re: Best way to get Wi-Fi in a metal shop from my house.

For everyone’s information, we just built a post frame shop with metal siding and are streaming just fine in there using the Deco Wi-Fi mesh system.

I bought the S4 version last summer to use in the house instead of Wi-Fi extenders. When we got the shop, I was going to try a point to point system, or run a wire if necessary. Before that, though, I just stuck one of the units in the shop and it’s worked perfectly well.

The shop is about 40 feet from the house and is uninsulated. We have not-great internet through one of those companies that broadcasts the ATT signal to a small dish on my house.

Why would you need to run a cable?

Not to quibble with someone who is far more informed than me in general on these subjects, but in this case I think it’s far better to not run a cable if it’s working without a cable.
I’m not trying to win an internet argument, I am just passing along what worked for me, and would just suggest that people try it without a cable to see how it works before going to that extra trouble.

Literally all I did was take one of the mesh units from in the house out to the shop, plug it in to power, and we were streaming out there.
ETA: I have a mesh unit in the house near a window facing the shop.

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in this case I think it’s far better to not run a cable if it’s working without a cable.
I’m not trying to win an internet argument, I am just passing along what worked for me, and would just suggest that people try it without a cable to see how it works before going to that extra trouble.

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I agree, and you will see that I recommended the same on page 1.

But running a cable is still the best solution, so I guess I'll expand on what I mean by that. If a mesh meets your needs, then yes that is the cheapest and easiest solution and you should absolutely do it if you don't foresee any changes in the future, *or* if the mesh has a very strong connection node-to-node in your setup. If that connection is not very strong, then it may work well enough for streaming TV and browsing the web, but if you try to do something like add some security cameras to the building or put an office out there and set up some file sharing with the main house, then you might run into the limitations of the wireless setup. The signal that your phone/TV/whatever sees when connected to the mesh node in the detached building will be strong, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the connection from that unit to the one inside the house is strong. That's where your bottleneck will be, but if that bottleneck is big enough to do what you want to do, then by all means do it.

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Why would you need to run a cable?

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Wifi signal isn't penetrating through the corrugated metal. Gotta run a cable.

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Best way for sure, until you get a lightning strike anywhere around the building and that surge will get in the line and fry everything connected to it.

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There are ways to mitigate that risk, but honestly it was time to upgrade all the shite that fried anyway.