Extending Internet for Granny Flat

Hey Team

Here is a scenario.
I have an NBN connection from TPG .with
Default Router from TPG - AC1200 in the main house. The speed is at 11mbps and we pay $60 a month.
The router is located in the top end corner of the last room of the house.
The internet in the main house has absolutely no issues absolutely at any place of the house.I can play video files on multiple devices.

Now I have a Granny flat aswell which is seperated from the main house. The distance between the main house and granny flat is 10 mtrs.

I have a wifi extender *D-LINK - AC1200 WIFI RANGE EXT placed in the granny house . The internet works but it is extremely slow, about 2mbps

What do I do to ensure granny gets atleast 5mbps at the minimum ?

Thanks for the read.

MP

Comments

  • +3

    Get a Ubiquiti Networks locoM2 or locoM5 it has a 10+km range

    • +2

      This is the correct answer, you can mount one of these externally and have it then go to an AP indoors.

      Be aware, these devices are LOS. So on foggy days the connection will become worse.

      • Agreed.

        I've done it at my place, cable tied the antenna units to the roof. Been going strong for 3 years, getting full speed at the remote access point.

      • On foggy days the connection will become worse.

        The granny flat is 10m from the house. The fog would have to be so dense that you couldn't walk through it for it to affect the connection over that distance.

  • +2

    Is the granny's power grid apart of the main house? Is it possible for you to try using a ethernet via power adapter (powerline adaptor)? Something like this: https://m.catch.com.au/product/tp-link-av600-passthrough-pow…

    • +1

      As long as they are on the same phase it will work

  • As other users have stated, extender will never give them the proper speeds and will have the same issue that you facing right now, you need to invest into a mesh network (at least) and also need to consider the fact that your internet speed should depend on the number of people in the household including the granny flat.

    For example, If there are 5-6 people using 11 Mbps internet in today's time it won't be sufficient due to the current standard usage (streaming,surfing,multi devices consuming internet together at the same time).

    • +2

      Mesh still isn't going to cut the mustard. He needs a site to site extender like a Ubiquiti Networks locoM2 and then run it to an internal AP.

      Either that, or just trench ethernet over there.

  • +1

    I have 2 units on the block. We built a house at the back and our in laws are living in the front older house. We got some cat 6 cables installed from the front of the house which extends to the back. Where the house and unit separates i have the cable going through a conduit tube which links both houses. The distance is prob is around 40m and just did a test and i am running at around 35mbits per second atm
    the cost of installing the cable with plates on each side of the house was less than $150 so i thought it was well worth it as we been running this setup for over 5yrs now and easily would have saved that much in a few months.
    If you are pretty handy and can do it your self or dont care if it doesnt look as clean then it be much cheaper

  • +5

    run ethernet cable to the granny flat

  • +2
    1. Main house: Run Ethernet from NBN point to room closest to granny flat.
    2. Relocate wifi router to room closest to granny flat.
    3. Win
    • +2

      Or try this - move your current WiFi extender into your main house in the room closest to granny flat.

      This might speed it up with zero cost.

      Just have to test internet at granny flat

  • like many have suggested above, go with mesh technology. Asus Lyra Trio has good performance and looks really good physically. Simple setup via mobile app.

  • Pringles can antennas at either end ;)

    • +1

      Pringles can antennas at either end ;)

      Pringles is on half price at Coles right now, so that's 50% savings if using this method!

  • For 10m I'd run a Cat5 cable to a switch in the granny flat.

  • +3

    Okay you're getting advice here that suggests to use random mesh shit - Don't.

    This is a permanent structure, put something in that's going to continue to work for years to come.

    Have data cabling run from your router to an external wall of the house preferably with line of sight to the granny flat. Mount a point to point access point on the outside of the house. Mount another on the other side and have it cabled to inside the flat. Then, from maybe there add another access point to service the granny flat (inside). Considering how short a run this is, you might actually be able to use non line of sight devices and just use one device on the outside to rebroadcast for the flat. As long as it doesn't have steel walls.

    This is how I would approach this as someone in the industry.

    If 2.4ghz wifi inside the flat is OK and it doesn't have tin walls etc you could get away with 2 of these.
    https://shop.duxtel.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=30_45&prod…

    Otherwise you need to have the point to point link outside, and a cable running into the inside of the flat and another access point inside.

    Configuration is reasonably complicated, but it you speak with duxtel they should be able to preload these with a point to point configuration so they're plug and play!

    Alternatively ubiquiti make some user friendly gear that would be suitable, but I can't recommend a specific device.

    Bit of a ramble, think i repeated myself a few times but let me know if you want clarification.

    Cheers

    edit: Also don't use the above devices if you're not going to rebroadcast with them. There are cheaper alternatives.

  • ASUS AC5300 should have enough strength to reach 10m.

  • ASUS RT-AC68U (Router only) or ASUS - DSL-AC68U Modem Router Are awesome.
    My wifi will travel 3 houses away. I have a large house and only loose a few % of the speed from the front door of the house (where the modem is) to the back door. (used the speedtest app on the mobile phone to test)The crappy modem i got from DODO years ago lost about 95% of the speed at this distance. I always tell everyone, "forgot crappy wifi extenders, it just makes it more that twice as hard to find faults,with double logins/ passwords / with signal strength, and working out where all your wifi problems are" . All the good modems have a few antennas. I'm sus on any modem that doesn't have an external antenna. Hope this helps. Also Can't fault an ASUS modem. So many good features built into them.

