Broadband in garden office

Hi,

I've just had a garden office built in the garden approx 20 metres away from the house. The router (BT smart hub) is located in the house and we currently use BT Unlimited Infinity 1 which has a speed of just 15Mb.

I trade stocks on the internet so broadband reliability/speed are paramount in the new office. Would it be best to get a telephone point in the garden office and plug the router into there or alternatively take a few ethernet cables from the router in the house to the garden office?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks

Wifi should reach over 20 metres (unless the HH is hidden behind thick walls) or you could try a set of those mains ethernet adapters (http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/dlink-500mbps-powerline-twin-pack-14-99-prime-18-98-non-prime-amazon-2502922)

Personally I would just get some ethernet cable and run it to the office - infact that's what I do do.

If the smarthub is near the wall facing the garden it will reach without any issues over WiFi.

Thanks for the replies...the walls are well insulated in the office so I might try a speedtest over wifi later on today. After receiving just 15mb of the 32mb "guaranteed" by BT I'm not left with any confidence in the WIFI signal over distance, despite Ryan Reynolds dangling from a helicopter with no loss.

Is that 15Mbps you are getting connecting wired or wirelessly to your Home Hub? Also, is the Home Hub plugged into the master socket or an extension socket?

In relation to that, please can you find the connection stats from your Home Hub. IIRC in Troubleshooting > Helpdesk. (You need to be logged into the router GUI). It may be necessary to do a couple of other checks once we get the answers to these questions .

Basically what I'm saying is we need to make sure you are getting the best possible connection speed in the first place. Poor speeds are very often down to not optimising the home wiring.

Once that is done, possibly an ethernet run inside the house to a socket convenient to run a single cable to the office inside wall, then connect the computer to that. Adding 20 metres or more to fit a phone socket in the office for it is the worst possible solution at the sort of speed you seem to have.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 07-Sep-16 12:42:25)

For trading stocks speed is less of a concern, the ping is the biggest concern as that is what causes the delays.
There will be most likely be a slight speed reduction over WiFi but trading a stock will use hardly any bandwidth anyway.

Otherwise, run an ethernet cable which is the best solution but of course involves hassle.

Another alternative could be to use an outdoor access point like a Ubiquiti Picostation mounted on the side of the house. You can use these as wifi repeaters or feed them via an ethernet cable. I've also used Ubiquiti LocoM's as powerful wifi receivers (in a caravan just out of range of the site office wifi) and that worked brilliantly too.

Not better than an ethernet cable but potential alternatives if you dont want to be digging trench through garden etc!

Edited by deleted (Wed 07-Sep-16 12:54:48)

If it's important, use an ethernet cable, every time.

I'd be loath to run Ethernet over copper between buildings, because of the possibility of different ground potentials and other related issues. If it was me, I'd buy a pre-terminated OM4 armoured fibre assembly with LC connectors (probably Steel Wire Armoured, which can be buried straight in the ground, though other armour options are available). You run the cable between the buildings, remove the end caps and click the individual fibres into LC-LC couplers inside a patch box or patch panel. I'd go for at least four fibres in the assembly, which gives you a second duplex pairs for redundancy.

Once the fibre is in place, you use OM4 LC-LC patch cables to connect to the optics. 1000Base-SX will be more than adequate for your needs; there's no point spending a fortune on a 10Gbit/s link, though the fibre itself is capable of 10Gbit/s. If you just want to connect a single device, you can get a media convertor, otherwise use switches with SFP ports for the 1000Base-SX SFP optics. These need not cost that much - I would shop around for the switches and SFPs.


The links are to Universal Networks, with which I have no connection other than as a satisfied customer.

I think the key here is to provide an appropriate solution.

I assume your 'office' has power. If so then the easiest solution might be this power line solution. In the office it provides both wired and wireless interfaces.

If you do go for an Ethernet cable don't use anything more than cat5e. If you use the shielded version make sure only one end is grounded. (probably the house end).

Don't put in more than one Ethernet cable and use a Ethernet switch / WiFi access point in the 'office'.

You need stability, a good quality reliable connection and low latency. That rules out WiFi and any form of mains carried signal.

