Using an ethernet switch with cabled ethernet socket and a wifi transmitter

Shadow

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I'm hoping someone can help.

A friend has just moved into a new studio office where the router wifi is shared with a couple of other studios. He does however have a cabled ethernet socket in the wall.

Unfortunately, the wifi signal is almost non-existent and he needs a mix of wifi and cabled delivery.

Is it possible to plug an ethernet switch into the ethernet wall socket and then plug in something to the switch that uses the ethernet signal to create its own wifi signal. this will then allow him to cable his IT equipment from the switch and then use the wifi signal for his mobile devices?

Of this is possible could someone point me in the direction of the device he would need to buy?

I hope that makes sense and thanks in advance
 
Pretty much any broadband wifi router with an ethernet port will do this, however what you need to find out is what is at the other end of that wall socket as it may not be live or for your friends use without config changes the other end.
Surely this is a managed solution if the wifi is shared between studios?
 
Thanks for the quick response. The only thing he knows at the moment is that the ethernet socket is live and provides about 100MBs.
So in theory if he plugs in an old router and configures it to a different channel to the weak wifi it should work?

The building owner provides the wifi and told him that he can do whatever he wants in order to get a decent signal in his studio
 
MrMackyB said:
what you need to find out is what is at the other end of that wall socket
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Depending on who's running the server(s) he'll probably need passwords to connect to whatever server is running the network. He'll also need to know what sub-net they're using and which IP address(es) he's allowed to use.

If your friend has any command line expertise at all, he can plug a cable from his computer to the socket and then try pinging 10.0.0.1 and 192.168.1.1 to see if there's a live connection on one or other of the default sub-nets but it's always best to ask.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Depending on who's running the server(s) he'll probably need passwords to connect to whatever server is running the network. He'll also need to know what sub-net they're using and which IP address(es) he's allowed to use.

If your friend has any command line expertise at all, he can plug a cable from his computer to the socket and then try pinging 10.0.0.1 and 192.168.1.1 to see if there's a live connection on one or other of the default sub-nets but it's always best to ask.
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What do you mean by servers? As far as I'm aware it is simply a modem router at the main entrance which then provides the wifi signal and then one ethernet port to each studio out of the back of the router. I think I'm going to need to go there and take a look at the actual set up as my mate has no tech knowledge at all...which is why I'm trying to second guess the set up. :D
 
If you can get the IP of the main router, you should be able to setup a check router like a bt home hub as an access point.
 
If it's only a basic setup (no logins etc for wired connection) it could be as simple as buying a cable wireless router as MrMackyB has suggested (has a WAN port, no modem) and connecting that to the wired connection, then you'll get a handful of wired ports plus your own wireless network. This would also mean you've got added security with your devices being behind their own firewall and not on the network open to everyone else. It used to be quite common to do this in university halls for your own wireless network in your room
 
reading the OPs post it sounds like just a basic ISP/router setup so yeah
you should be able to plug a wifi extender in and do a basic config which will become a hotspot with your own security config.
the only thing i am not sure about is things like IP DHCP pass through which can be an issue on extending hot spots etc but it should be ok.
 
Thanks everyone. I'm going to have to go there and see what is actually set up and take it from there. :ty:
 
Shadow said:
Thanks for the quick response. The only thing he knows at the moment is that the ethernet socket is live and provides about 100MBs.
So in theory if he plugs in an old router and configures it to a different channel to the weak wifi it should work?

The building owner provides the wifi and told him that he can do whatever he wants in order to get a decent signal in his studio
Click to expand...

Sounds to me that he will be able to simply plug a WiFi router into the ethernet wall socket and set it as an access point?

I just did pretty much the same thing a few weeks ago, I've got a BT Smart Hub 2 in the living room but I needed powerful line of sight wireless upstairs where the computer is. I connected the new router to the upstairs RJ45 socket in the wall which my computer used to connect to and set the router to Access Point mode. This gets the internet to the new router and I then connect my computer via CAT6 to the new router and that gets internet to my computer from the new router rather than directly from the Smart Hub 2. Same for any wireless device I connect to the new router.

I bought an ASUS AX5400 which is actually very good value considering how powerful and feature rich it is. It's WiFi6 and gives me a constant link speed of 1200Mbps even through a brick wall to another room. If he's going to have a lot of devices connected then WiFi6 may be worth considering, but if only a few then I'm sure WiFi5 will be fine.
 
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I thought there existed WiFi range extenders with Ethernet ports to connect to the router, via a building Ethernet cabling and in effect create a WiFi 'hotspot' in the area of a WiFi weak spot for the WiFi router :thinking:
 
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Any WiFi router running in bridge mode should meet the requirements here.
 
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