You can arrange WiFi in the garden

When the weather is nice, the garden is the best place to sit. Top up your tan or just cool off in the shade, eat outside together and enjoy the evening sun. It becomes even more fun when you can enjoy endless Netflix and streaming music undisturbed, just like at home. And that is often disappointing, because you have no or poor WiFi range outdoors. It doesn't have to stay that way, because you can arrange WiFi in the garden like this.

In the summer you don't just want to enjoy a good wireless network signal indoors, but also outdoors. When it comes to Wi-Fi, the area around the house is often still unexplored territory, where streaming media often does not work or does not work and mobile devices unnoticed switch to 4G and therefore use the data bundle. When installing the wireless network, you probably mainly looked at the network signal in the house. That had to be good, the garden was usually not thought of.

In most gardens, you as a user hitch a ride on the WiFi signal that happens to be available there. The speed is often too low to really use Netflix or Spotify undisturbed and often it only causes irritation because devices connect, but you can't actually use the network. The latter is perhaps even worse than not having Wi-Fi, because we all keep trying anyway. In this article we discuss different ways to still have a good WiFi signal in the garden.

Wi-Fi and your router

An important factor in the quality of the wireless network signal in and around the house is the wireless router. That router is often several years old and lacks support for the latest standards and techniques, such as multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output technology (MU-MIMO) and beamforming. The last two are especially important. MU-MIMO makes a router more suitable for communicating with multiple devices at once, while beamforming ensures that the signal focuses on the devices on the network. This improves the signal and reduces errors, making the wireless network more usable inside, but possibly also outside the house. Perhaps even better suited for online gaming and streaming media.

New WiFi Standards

Routers with the 802.11a/b/g standard do not actually support new technologies. 802.11n was the first Wi-Fi version with support for MU-MIMO, but it never really became usable, because all manufacturers mainly came up with their own versions for lack of uniform standards. And that is never a fruitful idea in network land. MU-MIMO only really matured with 802.11ac and also in combination with beamforming. Partly because of this, the latest routers have a maximum speed that is many times higher than older routers. Compatible devices, such as most new smartphones and tablets, will benefit from the higher speed and more stable connection with a newer router. This is important for the wireless signal in the house, but certainly also outside.

Replace router

If you already have a mediocre signal at home, it won't be much better outdoors. Then it quickly pays off to replace the router with a newer one. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Depending on the provider and your internet subscription, you may have received your modem on loan or it may also work as a modem. Picking up the phone and complaining about the speed of the outdated device can sometimes help to get a new router sent for free.

Another option is to have the router put in bridge mode by the internet service provider or to use the DMZ and then place a new router behind it yourself. This is especially relevant with internet via TV cable, such as with Ziggo, where the router is also the modem. In bridge mode, the wifi turns off, as do router functions such as dhcp, nat and the firewall, while you bypass those via the dmz. This makes it possible to connect a new router to the old one and use its full functionality. The WiFi signal improves due to the functionality and capacity of the new router.

Please note: if the old router is in bridge mode, the public IP address of the internet connection is located on the WAN port of the new router and you will also receive full WiFi and LAN (firewall) security on that device. have to arrange. You should also do this if your own router is in the dmz of the router of your internet provider.

Obstacles

To improve the wireless network in the garden, it is useful to know which factors negatively affect your WiFi signal. The Wi-Fi signal is a radio wave that loses energy as it spreads through the air. As a result, there is a maximum range of the signal, although you can increase this considerably with a better antenna with more power. The strength of a wireless router's signal is limited by law, partly to prevent an unwanted competition between manufacturers. They have to innovate in a different way than by increasing the wattage.

In homes, the wireless signal of the router mainly loses energy because of the obstacles in its path, such as walls and ceilings. For outdoor Wi-Fi, think of HR glass as an important bump. It consists of several layers and has a thin metal layer on the inside of one of them that keeps the heat inside. That same layer also hinders the WiFi. Metal wall coverings, which have been trendy for several years, also have a negative impact on the Wi-Fi signal and the same applies to water. Fortunately, this mainly applies to the water in an aquarium near the router and not to the water in the inflatable pool in the garden.

2.4 and 5 GHz, and range

Modern routers use two frequency bands for the wireless network. The 2.4Ghz band is the oldest used. This band has the advantage that the signal passes through walls and other obstacles most easily. Although this frequency band has the largest range, it also has the lowest speed. The 5GHz band is much faster than the 2.4GHz band, but has a much shorter range. The coverage problem has therefore become larger rather than smaller with this new tire. The easy-to-use solution that most suppliers have come up with for this is working with multiple transmitters in a so-called multi-room or mesh system.

