Need Advice on Network Hotspot Addition

[BraveSirRobbin]

I know that extending a network to a remote shop/garage has been discussed multiple times here, but I have a specific situation that needs a hotspot in a shop for my neighbor. He is using a brand of WiFi smartplugs that really need a strong network to work (they work great in his house).

Changing out to another brand of smartplugs is not an option.

We are having intermittent connections of a smartplug in a shop and I've tried different options in his home to help with this (move router upstairs, etc...). What I think I need is to just route an ethernet cable from the home to the shop and establish a wifi hotspot in that ship with this device (newer and supports 5 & 2.4 GHz networks).

My question is, when I establish this hotspot and connect the wifi smartplug in the shop with it; will it be on the same network so other (in the house) plugs/phone app can see it? What I don't want is a hotspot that established a new subnet that will not talk with the existing house network.

Thanks for any help as my networking prowess isn't as good as most members here!

 

[dwalt]

Something to consider.... Do the house and shop have separate electrical panels? If so they will have separate grounds. Its best to run fiber when connecting locations with different grounds.....

 

[Frunple]

Yes, it will be on the same network.
Only way it wouldn't be was if you used a router in between them.

 

[pete_c]

I've been testing powerline combo WAPs and now a POE powerline extender in the garage for POE IP cameras.

TP-Link Mostly. First generation Netgear tested many years ago burned up and crashed on me many many years ago. Current generation appears to be working well.

You can extend a WAP or just utilize a different SSID for the combo powerline WAP.

Another option is to utilize a powerline Ethernet extender to a tiny GliNet travel router with OpenWRT on it.

 

[pete_c]

BTW initial test was at my daughters home with a detached 3 car garage and workshop about 150+ feet or so from the back of the main house.
House sits on about 1-1.5 acres. There is a sub panel in the garage. One garage door has a myQ hub / GDO and 2nd garage door had an old Stanley GDO. No network cabling anywhere in the house.

They had the combo SOHO XFinity box in the front of the house furthest away from the garage. One powerline device was plugged in to the XFinity combo box and outlet nearby. The other side which is a 2 port Ethernet / WAP combo was plugged in to an outlet in the garage. Sync'd / connected via powerline with no issues. Decided to mount the device on the outlet over the GDO which worked. Added another device in the workshop.

MyQ connected fine to powerline WAP. I purchased another MyQ hub for house two. Again had issues with MyQ Wifi connecting to the Ruckus AP on the other side of the house. Used the same powerline WAP and it is working fine now.



You can purchase one from Amazon and test it. They have a 60 day return policy now for the holidays which will give you plenty of time to test. If it doesn't work then return it.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Interesting Pete. Did you use something like THIS or THIS?

I noticed in the comments that you need to have both units plugged into the 'same' phase (like the old X-10 days!) but you stated yours worked on an entirely different sub-panel correct?

I never thought about this option, but based on your experiences it sounds like something I'll look into with my neighbor. Good advice on being able to test it with Amazon's 60-day return policy!

Thanks for the info! Also, Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[pete_c]

First pair was the combo TP-Link purchased was this one which is Amazon Renewed which worked fine for my needs. Bought two more sets here.

TP-Link AV600 2-Port Powerline Gigabit Wi-Fi Adapter Kit, 2-Kit (TL-WPA4220 KIT)​

but you stated yours worked on an entirely different sub-panel correct?

Yes at my daughters house the detached garage had it's own subpanel.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Took a picture of the combo PL and AP in the garage yesterday at my daughters house / garage.

 

[keepersg]

I know that extending a network to a remote shop/garage has been discussed multiple times here, but I have a specific situation that needs a hotspot in a shop for my neighbor. He is using a brand of WiFi smartplugs that really need a strong network to work (they work great in his house).

Changing out to another brand of smartplugs is not an option.

We are having intermittent connections of a smartplug in a shop and I've tried different options in his home to help with this (move router upstairs, etc...). What I think I need is to just route an ethernet cable from the home to the shop and establish a wifi hotspot in that ship with this device (newer and supports 5 & 2.4 GHz networks).

My question is, when I establish this hotspot and connect the wifi smartplug in the shop with it; will it be on the same network so other (in the house) plugs/phone app can see it? What I don't want is a hotspot that established a new subnet that will not talk with the existing house network.

Thanks for any help as my networking prowess isn't as good as most members here!

I've been using TP-Link devices that are POE powered for several years to cover my large house network. Same network after it's set up correctly and devices switch seamlessly as you walk around the house.

 

[pete_c]

Did a test here with three PLC devices and 1 PLC Wireless device. All working fine. 2 of the garage devices have Amcrest dome cameras connected to them. Cameras work fine. In house two added one Wireless dual port device for two Amcrest PTZ cameras and one wireless in the garage connecting to a myQ hub and Tasmota Wireless switches. Working fine there too.

The two configurations have telco walls in the basement with a network connection to main house managed Gb combo POE switch.

The PLC utility is running in Windows 11 (slow running in W7 and W10 and W11).


The below web browser interface is much faster than the PLC utility.



A BTW when testing device #4 originally plugged it in to a wall surge protector. It did not connect to the powerline network. I had to plug it in to a regular outlet for the device to function.

 

[pete_c]

Status of PLC network in Sandbox house. Ended up using two wireless with 2 NIC port TP-Link devices for two cameras each. Rest have one camera and it works great here. Here is an overview. Wishing I could see the network with Ubuntu. Each device serves as a bridge to main LAN except for the WAPs which have their own IPs. Only using WAP in garage. Rest of the house is using Ruckus WAP.

 

[pete_c]

I had one of the two PLC/AP's drop out yesterday in Sandbox house. This one is being used for MyQ and new PT POE camera in Garage.

MyQ continued to work fine with the MyQ to HA add on.

Not sure what happened and I do not think there is anything wrong with device. Today will unplug and plug it back in and pair it with PLC network.

The camera has built in WiFi (disabled) and a NIC port. Will re-enable WiFi on IP camera as a fail over to the LAN port.

 

[pete_c]

Status: PLC combo 2 NIC and WLAN dropped out of the network again yesterday. Unplugged it and plugged it back in and it is up again.

Only lasted up 3 days. That said returning it to Amazon and ordered a replacement today. None of the other combo and one NIC devices have done this so guessing that maybe it is a hardware issue.