A timber garden room is a highly prized addition to any home. They can be retreats where you can relax and chill out away from it all; workshops where you can perfect your arts and crafts skills; work from home offices; gyms in the convenience of your back garden; or a general space that is used for socialising and entertaining.
The garden room can be insulated with cladding and double glazing to make it suitable for year round use, and fitted with heating systems such as radiators, panel heaters, or even electric underfloor heating. Increasingly WiFi technology is being used in garden rooms to make them more versatile and pleasing places to use than ever before.
The digital age means that a strong Wi-Fi connection is now a crucial aspect of modern life, no matter whether we are working, socialising, relaxing, or entertaining guests. One simple way to achieve this is to use a range extender to amplify the signal received from the router in your home.
Range extenders are usually supplied for free from your internet provider, and they don’t need any extra wiring to set up; simply plug them in and pair it with the router. However, if your garden room is a long way from your house or you have very thick walls, it may not provide you with the required signal strength.
Another solution is to use Point to Point, aka WiFi PtP. This is a way of extending your WiFi signal by connecting your router to another signal boosting device with an ethernet cable. This provides you with a stronger and more reliable signal than just using an extender. It’s a little more costly and requires extra wiring, but you won’t lose any bandwidth.
It requires having a waterproof fixed access point and external power cabling, so it’s best installed by a qualified electrician.
If you decide to run an ethernet cable across your garden to plug into digital devices in your cabin, make sure that they are suitable for outdoor use. They should have UV protection to avoid being damaged by the sun, and the port should be well protected from the elements.
If you want to use it on a permanent basis, it’s worth considering having it professionally installed so that you can be sure it is safe and secure. It may even be possible to run the cable underground so that it is out of your way and not exposed to the extremes of cold, wet or very hot weather.
Another option is a technology called powerline networking, which works by using at least two adaptors that are plugged into the mains. One adaptor is plugged into the router with an ethernet cable, and the other is plugged in remotely in your garden room, with the ethernet cable plugged into whichever device you are using such as a TV or laptop.
This system should be professionally installed and must be wired to the same distribution box as your home.
