Does mesh WiFi reach a shed?
You have a mesh system in the house, and the shed still shows one bar or none.
Mesh WiFi reaches a shed when three things line up: the shed is close, it has power, and there is no metal wall between it and the house. Miss one of those and the fix is a cable, a bridge, or an access point fed from outside the metal.
Here is how to tell which side of that line your shed is on, and what to do when mesh is not the answer.
Close, with power
Within a house length or two and with a power point, a mesh node near a window facing the house can bridge the gap.
Cable it if you can
A mesh node on wired backhaul gives full-speed WiFi in the shed. Wireless mesh is plug and play, but slower.
Too far or steel
At 30 metres or more, or through a metal wall, a point to point bridge or a cable does the job instead.
When mesh reaches the shed
If the shed is within a house length or two, has a power point, and the path from the house is not through steel, a mesh node placed near a window facing the house can bridge the gap wirelessly. That is the same close, powered case the shed, granny flat and studio decision guide puts first.
Better: a mesh node on a cable
A mesh node can run in wired-backhaul mode, where a cable from the house feeds it instead of radio. That gives full-speed WiFi in the outbuilding and removes the weak wireless hop. If you can run one, it is worth it, and running ethernet to the shed covers how to lay the cable so it lasts.
When mesh will not reach
Two things beat a mesh node. The first is steel: a metal or Colorbond shed keeps radio out, so the fix goes around the wall, not through it. The second is distance. Once the shed is too far to mesh, or 30 metres or more from the house, a pair of radios aimed at each other carries the link instead, which is what Long Range WiFi does. Not sure which case you are? The 30 second chooser sorts it out.
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Common questions
Does mesh WiFi reach a shed?
Often, if the shed is close. Within a house length or two, with a power point in the shed and no metal wall in the way, a mesh node placed near a window facing the house can bridge the gap. Once the shed is too far to mesh, or 30 metres or more away, a point to point wireless bridge is the reliable answer.
What is wired backhaul, and should I use it?
Wired backhaul means the mesh node in the shed is fed by a cable from the house instead of by radio. It gives full-speed WiFi in the outbuilding, and it is the better choice whenever you can run the cable. A wireless mesh link is plug and play, but more fragile and slower.
Will a mesh node work inside a Colorbond or steel shed?
Not from inside the shed talking wirelessly to the house. A steel shed behaves like a Faraday cage: the metal skin reflects radio, so the signal can be strong at the door and gone inside. Put the access point inside and feed it with a cable, or with a radio mounted outside.
What if the shed is too far for mesh?
If you can see the shed from the house, a point to point wireless bridge carries the connection across the yard, which is what Long Range WiFi handles. If you can dig, a buried cable beats every wireless option: copper runs to about 100 metres, and fibre goes further.