Boost Wifi to 2000+ feet outdoors

[Daytraderjo]

Hello, what woud i need to do in order to extend my wifi It is about 2,000 feet away from me, but there are some tree's that are in the way and i live in a brick building. Is there some type of sattelite that i could install outside my window or something, or even indoors that is strong. I currently have a netgear n600 dualband router (actually have 2 of them). if there is something that would enable me to be able to have my wifi signal always available when at the pool, that would be great. I wanna work poolside and obviously dont want to spend a lot of money.

 

[Daytraderjo]

Just realized i left out that my goal is to extend my wifi to reach the pool.

 

[eibgrad]

2000 ft is a looooooooooong way for a consumer grade router. Add some obstacles, brick walls, and well..., that's asking a lot. Esp. if you're looking for something on the cheap. These devices are only designed to accommodate the 95 percentile that need something within a radius of perhaps 100-150 ft, and even that assumes few obstacles and little interferences from competing wireless devices.

They do make long range antennas, but a serious solution will cost a few bucks. A good source would be Ubiquiti. You can actually get a very nice and powerful long range antenna for <$100 (which I consider a good deal considering the quality). I don’t know if you find that within your price range, but it’s really the kind of equipment you need. Placement will matter too, no matter the solution.

http://www.ubnt.com/

You might poke around for some consumer grade range extenders and perhaps get lucky, but I think it’s just a better use of your time and money to put out a few bucks for a real solution. At least that's what I would do.

 

[Daytraderjo]

Thanks so much for your help. $100 would be fine for me. Obviously I know I need to purchase something a little more customized for my needs .... I briefly looked at the site you posted and got a bit lost. What was it specifically that you were recommending on that site?seemed as if they didn't have what I would be looking for or perhaps i just am not aware?. I saw 1 dish shaped product, (didnt see price), but figured I would ask first.  How would i install? Would I plug into current router or would I plug directly into modem and use as a new router?

Also, if i did take a gamble on the antanae,  my Current router is a (netgear dual band n 600- actually have 2 of them)  Anyway, This router  does not have an actual external antennae. If I went that route,  would I need to buy a new router that had physical external antenna to replace? how would that work? I'm leaning more towards trying that first. (I said 2,000 feet), but it's probably more like 1,000. And I do see some signal at the beginning of the pool area due to placement of my router (in the attic)

 

[eibgrad]

I know, it's a bit intimidating if you've never dealt w/ these more sophisticated products. Unfortunately there are just too many to go through them all. But just as an example, consider something like the following:

http://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-PICO2HP-2-4GHz-802-11bg/dp/B004EPPJAI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

It’s a much more powerful AP than that of your typical consumer router. It's powered via an ethernet cable using a PoE (Power Over Ethernet) adapter. And that makes it easier to mount since you’re only running the ethernet cable directly to the mount. One port of the PoE adapter runs to the antenna, the other runs to your router.

With this particular model, it could be paired with another similar antenna, thus forming a “bridge” and increasing the range even further. Obviously that wouldn’t be very practical by the pool, but someone might consider it for say a house to house (point to point) connection.

Note, I’m not specifically recommending this model, only illustrating one type of solution.

While you could try solutions that merely replace the antenna, the problem is that those antennas are still driven by the router, and that becomes your limiting factor. A wholesale AP replacement is almost always going to produce better results.

 

[Mooguy]

I asked this in another thread. Whats the difference betweem the Ubiquiti Networks PICO2HP at 80+-$ and this thing that looks the same for $300 http://www.ayrstone.com/wp/products/ayrmesh-hub/
by Ayrstone? Thanks

 

[bmoffitt]

The Ayrstone AyrMesh Hub2n and the Ubiquiti PicoStation M2HP are the same hardware - the difference is the firmware on that hardware.

The Ubiquiti PicoStation is designed for a WISP tech and uses AirOS, Ubiquiti's proprietary firmware. It has pages and pages of options that a good tech can use to configure the radio to fit perfectly into a wireless network. It also has Ubiquiti's AirMax TDMA feature, which is very cool (if you're a WISP). It can be configured as an access point or a client device, and in a number of ways for each. It does NOT do meshing.