It has to be either Ethernet over Cat5e/Cat6 - external quality or a fibre link.

As you can only get 15Mb then running a single cable and installing a small switch in the office should be adequate - trading does not take a massive amount of data even though it is continuous so provided the 15Mb copes then feeding several PCs on a 100Mb/1Gb link will be fine.

+1 to Ethernet solution

Also worth looking at the why its 15 Mbps on Infinity 1, i.e. where is the modem plugged in now, do any extensions have ring wires attached.

You will find often that there is a metal membrane, particularly in recent years.

My daughter has just had an extension added, so the membrane was very visible, whilst exposed.

This will attenuate WiFi particularly.

So I would recommend cabling, whether at the phone line level or better, Cat 6 Cabling.

Also run one or two spares simultaneously.

Edited by deleted (Wed 07-Sep-16 18:32:05)

In reply to a post by danga:

Thanks for the replies...the walls are well insulated in the office so I might try a speedtest over wifi later on today. After receiving just 15mb of the 32mb "guaranteed" by BT I'm not left with any confidence in the WIFI signal over distance, despite Ryan Reynolds dangling from a helicopter with no loss.

My dad does share trading over wifi and has no problems. He's only 10M from the router though

If the OP is connecting at under 20Mbps and there is nothing wrong with the house wiring configuration, and we assume the master socket is not on that garden wall, then using phone cable to get to the office is not a good idea.

As presumably wireless access in the house is also required, siting the router in the office doesn't come out tops either.

In reply to a post by David_W:

I'd be loathe to run Ethernet over copper between buildings, because of the possibility of different ground potentials and other related issues. If it was me, I'd buy a pre-terminated OM4 armoured fibre assembly with LC connectors (probably Steel Wire Armoured, which can be buried straight in the ground, though other armour options are available). You run the cable between the buildings, remove the end caps and click the individual fibres into LC-LC couplers inside a patch box or patch panel. I'd go for at least four fibres in the assembly, which gives you a second duplex pairs for redundancy.

Once the fibre is in place, you use OM4 LC-LC patch cables to connect to the optics. 1000Base-SX will be more than adequate for your needs; there's no point spending a fortune on a 10Gbit/s link, though the fibre itself is capable of 10Gbit/s. If you just want to connect a single device, you can get a media converter, otherwise use switches with SFP ports for the 1000Base-SX SFP optics. These need not cost that much - I would shop around for the switches and SFPs.


The links are to Universal Networks, with which I have no connection other than as a satisfied customer.

This is the best advice for your intended use, not only reliable but will also help you comply with FCA data security and protection requirements, along with providing stability and longevity of the connection.
Allied Telesis AT-MC13 series media converters are reliable and cost effective, last time I bought some they were circa £100 each for ST to Ethernet converters.

Edited by deleted (Wed 07-Sep-16 22:05:44)

Agreed

I was thinking of the Vapour Barrier metal membrane seen in many such structures in recent times (and the occasional metal netting to give grip for rough-casting), with regard to WiFi from the house.

Re the phone wire, it was to effectively extend the D-side to the Office with the NTE there; then working Etthernet connections back to the house, in the opposite direction to most of the present suggestions..

That way he would appear to get the most reliable BB connections in the Office, given his concerns.

Just been "hors de combat", hence briefness of my previous post.

My point was that extending the D-side by a minimum of 20m, and possibly 30m or more, using phone cable is likely to cause a considerable drop in sync if the line is only able to achieve 15Mbps.

The 15Mbps needs to be looked at as a priority. If the NTE5 is on an extension, with star siting and ring wires, just think what might be achievable .

Agreed tat the 15 Mbps needs sorting out -absolutely no doubts.

BT Infinity 1 seems to be going through a rough patch - I am trying to help sort out a similar problem at my daughter's.

The QLT is fine., the line length is about 340 Metres almost accurate, HH5, recent replacement for SKY.

The Down Load Sppeds vary from around 43 Mbps down to 24 Mps; but at both levels there are large saw-tooth variations of around +- 5 Mps.

Looks as though it may be congestion.