Electrician Dave Hutchence explains how he helped solve Wi-Fi connectivity issues in his customer’s new outbuilding through the use of the BG Electrical Wi-Fi range extender socket.
As seems to have been the trend throughout the pandemic that we’ve all endured over the last couple of years, many homeowners have decided to upgrade their existing properties to suit the lifestyle changes that we’ve all had to make. This has resulted in an explosion of outbuildings and home-offices, including the rise of every geezer’s oasis – the ‘mancave’.
A customer of mine finished off his own mancave build at the end of last summer, complete with working bar, pool table and dart board. One of the key elements that he wanted to build in was the ability to stream his satellite feed from the house to a TV in one of the corners of the mancave, along with the capability to play music from Spotify etc. With a distance of around 50m from where the original Wi-Fi router is situated inside the main house, my customer was experiencing complete dead spots in the outbuilding, which meant that Wi-Fi coverage was virtually nil. To try and find a solution to this issue, I recommended trying the BG Electrical Wi-Fi range extender socket.
This simplistic yet stylish double power socket has a Wi-Fi repeater – enabling improved Wi-Fi coverage throughout the home. Easy to install and set up with one touch WPS (Wi-Fi protected setup), the unit doesn’t require any plug-in adaptors, allowing the user to plug in electrical devices without having to sacrifice the power sockets.
Easy setup and fitment
We opted to use two of the BG Electrical Wi-Fi range extender sockets – one positioned to the front right of the mancave as you enter, and a second positioned in the far corner of the structure – an area which had complete dead spots throughout. For best coverage, the ideal positioning is mid-point between the router and a dead spot. Fitment was very easy indeed, simply a case of isolating the power, removing the old socket, connecting the new Wi-Fi socket and screwing to the wall to reinstate the power.
Once installed, the user simply presses the WPS button on their home router, followed by the little reset button on the socket. This will turn orange for a spell and will then blink blue; once you have a solid blue colour you are then connected. The whole process literally took a couple of minutes. With its square edge finish, the white moulded wall plate will seamlessly fit with any style or décor in your premises, and with the backbox included with a minimum mounting depth of 25mm, it’s ideal for retrofit.
The end result is that my customer finally has a strong Wi-Fi signal into his pride and joy, and has spent many a happy evening enjoying the fruits of his labours. Having checked in with him a few weeks after install, he’s been thrilled with the performance and is surprised that there have been no intermittent Wi-Fi issues, especially when the weather has been windy or during key times when Wi-Fi usage locally is at its greatest. As well as being a handy Wi-Fi repeater, it also includes two power sockets and a USB charging port with smart technology, ensuring phones can be charged while frames of pool are being racked up.
With a 10-year guarantee, this really is a cracking solution to a very common problem that most installers (and their customers) will face.
To get more details about the Wi-Fi range extender socket click here