The AyrMesh Hub is designed for farmers and ranchers and uses Ayrstone's proprietary firmware, which has no options. It is self-configuring, using the settings from Ayrstone's cloud-based management and monitoring system. It is an 802.11 g/n WiFi Access Point and 802.11s mesh node - that's all it does.

Bottom line: if you are (or have access to) a tech, the PicoStation is probably the right product for you. If you are not a tech and don't want to hire one, or if you need a meshing solution, the AyrMesh Hub may be a better choice.

 

[jimnall2015]

The Ayrstone AyrMesh Hub2n and the Ubiquiti PicoStation M2HP are the same hardware - the difference is the firmware on that hardware.

The Ubiquiti PicoStation is designed for a WISP tech and uses AirOS, Ubiquiti's proprietary firmware. It has pages and pages of options that a good tech can use to configure the radio to fit perfectly into a wireless network. It also has Ubiquiti's AirMax TDMA feature, which is very cool (if you're a WISP). It can be configured as an access point or a client device, and in a number of ways for each. It does NOT do meshing.

The AyrMesh Hub is designed for farmers and ranchers and uses Ayrstone's proprietary firmware, which has no options. It is self-configuring, using the settings from Ayrstone's cloud-based management and monitoring system. It is an 802.11 g/n WiFi Access Point and 802.11s mesh node - that's all it does.

Bottom line: if you are (or have access to) a tech, the PicoStation is probably the right product for you. If you are not a tech and don't want to hire one, or if you need a meshing solution, the AyrMesh Hub may be a better choice.

 

[jimnall2015]

I am familiar with consumer routers, switches, access points, modems, but not with the commercial AYRMESH or UBIQUITI hardware/firmware. One thing I noticed about Ubiquiti vs Ayrmesh is that Ayrmesh is wifi N while Ubiquiti is only G. wouldn't that have an impact on distance? where can I go to get more info about configuring an outdoor wifi network?

 

[bmoffitt]

I am familiar with consumer routers, switches, access points, modems, but not with the commercial AYRMESH or UBIQUITI hardware/firmware. One thing I noticed about Ubiquiti vs Ayrmesh is that Ayrmesh is wifi N while Ubiquiti is only G. wouldn't that have an impact on distance? where can I go to get more info about configuring an outdoor wifi network?

No, the "M2" product line from Ubiquiti uses 802.11n, and the radio characteristics (which are governed by the hardware, which is, of course, the same) of both products are the same.

The difference is in the setup and maintenance. You can download the installation instructions for the AyrMesh Hub to see what's involved, and you can see the guides for setting up Ubiquiti gear at http://wiki.ubnt.com/AirOS_User_Guides

I also recommend the articles in the "How it works" section on ayrstone.com (http://www.ayrstone.com/wp/how-it-works/), especially http://www.ayrstone.com/wp/how-it-works/longer-range-networks/

For a single Access Point, there are a lot of good feasible options, including the Hawking outdoor access point and the Amped outdoor unit (directional, but not extremely so - just provides a somewhat stronger signal in one direction than the others). The advantage of the AyrMesh system is the meshing: you can quickly and easily deploy access points to cover a very large area, with a single point to monitor and manage them.

I hope that's helpful,

Bill

 

[TheBritishAreComing]

Before you go spending money on a solution that's not fit for purpose, as a professional installer of long-range wifi solutions, I thought I might be able to offer a voice of reason here.

By placing a higher powered wireless access point at the router end of your connection, you are only fixing half of the problem. Chances are the device you are using at the pool (whether a smartphone, tablet or laptop), still only has a limited range (probably in the order of 200ft on a very good day), so while it may be able to see the wireless network, it's not going to be able to connect to it.

Unfortunately, if you want to get a wireless signal to travel 2000ft, the only way to do this is to install a pair of high-powered devices, one at the router and one at the pool; then point them at each other to form a wireless bridge. Only by doing this will both devices have sufficient transmit power for the signals in both directions to reach each other.

Chances are this is going to be out of budget, not least because it will also require a suitable provision for a power supply at the pool end.

Sorry to have to be the harsh voice of reason on this occasion.

The best solution in fact would be to run a fiber-optic cable from the house to the pool, connect this to the router (you'll need a media convertor to convert it back to ethernet at each end) and connect it to a basic (reasonably priced) wireless access point at the pool. However this also will need power provisioning to the poolside.