Moving the Router

In addition to the technology in the router, the location of the router also influences the wireless internet in and around the house. How many walls does the signal have to pass before it reaches the garden? Or are there so many that the signal does not even reach the garden? In many cases, the wireless router is the only access point in the house and it is centrally placed to provide good WiFi in the house, not the garden.

An obvious solution to get a better signal in the garden is to move the router towards the garden. That works: indeed the garden will then be better within range of the router and the quality of the signal will increase. Apart from the challenge of connecting the router to its new location, moving it also affects the Wi-Fi coverage in the house. Parts of the house that were already further from the router or separated by more walls will lose signal. That's not handy.

Often the location of the router is fixed and a technician has connected the device there because the signal enters the home there. That point, technicians speak of the infrastructure peripheral point (isra) or subscriber transfer point (aop), is fixed and is often an unfavorable place for the wireless signal, such as a meter cupboard or corner of the house where the coax, telephone or fiber optic cable has been brought in and the modem has been hung up. No matter how unfavorable the current location of the router may be, considerable distances can be bridged with a network cable, making it often possible to give the router a different location or to take it outside when the weather is nice.

Design issue

There is another reason why the router is not always in the best place, but is tucked away in a meter cupboard or behind a couch. That is, not every router is immediately a jewel for the living room. Routers are often ungainly, black and sometimes also equipped with a large number of oversized antennas. They also guarantee a colorful visual spectacle with all the flashing LEDs. Only recently, and especially among the makers of the multi-room or mesh systems, does attention seem to be paid to a quieter design that fits better in the interior.

Old router as access point

Multiroom or mesh systems combine multiple transmitters into a smart system, which you configure for all transmitters at once. The downside is that they are not cheap. If you want a cheap solution, see if you have an old router that can also be used as an access point. That's the ideal: all router functions are switched off and with a few clicks you have an extra transmitter in the network. You can connect the WAN port of the second router to the LAN port of your primary router. If the router does not support this, disable the DHCP server of the second router. Connect a LAN port on the additional router to a LAN port on the existing router.

As far as the wireless configuration is concerned, there are a few possibilities. You can configure your own WiFi on the second router. You can also deploy the same network as on the main router. Both are possible and have pluses and minuses. Make sure the second router uses a different channel than the main router to avoid conflicts. Depending on how smart the devices you connect to the outdoor WiFi are, you will have to connect separately outside. A seamless handover in which a smartphone automatically switches from one channel to another is often difficult in practice.

More channels

If it is not possible to move the router towards the garden, another solution is needed. There are several solutions for this. They all have one thing in common, at least one channel is added. This can be an extra router, whether or not in the role of access point, a separate access point or a WiFi mesh system that combines a router with one or more access points. Wi-Fi mesh systems in particular have become very popular in recent years. Almost all Wi-Fi mesh systems work with an app for configuration and management, and when you walk around your house, you always connect to the access point with the strongest signal.

Power via PoE

The advantage of a multi-room system such as the Orbi is that it uses one network ssid within which you can move freely as a user. If you walk from outside to inside or vice versa, the devices you carry with you switch effortlessly from one transmitter to the other. Unfortunately, Orbi does not support Power over Ethernet (PoE), so a power outlet is always required. In addition, the outdoor satellite must be within range of the Orbi network. This limitation does not apply when using a separate outdoor access point, which you connect via a network cable. If the access point supports Power over Ethernet, no further connection is required except for the network cable, provided it is connected to a suitable PoE switch.

Powerline

If you have a wall socket in the garden, then powerline is also an option. This system uses existing power lines as the basis for the network signal. This always requires at least two powerline adapters. You connect one to the router via a network cable and plug it into a socket, while you plug the other into a socket elsewhere in the house or garden to create a network connection or WiFi access point. According to the specifications, a set of powerline adapters can make a network connection up to 400 meters away. In any case, the signal reaches further through the domestic power grid than a network cable can.

An obstacle in the application of this technique can still be the connection over different power groups. A washing machine often has its own group, and lighting and equipment in a veranda or garden house is usually also installed as a separate group. In the worst case, no connection is possible at all in such a case, in the worse case the connection is not stable. If this problem occurs, move the powerline adapter that is connected to the router around the house and try to get a good connection through a different socket. The network signal does not have to come directly from the router either. Connecting to a network switch elsewhere in the house is also quite possible.

Powerline with WiFi

There is a huge range of powerline adapters and more importantly, the better ones are increasingly becoming real network devices and are highly configurable. Anyone who has ever made a point-to-point connection with two early powerline adapters will be amazed at the possibilities. Every powerline adapter is equipped with a network connection, so you can connect a wired access point to it. There are also powerline adapters with built-in WiFi technology, so that you can provide the entire house with a multi-room WiFi system with a set of a few adapters. What is still limited is the range of weather and water resistant adapters for outdoor use. An exception is the Devolo Outdoor WiFi Powerline Adapter BEGA.

