Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk

[richard13]

Yes, attached garages are the best. But sometimes life choices lead one to other configurations. We live in a historic home and are fortunate have a garage at all. It like yours is detached and 50 feet from the nearest home wall. We considered trenching and burying some Cat6 coax from the home to the garage but that was quickly nixed when we found out the cost of hiring it out, or the trenching labor of DIY (I consider myself beyond the age of digging without aftereffects, and trenching 50 feet in our soil could easily be a 1-2 sixpack job, maybe more). So in our home we have 8 eeroPro mesh routers…the now old WiFi5. One of these is in the room closest to the garage and mounted on top of cabinetry on the outside wall. Another eeroPro is in the garage mounted to the wall closest to the home.

The signal is reliable in the garage, though weakened a bit. Some specifics: we subscribe to Internet service that give us 300mbps synchronously, i.e., 300mbps uploads and the same for downloads. In most locations in the home that translates to about 120mbps at WiFi devices. In the garage, we get about 30mbps near the eeroPro in the bay where we have our EVSE. That diminishes a bit to about 20mbps on the other side of the garage. That number is obviously a small fraction of our paid for speeds, but 3-4 times the necessary bandwidth to watch a Netflix 4K video (4-5mbps) without stuttering so definitely sufficient for vehicle OTA updates.

All of that said, it’s working. I do keep watching discounts for the various newer eero routers, and the WiFi 6e versions are leading me to go that direction at some point. The WiFi 7 versions are just stupid expensive; for that money I’d just hardwire everything and be done with it. Cost remains a stumbling block almost regardless of which version because I think I’d need so many devices. Our home with its plaster and lath walls and large wall thickness is a WiFi killer pretty much mandating a router in every room for any kind of reliable service. I’d hate to drill holes through historic walls and floors for cabling, but that may have to happen. And home networking remains an area of mystic confusion to me in the best case.

Thanks for your reply. The moment you said "historic home" I knew you would have difficulty. When I was a child I wanted to live in a 100-200 year old house just for the adventure. But as an adult all I see is reality. Glad that's working out for you!

But now, as you see, I have more modern problems with my current living arrangement. But I think I might be able to pull this off since it appears you have. Sure, you're in a much more temperate climate but you've overcome some of the other problems and that is an inspiration to me.

I'm going to try putting one of my Eero 6s in the garage and see what happens.

 

[SalisburySam]

After poking around yesterday, I found a few threads where people claimed to be in even hotter environments and have a node in the garage so I'm going to try that. I figure since my Eero 6s are a few years old so if one died I wouldn't be super broken up about it.

Thanks for your reply. The moment you said "historic home" I knew you would have difficulty. When I was a child I wanted to live in a 100-200 year old house just for the adventure. But as an adult all I see is reality. Glad that's working out for you!

We do love it, but it is indeed a money pit.

...I might be able to pull this off since it appears you have. Sure, you're in a much more temperate climate but you've overcome some of the other problems and that is an inspiration to me.

Although we are expecting triple-digit Fahrenheit temperatures next week unfortunately and the first time, yes, we're fairly temperate. Summer garage temps though do get up to about 125ºF/52ºC. Even at that our WiFi5 eeroPro still works. Can't speak to summer temps in an unconditioned garage in Phoenix though. I think that as long as the device itself doesn't melt, it'll probably be ok. My eeroPro's get warm in normal use; I've always wanted to drill some holes in the top and sides for better air flow but worry about hitting something internal that I shouldn't.

I'm going to try putting one of my Eero 6s in the garage and see what happens.

Good show! The biggest issue I had was finding a position for the router that the eero app said was acceptable. Until you get that confirmation it won't work. I'm assuming that with your 6's you will likely get better coverage and therefore easier placement.

 

[JT2002TJ]

Thanks for your reply. The moment you said "historic home" I knew you would have difficulty. When I was a child I wanted to live in a 100-200 year old house just for the adventure. But as an adult all I see is reality. Glad that's working out for you!

But now, as you see, I have more modern problems with my current living arrangement. But I think I might be able to pull this off since it appears you have. Sure, you're in a much more temperate climate but you've overcome some of the other problems and that is an inspiration to me.

I'm going to try putting one of my Eero 6s in the garage and see what happens.

I have my Orbi in my uninsulated shed. This will be the 4th summer. Never had an issue with it, I am in the NY area, so not heat like AZ, but it is 102 degrees F right now while it is 86 degrees F outside.

I’ll bet you will be fine…

There also may be an outdoor version of the wifi type you have. I needed an extra satellite for my orbi, I picked one up on Ebay. Mine is older (pre- wifi 6).