No Wifi access to my detached garage studio - how do I access Easel?

@CharleyThomas - great idea. I’m shopping now, and can’t find the first one, but will any of these work? I’m not that tech savvy about wifi…

https://www.amazon.com/WifiSpd-300-adapter-Wifi-desktop-Supports-downloads-Advanced-Wireless-nano/dp/B00NAKEUF8/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1483572490&sr=1-2-fkmr1&keywords=Wireless+N+WiFi+Dongle%2C+Network+Adapter%2C+Dual+6dBi+Antenna%2C+4-feet+Mini+USB+Cable+(2.4GHz%2C+300Mbps)

I bought a booster to boost the wifi signal from the front of the house to the back office within the house, but I guess I have too many walls stopping the signal. So, there’s no hope of getting a wifi signal to the garage at the far end of the lot, away from the house. Thanks for your help.

@AllenMassey - ok, good to keep in mind. I asked them about MasterCAM’s g codes, but they didn’t know anything about that program. I do have AutoDesk Fusion360, just don’t know how to use it yet. Will YouTube tutorials.

Thanks, @RobertCanning - you’re a really big help! That was option #3
:hamburger:

I have a couple of these I use at different locations and they work very well. Excellent range.
Alfa Network AWUS036NH

Those that you listed don’t look bad but they are all designed to be plugged in directly to your USB port which may not give you the optimal location for the antenna to pick up a good signal. Here is one that you can move around because it has a stand and is designed to be directly connected like the others or use the optional stand to locate it somewhere else using a USB cable to make the connection which is what I did.

This is probably the one I would try if I had to replace the current antenna I am using. With the addition of a 15 foot USB cable extension you could grain much more flexibility in where to locate the antenna to insure good reception.

I can’t promise that this will work for you but for me it worked great.

Charley

@AngusMcLeod - good to know. My detached garage is about 100’ away from my house and about another 25’ from the router inside. So I’m in range. I guess I could get a cat5 line out to the back as a direct connect.

I’ll have to weigh in the cost and pain of either wifi-omg it or hard cabling. Or “free” if I get my phone to be a hotspot. Maybe I’ll try that first.

@CharleyThomas - it looks like both have USB connection. Which would get plugged into where? :blush:

@PhilJohnson. Warranty? What warranty???!!

The USB Antenna plugs in to your computer. Some computers have a built in wifi receiver. The new antenna will show up as an additional one. If you don’t already have a built in wifi receiver then it will add that functionality to your computer.

Remember, with Amazon, if it doesn’t work for you then you can always send it back.

The main reason I got the USB extension cable is because I have metal siding on my shop and it blocks the wifi signal from the house. Fortunately for me, I also have a parking stall attached to the shop that does not have a garage door on it. So I drilled a hole in the wall and mounted the receiver in that area in a location that had a direct line of site to the house. So you could say that it is outside but it is in a protected area, just not temperature controlled like in side the shop. If you had a window that faced the house that would work just as well. The fewer obstructions between the antenna and the router the better.

Here is a screen shot from Google Maps. The Red Arrow is the opening where my antenna is mounted and the Red Circle is the location of the wifi source in the house. As you can see from the pic it is fair distance away but I do get a good signal with the antenna and USB cable extension.

1 Like

My shop is about 150 feet away from the house and is wired with a sub panel connected to the 200 amp service in the house. I’ve had excellent results using these ethernet over power adapters along with a second wifi access point in the shop for convenience. I highly recommend them, definitely worth trying for $32.

Only took about 10 minutes to setup.

TRENDnet TPL-406E2K

I would love to do that but My shop is on a totally different circuit than the house. I have my own power meter and get a separate bill. Bah Hum Bug

Not optimal, but it still might work if both of your services are being fed from the same pole mounted transformer, if that’s how the power is distributed in your neck of the woods.

We have neighbors that are using ethernet over power converters like these to share a broadband connection.

Again, not optimal, and I know you already have a working solution. Just an FYI.

@CharleyThomas - Whoa - your work area is WAY further than mine. My lot is only 8000 sf! Ha ha! That’s a “big” lot by California standards. OK, this ought to work then, and I can have wifi in the garage, too, which would be a plus, since that’s where my RP studio is.

What can I say? I had kids - limiting the options seemed to move things
forward … heh heh heh
Yeah, you got the hamburger - but no fries. Alas.
:fishing_pole_and_fish: Go fish.

Best of luck to you, In my situation I have direct line of sight between the antenna and Wifi source with only one outside wall for the signal to pass through. If your signal is passing through multiple walls before it reaches your shop that could present a problem. To overcome that problem I have seen cases where people have mounted there wifi router in their attic to improve reception throughout their houses. More trouble to do but it could help especially if you mount your receiver at the same height. Just a thought.

Charley

I’ve used products from EnGenius to connect disconnected offices. Rock solid products.

Poke a small hole in side of building to feed Ethernet cable through and seal with weatherproof caulking.

Cool! Will check that out, too, and see what is possible! Thanks.

Why don’t you people just use your cellphones? As already stated above, phones can act as a Wi-Fi hotspot or share the connection tethered to your USB. Right now I’m getting +11 Mbps (cheapest basic service) from my home connection and +9 Mbps from the mobile network, so it’s basically as fast. Oddly enough, the cell connection seems to have less latency at the moment. I just rented a work space a few kilometers away from my home and I have no intention to get any other internet connection there. A phone will do just fine.

I don’t have a Carvey, so the warranty issue is a moot one for me, but I can’t run Easel in my shop either, so I use a separate Gcode sender to control my X-Carve. I use bCNC, but there’s probably others that should work. When I use Easel, I create my projects in it and then export the gcode from it. You could put the gcode on a USB stick and take it with you to the shop.

The key is to be comfortable with how the gcode sender works and controls the machine before you send it a big project. My guess is that the warranty issue is related to axis limits and “bad” things that might happen if you were to blow past them, but I’m talking through my 4th point of contact there.

Not everyone has that option. I have unlimited data through my carrier. So the don’t allow the hot spot function.