We have a barn around 80 mtrs from our house, we ran a cat6 cable from the house to the barn when we built the house. I now need to actually connect to the network at the barn end, a PC or two plus WIFI. Is there a one box solution that will provide wired and wifi connection? I'm having trouble thinking what to google...

Most routers in bridge mode will do what you want.

Is there a reason for the one-box solution? If I were in that situation, I would put a switch on the barn end, and install an access point like something from Unifi.

OK, I've never used a router in bridge mode. I just thought one box would be easier. I have a spare switch and router lying around so I could test.

Is there a benefit to using an access point instead of a router? My first thought was just add a router in the barn.

It depends. If I were in your situation, I'd have Unifi APs in both structures, so I could keep a consistent network between the buildings, though with that distance I guess it doesn't matter as much if you have a completely separate WiFi system in the barn.

The setup process can be a tiny bit tricky, but not too difficult. It basically tells the router not to handle the duties of your main router (like DHCP).

There are other systems out there these days, like Google WiFi, which could accomplish what you're looking for out of the box.

I'll try a router in bridge mode as first step and see whether that does what I need

Most wifi routers are already setup to bridge between the wifi and their Ethernet switch. So:

- disable DHCP server on router
- set the router's LAN settings to be on the same subnet as your house network
- plug house wifi into one switch port on the router
- plug PCs into other switch ports on the router

One thing to be wary of, if it isn't a ADSL/FTTC* router, don't plug into the WAN Ethernet port. You want the Ethernet switch ports which will all be bridged together with the wifi.

Unlike the US, most UK consumers have an ISP supplied router with one or more Ethernet switch ports and a socket to plug into the phone jack (and don't have an WAN Ethernet port). Whereas in the US with more people having cable rather than DSL, there are more routers with a WAN Ethernet port instead.

Yeah that will work too. I still prefer the switch + AP setup, of course.