 

[bmoffitt]

Before you go spending money on a solution that's not fit for purpose, as a professional installer of long-range wifi solutions, I thought I might be able to offer a voice of reason here.

By placing a higher powered wireless access point at the router end of your connection, you are only fixing half of the problem. Chances are the device you are using at the pool (whether a smartphone, tablet or laptop), still only has a limited range (probably in the order of 200ft on a very good day), so while it may be able to see the wireless network, it's not going to be able to connect to it.

Unfortunately, if you want to get a wireless signal to travel 2000ft, the only way to do this is to install a pair of high-powered devices, one at the router and one at the pool; then point them at each other to form a wireless bridge. Only by doing this will both devices have sufficient transmit power for the signals in both directions to reach each other.

Chances are this is going to be out of budget, not least because it will also require a suitable provision for a power supply at the pool end.

Sorry to have to be the harsh voice of reason on this occasion.

The best solution in fact would be to run a fiber-optic cable from the house to the pool, connect this to the router (you'll need a media convertor to convert it back to ethernet at each end) and connect it to a basic (reasonably priced) wireless access point at the pool. However this also will need power provisioning to the poolside.

TheBritish-

You are, of course, correct in regards to the rf power part of the problem, and that the BEST solution is to run a fiber optic link out to the pool. However, fiber may not be cost-effective (the cost of trenching, running conduit, pulling fiber, installing the hardware, and then re-covering the trench), so wireless is the best alternative.

You have failed to consider the effects of antenna gain - the AyrMesh Hub and Ubiquiti PicoStation use 6 dB omnidirectional gain antennas, and gain antennas increase both the outgoing AND the incoming signals. So a low-power device like a cellphone or a laptop can gain a LOT of range by connecting to an access point with a high-gain antenna.

Interestingly, this trick only really works up to about a 9 dB antenna. Omnidirectional antennas achieve "gain" by directing less of the signal up and down from the antenna and "squeezing" that signal into a tighter "donut" around the antenna. When you get above 9 dB of gain, however, the ring of signal around the antenna is so thin that there's a relatively small region that gets the full signal strength. These are results that are not obvious from mere "book-study" of the technology - my knowledge has been significantly enhanced by installing a lot of outdoor WiFi systems.

The advantage of a meshing system like AyrMesh (or Meraki, Aruba, or Open-Mesh) is that you can have chain out several access points to increase the range of the system, albeit at the expense of bandwidth. The advantage of a high-power access point like AyrMesh over "normal" 100 mw access points is that the access points can be quite far apart, because of their high power radios and high-gain antennas - up to 2.5 miles in the case of AyrMesh.

So you can put one meshing AP at the house and have another at the pool. You may not have hundreds of Mbps of bandwidth, but you will have very strong signal at the pool and enough bandwidth for most applications, and the cost (a few hundred dollars) will be MUCH less than the cost of running fiber.

You can also, of course, have a technician install a high-bandwidth Ubiquiti (or other brand) point-to-point wireless bridge and put a normal WiFi Access Point at the pool - Ayrstone (the company behind AyrMesh) has a very easy-to-install bridge product for up to 5 miles, and Ubiquiti has a range of bridge radios that will provide varying levels of bandwidth at varying levels of price. That will provide much higher bandwidth at the pool, but, for the Ubiquiti radios, you will probably need an experienced technician to install the wireless bridge. A wireless bridge also won't provide WiFi between the house and the pool the way a meshing WiFi system will.

Bottom line (at least from my perspective): there are a lot of ways to get WiFi out to the pool; it matters whether you want to have massive bandwidth (remember, most rural Americans are lucky to get a few Mbps of Internet service, so bandwidth is not always an issue) and whether you want to have access in the area between the house and the pool.

 

[dwiley999]

eibgrad --
Which specific Ubiquiti product did you have in mind? I looked at the website and found nothing close to $100.
Thanks!!

