Extending wifi to a shed

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JP5

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#288644 14-Jul-2021 16:50

I have a shed in a paddock about 70m from my house that I'd like to extend wifi access to. It seems to be on the edge of the range of my existing network as my devices do get some 2.4g signal there but it's a bit intermittent and not really usable. I'm hoping that means I only need to give the signal a small boost though to push it over the threshold to something useful - I don't need it to deliver maximum bandwidth or performance but enough to stream from there would be ideal.

Am I right in thinking that just replacing one of the antennas on my existing router might be all I need? Perhaps with something directional like a panel antenna with >10dbi gain? Any advice would be appreciated.

wellygary

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#2744190 14-Jul-2021 17:02

Enough to stream from there would be idea

Get a point to point solution, do try to "make do" with modifying your existing gear, get something you know will bridge the gap and then run a new AP in the shed...

Gordy7

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#2744198 14-Jul-2021 17:15

Has your shed got power supplied from your house?

Gordy

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JP5

43 posts

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#2744205 14-Jul-2021 17:31

It's powered but not from the house, it's solar + inverter. I do have spare AP's so setting one up in the shed and doing a bridge or whatever is no problem, I just need to know what else it'll take to get the signal there.

Mehrts

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#2744230 14-Jul-2021 18:44

What's the capacity of the solar setup?
What devices do you have in the shed that you want to use?
How often do you want to use these devices?
What type of streaming are you wanting to do?
Do you want a permanent solution, or a semi-permanent one?
Is there access to dig a trench between house & shed?

If you're wanting to make use of a data connection between the house & shed over the long-term & use it reasonably often, then if I were you, I'd seriously consider digging a trench & placing separate conduits containing power and data lines, plus pull strings for future use!

Not only will you have a setup with no power limitations, but you'll have a solid network link with capacity to expand in the future if needed. It might seem like overkill now, but you'll no doubt thank yourself later down the track.

sparkz25

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#2744233 14-Jul-2021 18:47

use a set of these, https://www.gowifi.co.nz/ubiquitinetworks/loco5ac.html and some 24v poe injectors and you will be set

CYaBro

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#2744235 14-Jul-2021 18:53

Is it line of site from the house to the shed?

I'm about to do the exact same thing, put small solar system on our shed that's about 100M from the house.

I have a Unifi AC Mesh Pro on the roof of the house and will be putting a Unifi AC Mesh on the shed to grab and boost the signal.
The AC Mesh Pro signal from the house goes past the shed about another 50M and works with my iPhone so should work great with the AC Mesh on the shed.
I want to put some cameras out there so will also have a small PoE switch connected to the AC Mesh for those.

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JP5

43 posts

Geek

#2744244 14-Jul-2021 19:21

Yes I have line of sight from house to shed.

Mehrts:

What's the capacity of the solar setup?
What devices do you have in the shed that you want to use?
How often do you want to use these devices?
What type of streaming are you wanting to do?
Do you want a permanent solution, or a semi-permanent one?
Is there access to dig a trench between house & shed?

The shed isn't used that often. Power definitely isn't a concern, there's adequate supply for everything I want to do over there. I'd also prefer to avoid a trench as that will not be a small job. I primarily just want browsing to be available for phones (and my laptop) as mobile data does not have usable coverage here. If we can get good enough signal to watch youtube as well then that will be ideal. That's what I meant by streaming sorry, I'm not going to be streaming to twitch or whatever.

I'll get the nanostations if that's what I need to do but is it not possible to work something just by using my existing AP's and connecting some beefed up antenna(s)? This would be cheaper than forking up for the nanostations and poe injectors.

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sparkz25

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#2744329 15-Jul-2021 06:58

What are the existing AP's that you have?

Also as what @CYaBro mentioned, a couple of UAP-AC-M's will also work as long as they can see each other and would work just as well as the nano stations, and then you wouldn't also need a AP as the Mesh will be your AP

cyril7

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#2744335 15-Jul-2021 07:20

Hi, it all depends on what "quality" of network you want to provision. At one extreame, dig a trench, at 70m I would put in fibre, the next option off the rank is a 60GHz p2p link, this will cost around $400 and will give you "near" wired GigE performance both in speed and latency, when I say "near" I mean very near, if not equivalent, but at a cost of electronic complexity, but that should not concern. Either of these will then require an AP in the shed fed from the link, wired/fibre or 60G for devices to connect to.

Next option is to put up a 5GHz p2p, this will give you a couple of hundred Mb/s, actual speed dependant on configuration, ideally use a product that supports TDMA rather than CSMA such as AirMax or NStream/NV2, again this should cost around $400 for a pair of units (UBNT Nano's is a good candidate). Again an AP in the shed is required.

Next option would be to just put up a high gain mesh outdoor unit at the shed to try pick up a signal from the house, you might need to select and put an outdoor unit at the house to ensure a better signal is projected in the direction of the shed, this solution has the advantage of not needed an additional AP in the shed for devices to connect to, but this option is also the worst performer as meshing and repeating is not ideal.

Cyril

JP5

43 posts

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#2744879 15-Jul-2021 22:59

Thanks Cyril. I have a 30mb VDSL connection at the house and won't be transferring much locally so I don't need a lot of throughput available through this setup. I think I'll go the latter option and try adding one of these to the shed and see if it picks up the house wifi. If it struggles I'll add another at the house. Is that an appropriate piece of kit?

sparkz25:

What are the existing AP's that you have?

Also as what @CYaBro mentioned, a couple of UAP-AC-M's will also work as long as they can see each other and would work just as well as the nano stations, and then you wouldn't also need a AP as the Mesh will be your AP

A bunch of old vdsl routers. Figured I'd repurpose them as AP's if I could.

cyril7

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#2744951 16-Jul-2021 07:21

Yeah that will work, set it in client mode and the the wired port can feed an old ap in the shed.

But as said, not an ideal solution.

Cyril

raytaylor

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#2746061 17-Jul-2021 23:42

Mikrotik Wireless Wire kit for the bridge

They come pre-programmed out of the box. Just point them at each other and you have a 1gbit connection to 100-120 metres.

Then anything for the AP within the shed such as a unifi, dumbed down old router with dhcp server turned off, or a router that supports AP mode.

Ray Taylor

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Tinkerisk

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#2746068 18-Jul-2021 06:33

Had the same situation.

Took the fibre optics link of my switch section, 30m OM-4 optic cable (protected by tubes in the ground), TP-Link media converter and then to the AP in the shed (who has it‘s own power supply). The AP is covering the whole garden/outside area for the IoT gardening gimmicks (i.e. mower robot, SDR server directly attached to the antennas in the garden, …). There is no chance for lightning injection to the eth network. Roaming between indoor/outdoor AP works flawless and performance is the same like both indoor APs.

- NET: FTTH, OPNsense, 10G backbone, GWN APs, ipPBX
- SRV: 12 RU HA server cluster, 0.1 PB storage on premise
- IoT: thread, zigbee, tasmota, BidCoS, LoRa, WX suite, IR
- 3D: two 3D printers, 3D scanner, CNC router, laser cutter