[Misc] Technical solution needed. Can you help?

[Simster]

So I work in a cabin at the bottom of my garden. It is out of range of my wifi, but I use ethernet/powerline cables to connect to the internet from my two laptops. This all works fine.

However, I also have an electric heater in this cabin. Now ideally I'd like this plugged into a smart plug in my cabin so that I can turn it on in the morning from inside the house using the wifi. Unfortunately, as I previously said, the cabin is out of wifi range so that won't work. Does anyone know of any combination of ethernet/powerline extender and smart plug that is on the market that might accomplish this?

This might do the job but I'm not sure and is out of stock anyway:
Amazon product

Thanks to anyone who can help!

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

Have you tried turning it off and then on again?

 

[Beanstalk]

I think this may be as simple a fix as buying something like this (link with NSC affiliate) and plugging the ethernet cable into the LAN port. This device will then act as a wireless access point that you can connect to via WiFi (including a smart plug).

 

[CheeseRolls]

Depending on how serious you are about fixing this.

1 Mesh WiFi You will require two nodes (I have the Asus ZenWifi AX) You use one of the powerlines to connect the two routers and the Wifi in your shed and house will be on a common network. The laptops will work the same way in the house as in the shed (via WifI).

2 If you have a spare Powerline see if you can find a smart plug with an Ethernet cable. Couldn't find one here and suspect this could be a fruitless search. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/meross/page/C81F808C-85C6-4C98-A14C-7308F972EA46?ref_=ast_bln).

3 What is listed though is a smart plug with a timer option, which you could use to warm up the shed ata set time. I suspect this is going to be a problem on days when you are not working surfing NSC from the shed though.

 

[Simster]

I think this may be as simple a fix as buying something like this (link with NSC affiliate) and plugging the ethernet cable into the LAN port. This device will then act as a wireless access point that you can connect to via WiFi (including a smart plug).

Thanks but your link probably needs modifying as it doesn't seem to work. I'm genuinely interested because the description is of something that would probably solve the problem!

 

[Simster]

Depending on how serious you are about fixing this.

1 Mesh WiFi You will require two nodes (I have the Asus ZenWifi AX) You use one of the powerlines to connect the two routers and the Wifi in your shed and house will be on a common network. The laptops will work the same way in the house as in the shed (via WifI).

2 If you have a spare Powerline see if you can find a smart plug with an Ethernet cable. Couldn't find one here and suspect this could be a fruitless search. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/meross/page/C81F808C-85C6-4C98-A14C-7308F972EA46?ref_=ast_bln).

3 What is listed though is a smart plug with a timer option, which you could use to warm up the shed ata set time. I suspect this is going to be a problem on days when you are not working surfing NSC from the shed though.

Part 1 seems like overkill tbh, but thanks anyway. I'd essentially be spending a fair bit on what amounts to cloning a router and then keeping both running.
Part 2 is exactly what I'm looking for and the fruitlessness of my own search is what led me to creating the thread.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

Depending on how serious you are about fixing this.

1 Mesh WiFi You will require two nodes (I have the Asus ZenWifi AX) You use one of the powerlines to connect the two routers and the Wifi in your shed and house will be on a common network. The laptops will work the same way in the house as in the shed (via WifI).

2 If you have a spare Powerline see if you can find a smart plug with an Ethernet cable. Couldn't find one here and suspect this could be a fruitless search. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/meross/page/C81F808C-85C6-4C98-A14C-7308F972EA46?ref_=ast_bln).

3 What is listed though is a smart plug with a timer option, which you could use to warm up the shed ata set time. I suspect this is going to be a problem on days when you are not working surfing NSC from the shed though.

That might be ok for a shed, but would it work in Simsters cabin?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Could you not send one of your kids down there half hour before you start, to switch the heater on?

 

[Simster]

Could you not send one of your kids down there half hour before you start, to switch the heater on?

If I asked one of my kids to do that, he'd forget what he was doing in the cabin in the first place and come back with a spoon, a biro and a table tennis bat.

