Wi-Fi answers
Wi-Fi in a garden office
How do I get good Wi-Fi in a garden office or outbuilding?
The short answer
In a garden office or outbuilding the building is the limit, not the broadband. An outside wall, a garden, and another insulated wall to cross A buried or clipped outdoor network cable is the only reliable answer. We do not quote a single "walls cut the signal by X%" figure, because the loss depends entirely on what the wall is made of.
Tell us the walls and floors and we mark where the boxes should go.
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| An outside wall, a garden, and another insulated wall to cross | A buried or clipped outdoor network cable is the only reliable answer |
| Insulated panel construction, often with a foil layer | Powerline adapters rarely survive a separate garden consumer unit |
| Usually needed for work calls, so it has to be reliable | An outdoor access point on the house wall facing the office is the next best thing |
The short answer
- A buried or clipped outdoor network cable is the only reliable answer
What gets in the way here
- An outside wall, a garden, and another insulated wall to cross
- Insulated panel construction, often with a foil layer
- Usually needed for work calls, so it has to be reliable
What actually works
- A buried or clipped outdoor network cable is the only reliable answer
- Powerline adapters rarely survive a separate garden consumer unit
- An outdoor access point on the house wall facing the office is the next best thing
Before you buy
- Run the free home score first
- A cable between two boxes beats a bigger mesh pack
People also ask
- How many mesh boxes do I need in a garden office or outbuilding?
- Do Wi-Fi extenders work in a garden office or outbuilding?
- Where should the router go in a garden office or outbuilding?
If you do end up spending money
Only after the free fixes. Nobody pays to appear here, and no shop link changes anything we say.
- Mesh sized to the building, not the broadband speed
- Wired backhaul or an outdoor access point