  • Get a 4G modem in the granny flat

  • +3

    Thank you all for the support guys.
    I only increased my speed to 25 Mbps and the granny is able to receive 10 Mbps speed.

    I think if there is an issue all I need is a stronger better router and that should fix the problem.

    Thank you all again.

    • Is there a common power line between the two buildings? If there is a common circuit, you can use Ethernet over power. Some of the new kits get pricey but essentially it's like using your power cables as a network cable.

      This TP Link Kit is an example of one. You can get faster ones that can achieve gigabit speeds both ways but those will depend on the quality of the powerlines, length of wiring, etc. You can get kits that have Ethernet ports for you to connect in the granny flat or you can get kits that will have wifi on the end going into the granny flat and an ethernet port on the other end that goes directly into the modem.

    • Unsure if this has been mentioned, but extenders tend to halve the speed it receives. At least that's how older ones worked, I have not kept up to date with these.
      Assuming I am correct, 10Mbps is alright if you are still using the extender.

    • +3

      It appears that dasher86 was right with the very first reply. He got shut down hard for it too. Rather ironic.

      • Ozbargain
        Perhaps OP should apologize for the shitty attitude while begging for help

  • I recently moved into a granny flat also and had exact same issue.
    Main house had great speeds but granny flat was crap..
    The internet i'm using is cable…at least for now until i get forced to move onto NBN
    Anyways i got the Telstra Smart Wi-Fi Booster Gen 2 and plugged at the granny flat and connected my PC via the ethernet cable as my PC doesn't have WiFi card..
    I just did a speedtest at the granny flat on the Wi Fi booster and got download 105.13Mbps and Upload 4.04Mbps

  • II have FTTC Testra NBN, and also have a granny flat around 10 metres from the house. I have an ORBI router, that gives reasonable speeds, enough that the granny flat occupants are able to conduct zoom meetings etc. they're getting around 13.5mbps. We located it in the main house as close as possible to the granny flat. It also gives them a different login and password.

  • Pretty sure you need to be licenced if you want to install Cat 5. I'd look at a wireless bridge.

    • my understanding is not for home installation

  • An extender in the granny flat is pointless. It only works if there's a good wifi signal there, and if there is you wouldn't need an extender.
    What you might need to do is run an ethernet cable from your main router to the granny flat, then setup a wifi point there. That's what I'd do, but I'm comfortable doing cabling and not everyone is.
    The correct place for an extender is in the part of the house closest to the granny flat.
    Also, for anyone recommending mesh, it is definitely more convenient than an extender but doesn't have any better range so the original issue would remain.

  • Hookup Unifi Mesh AP to your existing WiFi (wireless-ly) and place it somewhere in between the flat and main WiFi router.

  • I had a very similar situation and I spent a lot of time troubleshooting and finally managed to get a solid connection in the end. I wish I had asked for help here so I didn't waste my time. Anyway there has been some really good advice given in this thread which you don't seem to be interested in implementing but I think if you follow you are likely to succeed with least effort. The 2 things that may work for you without much trouble:

    (1) Place your main router as close as possible to the granny flat (i.e. edge of the main house).
    (2) Buy some cheap ASUS mesh routers from Gumtree (or use any mesh router) and use those.

  • Thank you all for taking the time out to resolve this query.
    All I did was a Call to TPG and they have increased the speed to 25 Mbps.
    Granny tenants just connect to my WiFi now .

  • Look into a mesh network, but make sure that mesh nodes use separate channel for their internal communication/sync. I personally use 3 node Linksys Velop (got it cheapish couple of years from JB HiFi) and while it was way more expensive than similar offerings the speed is absolutely worth the price. I have no speed loss on my 3rd node compared to the 1st node directly connected to NBN, iow I'm limited by NBN speed not by wifi speed.

  • my first question - are you planning to rent the granny flat to non-family ?

    if so how would you distinguish costs/usage if they e.g. hog the bandwidth and increase your usage bills

    in which case you might be better just getting a separate phone line installation that they can pay for themselves.

    • Yes it is rented out and my internet is unlimited.
      Also my rent is by the room all bills included.

      • +1

        Just be careful with sharing internet. If someone downloading child porn/ doing illegal stuff , you might be liable.

        • Agreed.
          But he is more bothered in saving the money.

  • Its been a while since I read it, but, if you have the Xiaomi (Zigbee) smart home setup, the smart wall switches act as repeaters. So one switch on this side of the house and another on the granny flat. Job done.

    • Would agree. Just whether the closest walls have enough weather proofing to avoid water ingress.

  • I have struggled with this scenario for 3 years. I'll give you a simple, straightforward solution: get Home Wireless Broadband.

  • Get a mesh network. we use them at our warehouse that are spread over 150m, with concreat walls every 20m, and they are great,

  • I've had this problem for a couple of years too.
    Mesh and EOP both suck. Barely DL at 1mbps.
    The main house is double brick so wifi doesn't even reach down stairs let alone the granny flat.
    Cabling isn't an option either as would require drilling walls and a 15 to 20 meter wire across the yard.
    I'll look ubiquiti options as didn't think of that before.

  • Firstly pay $20-$30 per month extra and get 100/20 plan and then as advised use a good quality extender.

    • Thanks mate.
      I called TPG and they upgraded the firmware of the router and bumped the speed to 25 mbps.
      The issue is resolved now.

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