Right now I use a WiFi extender, but the workshop being metal tends to make the connection abyssmal. I’m thinking MoCA might be my best bet, but what should I look into?
Upstairs in an office I have the router (Xfinity, so input is coax). I can easily drop something into the garage, and run it all the wall to the workshop, but should I do
MoCA broadcaster in Attic, amp in garage, run a long coax to workshop, then MoCA Reciever? I was going to do similar with just an outdoor grade Cat6 and setup a switch over there but curious of easier/more reliable method; esp when the weather comes in.
Get some of this LC single mode fiber and some media converters with transceivers and you’ll be good.
For 30ft? Just grab a wireless bridge and call it a day
Detached building is more than 30 feet away. So AC (and any other cable that connects) must have a low impedance (ie less than 10 foot) connection to an earth ground for that detached building. Only that (never any plug-in protector) is the only protection from surges.
Of course, a surge is quite rare. Maybe once in seven years. Many do not see one in twenty years. But a surge in that detached garage can also (otherwise) connect destructively to appliances also inside the main building.
Fiber is an expensive option that does not eliminate the need for properly earthed protection. And only does what a MoCA or ethernet cable already does - for much less money.
What is called a MoCA broadcaster, I assume, is an access point. Another solution is a directional antenna on that access point (if it has a removable antenna) directed at the garage office.
I have very similar setup and use a direct burial rated cat6 cable. Works great. No reason to use MoCA. I do have a ubiquiti surge protector on the end before going into the house, and have it grounded. In the garage I have a PoE switch that powers an AP and security camera