willing to pay £25.month for 10Gb - no doubt guests would be keen on downloading large volumes of filth which would cost me a fortune!
And home plugs won’t work - it’s a separate electricity supply. The lodge is 100m away from the house with a garage inbetween - so something like this would be ideal, though I don’t know if it’s overkill!
http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/products/16604-ubiquiti-locom5-kit/
The beauty of a device like that is that I can connect a separate router at the lodge end - we’d then have 2 separate wifi networks on our single phone line. Or would this be shitey and slow?

I think that would be fine.

One word of warning: if you have a modem router in the house, which is connected to this thingy, and then a WiFi access point, then they will have access to your network, and hence any NAS you have on it.

You could secure the NAS, create a separate network for yourself, or you may be able to tweak the router settings. But I suggest that you do something :slight_smile:

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Check the lodge, to see what kind of signal, you can get , from the house.
If you can get a signal of any kind, get an access point/repeater.
it will receive the signal from the house, rebroadcast it, and you can set it up, as secure as you want, with very limited access to your network.
This.

Just leave a big stash of jazz mags in the loft. Much cheaper.

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Alternatively, invest in a pair of fax machines.

Install one in the lodge and the other next to your computer, and simply print off and fax Web pages to the lodge every morning.

An added benefit being… you keep control. :slight_smile:

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what kind of lodge is it? How many bunk beds can it fit? Does it have a basement?

You can set it up with a payg data card. Advise guests that they have x gb data gratis and if they require more they can buy top-ups themselves.

I’ve had a couple of drinks now, and (re)read the thread title as “Wife extension”.

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The lodge is basically a 1 bed bungalow with sofa bed in the living room… No basement, apart from the secret one that guests who misbehave shall discover.
But if folks are paying a few hundred a week, they won’t want to pay for extra data, especially if I can piggy-back their t’internet off the one I’m already paying for!
As for the wife, she’s already had a loft extension and I’m planning an orangery round the back.

Decent broadband routers have Ethernet connectors that you can assign to separate VLANs to isolate them. You should be able to plug the extender into one of the sockets and set it up with its’ own VLAN so it can get internet access but not route packets onto your home network. Certainly my very aged Draytek router can do this.

The 100% infallible solution is 100m of CAT5, of course. I have no experience of the ubiquiti boxes, but they may be worth a punt depending on their cost versus how badly you don’t want to dig a trench.

Make a virtue of, Escape From It All, No Broadband.
And charge more.
Remove the electricery supply, get right back to basics and charge a hell of a lot more.

EE is £30/m for 64GB. Or 32GB on a 30 day contract.

I am highly dubious about the real-world capabilities vs published specs of these WiFi repeaters.

Are you a hifi dealer?

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That obvious?

Unfortunately, we search for our holiday cottages using a filter of WiFi available. I doubt we’re the only ones!

Less is the new more.
Marketed as a “Technology Detox Retreat” you’ll be coining it.

don’t forget the composting toilet.