Like a lot of people I imagine, I expect my backyard to be the main outdoor space I’ll be in for the foreseeable future and I’d love to be able to work there while staying on my home network. Unfortunately the only real place for my modem and router is on the opposite corner of the house. I tried using a cheap Wifi extender, but it doesn’t seem to be any better at getting through the external walls as my primary router is.
Does anyone have any suggestions, mesh-based or otherwise for getting wifi outdoors?
Same. One of my goals with my Eero setup was to cover our backyard and front yard seating areas and it’s worked well. I have three full radios but most forum users report doing okay with the beacons. You could accomplish the same with any other well reviewed mesh network (Orbi, etc.)
As far as placement, you’ll want to position a unit near windows and upstairs, if that’s an option. I have my upstairs unit on an end table opposite the windows in a bedroom and it gets through brick just fine.
I also recommend running Ethernet through your house so you can centrally position your main router. If you have a basement, it might be easier to go into the floor, across the basement ceiling and then up into the target room.
FWIW, I had the same problem. Tried extenders, didn’t help much. Finally purchased 2 Google WiFi routers (TP-Link and Asus) to try out several years ago. Solved the problem and more.
FYI, my property isn’t huge, about 1/2 acre. I get very strong signal and very good speed in all areas of the property. Have a gigablast service, and am getting about 550 Mbs in the backyard.
Not sure which model is being sold these days, but both of these AC-1900 have been very good
Another hat-tip to Eero. My router is on the other side of the house in room with brick walls – thanks to the two Eero hops from the yard to the router, the signal is always strong and reliable. Look for a mesh setup – Eero is not the only option.
To address the comment just below this: the Eero that provides backyard coverage is inside the house next to a window overlooking the yard. Spreads signal well into the yard. I would think most folks figure that sort of thing out.
I have the Ubiquity AmpiFy and put another mesh point out on our covered patio. #problemsolved My only other option was to run an Ethernet cable through the attic and mount and access point to the soffit so I took the easy way out.
In Australia Eero is not sold, but I’ve achieved good blanket coverage of my house, front yard and back yard with 3 Google Wifi pucks, all within the home.
Former network guy here: If you want to fiddle and have lots of control over your network then look into Ubiquity’s stuff. If you want something that just works with minimal configuration (and a minimal number of options) then I think you can’t go wrong with Eero. Other WiFi mesh systems are probably pretty good too, but I don’t have any experience with them. I went with Eero and have been very happy.
Not trusting Eero since they’ve been bought. I’m using a Netgear Orbi mesh network in a house that is very tricky to cover and it works flawlessly. They have weather-proof stations as far as I know.
I’m another user of Eero, have been for quite a few years. I wasn’t happy about Amazon buying them either, but I was already committed. I don’t trust Google any more than Amazon and have had issues with Netgear in the past, so a little gun shy there.
As far as coverage goes, mine is excellent throughout the house and yard.
My broadband provider added repeaters for my home that extended coverage perfectly to outside areas. They even checked the quality throughout with a scanner to make sure it was fine. I’ve never had a problem since.
Maybe your provider will do the same for you. It can’t hurt to call. It was a free service that was part of my subscription (I use Vodafone), and they did not charge anything for the repeaters nor extra on the monthly charge.
Plus another one for Eero. We bought the 3 Eero pack and the one closest to the back of the house transmits through an external brick wall, a conservatory and to the bottom of the garden about 10m away from the house.
Also Amazon in the UK spread the cost over 5 months.
My previous setup of an Airport Extreme and Airport Express didn’t even cover my Daughter’s bedroom at the back of the house, despite the Apple Express being about 3m away.
I went down that path too, years ago. Then tried with a series of wireline ethernet tied to Airport Express units. Lousy service and cutouts with each of those methods
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I have been looking at this as well. The NetGear Orbi mesh system has a weatherproof outdoor module. I was interested in Eero until they were bought by Amazon. I currently use powerline ethernet from NetGear, but the bandwidth is pretty low.
I have an orbi mesh network. I put one of the satellite near a back window, so that there is sufficient wifi in our garden. Works fine. Orbi also do an outdoor satellite which i thought about, but don’t need. https://www.netgear.co.uk/orbi/rbs50y.aspx
If you like to tinker, check out Uniquiti UniFi stuff. That’s what I use on my house.
If you want something that just works, I would go with Netgear Orbi. I’ve installed it for several family members and they work great. They also have an outdoor module if required.
Also don’t have Eero here (South Africa) so I went with Ubiquity’s Amplify system and it works perfectly. Since the fibre is not very fast anyway (200/200) I opted for the cheapest and easiest version which is the Amplifi Instant (https://amplifi.com/instant). Works as advertised and I will buy it again.
For outdoor coverage I just made sure the units were near the outside wall.