Not THAT router, THIS router

[sunnybob]

yup, I'm actually asking a question about internet routers, just in case we have an expert in the room.

First the background;
I have 2 TV's in seperate locations.
1 is inside the house for winter use.
1 is outside for summer use.
I have 1 android entertainment box which I want to move twice a year between the two TV's.
I have microwave signal incoming to the router from a roof dish as I have no landline.

My local supplier "expert" says I have to pay him to come each time to switch the wires over on the roof (der boss says I cant climb on the roof any more) so I can move the router inside or out because we cant have two cables permanently connected to the dish (he says).

I feel there should be a way of just fitting a switch inside the house so I can just flip it when I need to move the router.

Yes? No?

And no, I cant leave the router where it is and use bluetooth (too much rebar in the building), or even wall socket plug in repeaters (they are on different circuits).
And the run is too far and across rooms and through doorways so I cant just use an extension cable

 

[MikeG.]

Woodworking forum.

Router.

It seemed so obvious when I opened the thread.

 

[Mrs C]

How’s about WiFi extenders that run through the mains? I used them in our old house and they worked fine.

 

[Marineboy]

The OP said that inside/outside are on different circuits so the extenders won’t work.

The only other way I can see is to use an Ethernet cable but the OP seems to have ruled this out due to distance etc.

 

[Trevanion]

I don't think Wireless repeaters run through the mains, I recently did one that the router ran on a different circuit to the outbuilding I put the repeater in and it worked just fine. It just picks up the wireless signal and throws it out again.

 

[Marineboy]

Wouldn’t the building issues (ie lots of rebar) rule out a wireless solution?

 

[jimmy_s]

I had problems with wireless signal here as our house is quite long and we struggled to get a wireless signal to one end in particular. I tried the plug in repeaters and didn't have much luck - they kept loosing signal.

I ended up getting a couple of Ubiquiti wireless access points and have wired these to the router. These work quite well. Ubiquiti supply a number of models of wireless access points including an external model I recall. I think this would sort your issue.

Jimmy

 

[SteveF]

I assume that moving the router requires additional cabling?
how will this be done?
can you not put a network switch in the attic and leave both cables connected?
or 2 network points in the attic
1 running to each location
unless this is an f type connection in which case you should be able to get a splitter and leave both connected
Steve

 

[mbartlett99]

When we switch regions on the yachts I work on we have to switch cables too. Sometimes someones thought about it and run all the cables below decks so we do our cable swapping in comfort not up the mast. Can't see why you couldn't do the same.

 

[Droogs]

I assume that moving the router requires additional cabling?
how will this be done?
can you not put a network switch in the attic and leave both cables connected?
or 2 network points in the attic
1 running to each location
unless this is an f type connection in which case you should be able to get a splitter and leave both connected
Steve

+1 for the above.

Bob would help if you could if yyou could list the kit you are using

Actually I have a netgear router you can have Bob and use that as an extender and yes I know your in Cyprus and happy to pay postage

 

[Nelsun]

From what I understand you have:

A receiver dish with one network socket and two network cables: one run into near the TV in the house and the other near to a TV outside. You move the router between TVs and connect the android box to the router?

If the dish only has a single network socket then that has to go to your router. Most routers will have ~4 additional network sockets round the back. Could you place the router somewhere your two inside and outside network cables can reach? It may not be practical if such a place isn't readily accessible (for the switch-it-off-and-on-again dance we all do).
If not then an option would be to buy a wee network switch / hub, place it somewhere safe the inside and outside cables can both reach and then run another network cable from the switch/hub to one of the router sockets.

The main gotcha I can see is that the inside / outside cables you have in place go to the outside dish... not a great place to put a mains powered network switch. Could they be re-routed to be inside the roofspace?

Personally, I'd avoid wireless repeaters (they work... until they don't... then they do... yada yada) unless you're wanting to splash out on some of the newer "mesh" devices. These aren't cheap (you need at least two) but they do give you much better signals all around the home with a lot less hassle. I digress #-o

Switches

 

[sunnybob]

too many replies to answer individually.......