Have you ever had kids?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

If I asked one of my kids to do that, he'd forget what he was doing in the cabin in the first place and come back with a spoon, a biro and a table tennis bat.

Have you ever had kids?

Ha. Yes, as you know.

My eldest would turn on the heater, fire up your laptop, and spot and solve that glitch in your spreadsheet that had been annoying you for weeks.

My youngest would spot a squirrel halfway down the garden, and forget he was even on his way to the cabin, in the first place.

 

[happypig]

TP Link AV600 is a powerline adaptor that extends your wifi and has an ethernet port.
Add a Smart plug. I use Tapo and Kasa, both made by TP Link as well.

 

[Beanstalk]

Thanks but your link probably needs modifying as it doesn't seem to work. I'm genuinely interested because the description is of something that would probably solve the problem!

Amazon product

TRY THIS

Hopefully that works - remember to buy through the affiliate link to help @Bozza out. Bozza think there's an issue where Amazon links are appearing as unloadable media rather than links.

 

[CheeseRolls]

That might be ok for a shed, but would it work in Simsters cabin?

It is the same principle as Americans using Garbage and Trunk. In Sussex what we might refer to as a shed, when you cross the border into Surrey it's a cabin.

 

[Simster]

Amazon product

TRY THIS

Hopefully that works - remember to buy through the affiliate link to help @Bozza out. Bozza think there's an issue where Amazon links are appearing as unloadable media rather than links.

Thanks for that. I did wonder about a wifi extender like that (in fact I have one) but they are a bit flaky. (There would actually be no need to use the ethernet port in your example)

I think I am hoping for a solution where the smart plug plugs into the electric socket, and uses the electrics as a wifi extender like a powerline ethernet unit does.

 

[Chicken Run]

Can’t you buy a timer plug and plug it into that and set time for it to come on and off, anyway cabin you say, how middle class

Deal: HBN 24 Hour Programmable Mechanical Timer Plug Switch, Energy Saving UK Plug-in Indoor Timer Socket for Lights, Lamp and Home Appliances (13A/3120W, 2 Pack) https://amzn.eu/d/2iALkAs

 

[nicko31]

Just be careful some of these smart plugs aren't great with heavy current loads

 

[Official Old Man]

If hooking up a fire in a shed with no one in the shed to check it overnight I'd have a secondary device like a light that is hard wired to come on with the fire and not switchable. That way if you can see the light is on and so would the fire be on.

 

[Beanstalk]

Thanks for that. I did wonder about a wifi extender like that (in fact I have one) but they are a bit flaky. (There would actually be no need to use the ethernet port in your example)

I think I am hoping for a solution where the smart plug plugs into the electric socket, and uses the electrics as a wifi extender like a powerline ethernet unit does.

There would be a use for the ethernet port in that you'd place the plug/extender in your cabin where the WiFi doesn't reach and have it connect to the internet via the ethernet cable you noted in your post - this would give you an additional stable WiFi access point to connect the smart plug (and maybe your laptops/PCs) to rather than a) having to rely on buying a good enough extender that it would reach the end of your garden, and b) having multiple ethernet cables for multiple devices.

I don't think I've ever heard of a smart plug that connects to the internet via a powerline. I may be wrong but one of the issues is that, at least from my experience, smart plugs tend to need to be originally set up from a device that is able to connect to the same WiFi band (normally a smart phone or a laptop) and as they are normally situated away from a router the expectation is you'd have them away from the ethernet connection. As I say, this is only my anecdotal experience, so maybe I am wrong.

 

[Brovion]

If I asked one of my kids to do that, he'd forget what he was doing in the cabin in the first place and come back with a spoon, a biro and a table tennis bat.

Have you ever had kids?

Make it one of the maid's duties? After she's made your breakfast and ironed your newspaper?

(Sorry, no, haven't a clue - except hire a maid which I accept might be overkill).

 

[Easy 10]

This might be the most "First World Problem" I've ever read. What a faff. Can't you just mince your way down there in your dressing gown 20 minutes before you start work, and switch it on MANUALLY ?

There are people living in mud huts trudging 6-mile round trips to bring a bucket of water home on their heads.