 

[yaya_1]

Your best/cheaper solution would be with 2 Ubiquiti Loco M2 (or M5, wich is a little better if you have high interference in that area). http://www.ciudadwireless.com/ubiquiti_networks_ubiquiti_locom2_airmax_2-4ghz-p-3774.html

Connect them as this example: https://telcoantennas.com.au/site/sites/default/files/images/ubiquiti-nanostation-m5-setup-instructions-diagram.png

They are Outdoor, but if you prefer: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Am4aHG8Hz9Q/hqdefault.jpg

If you want an Outdoor AP for the pool side, the best/cheaper is probably the Ubiquiti Picostation M2. See here: http://www.ciudadwireless.com/ubiquiti_networks_ubiquiti_picostation_airmax_802-11gbn_antena-p-7194.html

 

[Ramblin16]

This is a very old thread and I`m surprised no one has suggested an AP with a second router setup as a repeater. The original poster (3 yrs ago) had 2 very good routers already. Add the popular 3rd party software and this setup works very well. Matter of fact I`m using this setup myself at almost the same distance with cheaper routers and I live stream TV !

 

[Shawnhota]

This is a very old thread and I`m surprised no one has suggested an AP with a second router setup as a repeater. The original poster (3 yrs ago) had 2 very good routers already. Add the popular 3rd party software and this setup works very well. Matter of fact I`m using this setup myself at almost the same distance with cheaper routers and I live stream TV !

I live at a campsite and have wifi at the guard shack want to extend it out about 300ft like a baseball field to reach 5 campers in the outfield, how can I make it work?

 

[Ramblin16]

This is a very old thread and I`m surprised no one has suggested an AP with a second router setup as a repeater. The original poster (3 yrs ago) had 2 very good routers already. Add the popular 3rd party software and this setup works very well. Matter of fact I`m using this setup myself at almost the same distance with cheaper routers and I live stream TV !

I live at a campsite and have wifi at the guard shack want to extend it out about 300ft like a baseball field to reach 5 campers in the outfield, how can I make it work?

OK, You didn`t say if it was open space or covered with trees .If it is open I would make the argument 300 ft. is not that far at all. I have had good reception at 500 ft. just using cheap routers with external antennas. A dlink 615 works just fine. On the receiving end if you are using a network adapter dongle a simple " beer can" deflector placed behind it will work wonders, but for a laptop this isn`t an option. You could setup a router as a "repeater" in the general area of your campsites and that would work well. Line of site is your best friend in this setup. If you can place the guard shack router in a window preferably with directional antennas will help too. Any obstacles in the way at this distance will be a problem.

 

[Shawnhota]

This is a very old thread and I`m surprised no one has suggested an AP with a second router setup as a repeater. The original poster (3 yrs ago) had 2 very good routers already. Add the popular 3rd party software and this setup works very well. Matter of fact I`m using this setup myself at almost the same distance with cheaper routers and I live stream TV !

I live at a campsite and have wifi at the guard shack want to extend it out about 300ft like a baseball field to reach 5 campers in the outfield, how can I make it work?

OK, You didn`t say if it was open space or covered with trees .If it is open I would make the argument 300 ft. is not that far at all. I have had good reception at 500 ft. just using cheap routers with external antennas. A dlink 615 works just fine. On the receiving end if you are using a network adapter dongle a simple " beer can" deflector placed behind it will work wonders, but for a laptop this isn`t an option. You could setup a router as a "repeater" in the general area of your campsites and that would work well. Line of site is your best friend in this setup. If you can place the guard shack router in a window preferably with directional antennas will help too. Any obstacles in the way at this distance will be a problem.

It's pretty open, the shack is pretty much centered and my campsite is about 300ft to the right and there's another campsite to the left it's about 300ft and roughly 300ft in between me and him

 

[bill001g]

This is the problem with adding to old threads. The recommendations farther up the chain are still pretty much valid. Go look at ubiquiti or engenius products that are designed for this application. You want a outdoor AP.

Other than things to play with or if you have junk laying around it is silly to mess with routers and antenna to do this. When you can get a outdoor AP for $75 it is easier to just get something that works and be done with it.

 

[Ramblin16]

When I say external antennas I`m talking about routers that come that way out of the box. You just can`t expect much range with the "ashtray" types with internal antennas common at the big box stores. Add to that many sold today for use in the US have "regulatory override" built in to limit range. That being said, 300 ft. open area should be no problem.

 

[RealBeast]

Necro thread closed. If you have a specific issue, please start your own thread with all details included and model numbers of existing hardware.