A bit more information.
This house is made from reinforced concrete. all floors, ceilings, wall corners and cross beams and flat roof. Tons of rebar everywhere making an almost perfect faraday cage. Any kind of wi fi repeater is out.
The inside wire is run from the dish down through the old TV cable conduit, which is one x 16 mm electrical trunking plastic tube through the concrete roof into an upstairs bedroom, where it then splits off into all the other TV sockets. This is our indoor (winter) system.
All trunking is buried in the solid brick walls and concrete.
This year I built a large outdoor pergola (blog link in my signature) and made a dedicated TV box so we can watch tv through the 6 month summer.

As this was not in the original plans, there is no way of running a cable inside from one to the other. A separate cable was run down the outside of the house straight from the dish.

What I asked the man to do was run one cable down to the bedroom space, fit a changeover switch, and run a cable back up to the roof and then down the outside, leaving the inside cable in place.

His answer was it could not be done, but I doubt his competence, because he told me that the cable not being used would still draw power from the transformer and I would lose the signal.
This is not my area of expertise, but I call foul on that statement.

So I have to pay him 30 euro to come and unplug one wire and plug the other in every 6 months.
I want to have those two cables switchable, by me, from the inside of the house.

I need someone to tell me ;
A/ can I have what I want?
B/ if the answer to A is yes, what do I need to buy to make it happen?

 

[sunnybob]

Woodworking forum.

Router.

It seemed so obvious when I opened the thread.

Mike, the clue was in the title... #-o
I even put in "off topic"#-o =D> =D>

 

[LancsRick]

I don't know the layout of your house so here are a few options you can do, with assumptions. I'm not sure what your cabling layout is, so I don't know what your guy means when he talks about the transformer, but if you don't connect one of the cables then there will be no power drawn, he's talking rubbish. Whether you have issues with signal reflection I don't know, satellite frequency comms isn't my speciality.

1) Run a cable from the outside point to the inside point, just as a connection you would normally make to the router for any old device. This would be my preferred option as it keeps a single run from your dish to the router, and cables could easily be run with some wall chasing and an SDS drill. Ethernet cable is perfect for this.
2) If it is a satellite connection you're on, I will assume that you have an F-type connector on a coax cable coming from your roof. You can either do (1), or put a splitter in the loft and run both cables from that splitter. You may need to ensure only one cable is connected to your router at a time, otherwise you're probably going to get issues with reduced signal power.
3) Local the router in your roof space (assuming it is accessible via loft or similar) and run ethernet to both indoor and outdoor locations. Caveat here that if your roof space gets blistering hot during the summer (you're in Cyprus if I remember right?) then you might run into overheating issues.

 

[sunnybob]

Rick, the whole house is reinforced concrete. Aint no chasing gonna happen. :roll:

Due to the above, I dont have a loft or roof space (even if I did, the temps up there would easily top a 100c in the summer). I do have a sloped tiled roof,mainly for effect, but no access to the space between it and the flat concrete roof.
I have the single 16 mm pipe between the dish and the house. But the point is that I CAN have a switch.
Once I have confirmed that point, i can find someone to get up on the roof and wire it the way I wanted it in the first place.
Now I just need someone to point me in the direction of the correct switch. :wink: :wink:

 

[SteveF]

Hi Bob

is the router in the upstairs bedroom?
does it have a spare RJ45 \ cat5 \ 6 port?
if so then dump the cable that is run from the roof to pergola
replace that with an external cat 6 cable from bedroom, up through the 16mm conduit and down to pergola
you will then have a permanent connection to all TVs

Steve

 

[sunnybob]

Steve, I almost understand that. I think you might have solved it for me.
At the moment, I am having to move the router AND the box between both downstairs locations.

I think youre telling me to move the router to the bedroom where the cable comes in from the dish.
Then I can run one cable to the downstairs inside, and one cable to the downstairs outside, and plug the box into whichever.
Yes?

 

[SteveF]

yes thats it Bob
what is the Box? I assume sort of a sky box
so leave the router indoors
and you are sorted
tell u what, send me some flights and I will bring the family out :lol:

Steve

 

[sunnybob]

I'll send you a thanks, no probs. =D> =D> =D> =D>
Oh, no, that is a prob. I cant find the new thanks button #-o #-o
Cant talk about the box. if i do I'll have to kill you :shock: :shock: 8)