Connect with anywhere in the world from your garden office
If you are planning to work from a garden office chances are you'll want to have access to the outside world. Luckily it's relatively easy to connect your new office space to your home communication systems.
Companies who specialise in garden office design will include data cabling systems as standard which allow you to plug in and start work. Other garden room designs usually offer these systems as optional extras.
You can incorporate internet and telephone cabling into a garden office so you can connect with anywhere in the world from the bottom of your garden
A wireless network
Our homes are fast becoming wireless networks, and some garden office suppliers don't offer hard-wired networks in their specifications advising that you can connect to your wireless home network, and in some cases, this is entirely possible.
The problem is that in many cases, a garden office is sited quite a long way from the main house. In addition, the walls of a garden office are so highly insulated that the signal can be interrupted and weakened, leading to a less than successful wireless connection.
Data should be part of the garden office design
It is relatively easy and cost effective to include data cabling at the design stage. Common cables to be included are Cat6 cables for broadband, telephone cable, and audiovisual cables for music and TV connections.
These cables usually have their own channel which runs from the office up to the main connection points in the house. These cables are generally buried in their tubing underground like the electricity supply but should be away from the electrical supply to avoid signal disruption.
Because home and office technology is continually evolving, its worth making provision for the future. This could be as simple as having a large enough data channel with a draw wire to easily add more cabling in the future.
Hardwiring data cabling is the most reliable solution for garden office internet connections.
If your garden office doesn't come with a hardwired communications system, there are retrofit options
The Home Plug system is a two-part system. One unit connects to your router via an Ethernet cable and is plugged into a 13amp socket. The second part of the system plugs into a 13amp socket in your garden office. Home Plug boosts the signal by transferring data down the electrical system. Home Plug systems come with wired and wireless connections, which you choose is dependent on your needs. This system does not offer the speed and security that a cabled network provides, but it is a useful retrofit option. Many companies will suggest this as a cheaper option to hardwiring the connections.
You can also buy Home Plug systems to transfer telephone lines from the house to your garden office.
We have used a HomePlug system for internet and phone here at Garden Office HQ. Our office was built before the wireless internet was a thing. So, we opted for a retrofit solution. It is a good solution, but the connections can be patchy. One day we have fast speeds in the office, another day we can't get connected. Which is obviously not ideal!