Working in the garden? Access Points/5G etc. - what are the options?

After a promising start the warm embrace of the British summer has escaped us, leaving us longing for blue skies and pleasant weather, in the rare moments of sunshine, there's no better time to take our work outdoors and immerse ourselves in the beauty of nature. Whether you're a remote worker, an entrepreneur, or simply seeking a refreshing change of scenery, the garden can be an excellent place to boost productivity and find inspiration.

So, how can you best reap the benefits of working from your garden? Most people with their current Wi-Fi set ups would suffer by working outdoors, especially those that haven't looked at upgrading for a few years, but before spending money on signal extenders, additional cabling or adapters, it's worth checking if your existing home Wi-Fi signal reaches your garden space. The simplest way to check is to run an internet speed test, either on your laptop or mobile phone (remember to disable 4G), indoors and then outdoors to give you an idea of how much signal is lost.

How to improve the coverage

To improve the reach of your home set-up, check if you can move your router closer to your garden, and remove obstacles like shrubs etc. which might interfere with the signal. 

Also bear in mind that things like insulation, double glazing and interference (baby monitors, fish tanks etc.) will negatively affect the strength of the signal coming from your house. This may not be possible for a lot of people if the router is in a hallway, or a wire becomes a trip hazard, so to enable you to work outdoors, you may have to invest in your Wi-Fi - lets look at some of the options below.

Wi-Fi Mesh

Mesh Wi-Fi uses multiple devices around your home to create one seamless network. Each of these is called a ‘node’ and they all work together to extend your Wi-Fi signal to your whole home. One node usually replaces home router, connecting to the modem via Ethernet cable, and the rest of the nodes are placed around your home to where you need Wi-Fi. You don’t have to manually switch to another network, the nodes automatically keep you connected to whichever node has the strongest signal, giving you seamless coverage everywhere. A standard 3 unit mesh system can cover up to around 8,000 square feet, and with the right placement you can incorporate coverage outdoors too.

Boost your signal with a Wi-Fi Extender

If you have a powerful router that doesn't need replacing, you can give it boost via usage of a Wi-Fi extender or repeater. These are a quick and easy solution and can be plugged into a spare electrical socket located relatively close to your garden, to improve the outdoor signal coverage. A Wi-Fi extender is one simple device that extends your Wi-Fi signal by rebroadcasting it further into your home, so unlike with a mesh system, you will two separate Wi-Fi networks and the handover between them is not seamless and can cause dropped calls etc. 

4G/5G Hotspots

If the Broadband in your area is slow, or you have a busy network at home whilst working, a 4G hotspot could be a great solution, they also have the advantage of being portable, allowing you to work on the move. Modern mobile phones have the ability to become pretty impressive (and highly portable) hotspots, but as I'm sure you have found, using your phone as a hotspot will also drain the battery and using it as a phone to speak to someone will often cause the hotspot network to drop. If you plan to work outside often, we would recommend something dedicated to provide your hotspot. Mobile hotspots work almost exactly like a mobile phone, by turning your 4G data into a mini Wi-Fi network. Reliably quick connection that won't break the bank, backed by being extremely accessible.

4G Hotspots have a secondary advantage - they can be used during a broadband outage or power cut as a failover solution, you just have to make sure you have a good sim card data plan, to avoid any excess charges.

5G

For those seeking cutting-edge technology and unparalleled speed, D-Link's 5G solutions are the ultimate game-changers. As 5G networks continue to roll out across the UK, harnessing this power for your garden office can revolutionize the way you work outdoors. 5G's lightning-fast speeds enable rapid data transfers, ultra-HD video conferencing, and lag-free streaming, empowering you to tackle tasks with unmatched efficiency.

Outdoor Wireless Access Points

D-Link's Access Points are designed to provide reliable and high-speed internet connectivity, making them the perfect companions for your outdoor work ventures. With their advanced Wi-Fi technology, you can experience seamless browsing, uninterrupted video conferencing, and fast file transfers even in your garden. Bid farewell to Wi-Fi dead zones and enjoy the freedom to work from any corner of your outdoor space.

• Wired / Cable connection - Laying an Ethernet cable between your home and garden office shed is the most secure means of establishing an internet connection, if you are worried about your Wi-Fi data being hacked or snooped and is probably the best option for a fast and reliable connection, but it comes at the price of time, money, initial groundwork to setup and risk of cables being cut when gardening or general wear and tear.

• Wi-Fi Point-to-Point - This is where you place one device outside of your house and another on the garden building. Both units require power to work and some configuration may be required in order for the units to communicate correctly with each other, so a degree of IT knowledge would be needed. The real bonus to using PtP is that the range is considerably greater than that of a standard Wi-Fi repeater. This is certainly the best option if your garden building is a distance from your house and Ethernet cabling is not viable for you.

Round up

Between the options mesh holds a big advantage over the router plus extenders option, in that the mesh devices create a single network, so you don't have to reconnect to Wi-Fi when you move from room to room or outdoors. With the trade off from that being the extra expensive involved of buying a  whole new system vs one/two extenders.

Access points will provide the highest quality results - we recommend having a chat with our sales people if this is a path you wish to go down - our live chat is here or [email protected] for help and advice.

4G and 5G will provide a totally separate Wi-Fi signal from your home broadband that can be dedicated to you and the hotspot can double up to provide internet in times of failover or added portability when you are on the go.

In general, I would recommend looking at a Mesh solution, either the M32-2/3 or a combination of the new R32 and E15 extender dependant on property sizes.