Enough choice

No barbecue needs to take place in silence this summer, any more than relaxing on the lounge sofa in the garden without Spotify or Netflix. The number of options for having good Wi-Fi outside the house and being able to use it to the full is large and sufficiently mature to use now. Moreover, it does not have to be expensive. Anyone who does not want to spend a lot of money on this can in many cases also achieve a much better signal in the garden with existing hardware and some interventions in the cabling. If you really want perfect and fast wireless coverage, a special access point for outdoors is the ultimate solution.

Outdoor Mesh - Netgear Orbi Outdoor

A feature of these multi-room WiFi systems is the ability to add additional satellites for better WiFi in the attic or shed. What was missing for a long time were extensions for outside, but these are also available for Netgear's Orbi system. If it falls within the range of the Orbi network, the RBS50Y can easily be connected to the existing Orbi system via the Sync button on the back of the access point or via the Orbi app. Because the RBS50Y is usually located outdoors, and hanging material is included, the coverage of the WiFi in the garden increases significantly.

Orbi uses an additional 1700 Mbit/s 5Ghz network for communication between the satellites and the router. This is the backbone for all real network traffic. Smartphone and tablets connect to the satellites via the user-configurable WiFi. The performance is therefore very good and comparable to the excellent Orbi RBK50. There are also disadvantages. For example, the Orbi Outdoor does not have LAN ports like all other Orbi satellites, so it is not possible to also connect devices with a network cable to the satellite. More importantly: the RBS50Y can therefore not optionally be provided with network and electricity via PoE.

Netgear Orbi Outdoor (RBS50Y)

269 ​​euros

Website

www.netgear.nl/orbi 8 Score 80

• Pros
• Weatherproof
• Works perfectly with existing Orbi set
• Stable WiFi connection
• User friendly
• Fixing material

• Negatives
• No lan ports
• Price
• No PoE

Outdoor AP - Ubiquiti UniFi AP AC Mesh Pro

An example of an access point for outdoor use is the UniFi AP AC Mesh Pro from Ubiquiti. This 802.11ac access point can be placed or hung anywhere in the garden where the network cable can reach. And not only does this allow a considerably greater distance to the house (Ethernet supports a maximum of 100 meters), a wired backbone offers more speed and stability than the same connection via a wireless network. Depending on your client, speeds of 400 Mbit/s are perfectly possible.

The UniFi AP AC Mesh Pro is part of Ubiquiti's UniFi series of products. This is a comprehensive network system with separate firewalls, routers, switches and access points that can be configured and managed via one central management station with an associated app. It is especially popular with users with a semi-professional interest in networking. The management software is free and can also be installed on a NAS or Raspberry Pi, but Ubiquiti also offers its own management stations with the Cloudkey Gen 1 and Gen 2. Ubiquiti also has other access points that can be hung outside.

Ubiquiti UniFi AP AC Mesh Pro

199 euros

Website

//unifi-mesh.ui.com 8 Score 80

• Pros
• Weatherproof
• Integrates with existing Unifi network
• Stable WiFi connection
• Fixing material
• Power via PoE

• Negatives
• Price

Powerline - devolo Outdoor WiFi Powerline adapter

The devolo Outdoor WiFi Powerline adapter BEGA is equipped with a very robust 4.5 meter power cable. This allows the powerline adapter to be connected to a socket in the house or in the outside wall of the house, and the access point can still be placed quite a distance into the garden. The dark housing has no visible LED and buttons, which are all hidden under a lid. This makes the unit completely invisible in the garden. If the network signal is tapped outside under a roof, a regular powerline adapter could also suffice. In all other cases, this Devolo is a godsend.

In combination with another adapter from Devolo (this is always necessary because the Outdoor unit does not have a network connection) and especially the Devolo Home Network app, the Outdoor unit can be quickly integrated into an existing powerline network. You can create a separate WiFi network, set up a guest network, but you can also clone an existing regular WiFi. The security options meet all needs and optionally the Wi-Fi can be switched on and off according to a schedule. The only downside is the speed, count on about 50 Mbit/s. In practice, this is more than sufficient for streaming media in the garden, but less quickly than the other solutions.

devolo Outdoor WiFi Powerline adapter (BEGA)

169 euros

Website

www.devolo.nl/dlan-wifi-outdoor 7 Score 70

• Pros
• Weatherproof
• Integrates with Devolo powerline network
• Stable WiFi connection
• User-friendlyv

• Negatives
• No lan ports
• No confirmation options
• Speed
• Second Devolo powerline adapter required (not included)

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