Question How to connect an outdoor Hotspot to an existing LAN

[Garouda]

First of all, I’d like to say hello from Thailand to the community.

I’m a newbie in networking and WIFI, so please forgive the naïve level of my questions.

The 4G/LTE signal where I live is low, -117dB inside the house. I noticed tough it’s quite better a bit further uphill (-89dB). I’m trying to set up a Hotspot there using a Yeacomm outdoor router accepting an LTE sim card.

That device is powered by PoE by another router which is the inside unit of that kit. The Yeacomm YF P11 outdoor unit and the P10+ indoor unit behave as a single WIFI router.

Initially, I installed a wired LAN to connect 8 IP cameras around the house the router is a Tenda N630 v2, with WIFI not enabled due to the fact that all cameras are wired.

Now the project is to have internet access with the above-mentioned hotspot. And that’s also now that I’m struggling with the whole set up.

My computer is a desktop running on Windows 7 pro 64 bits, no WIFI.

I bought an additional WIFI router Tenda N318 that will take the WISP bridge function.

My outdoor unit is bridge enabled.

So far, I’ve been able to connect my computer to the N318 WIFI router, this one connected to the Hotspot through WISP. But this is not the final setup I’m aiming at due to location constraints. The hotspot will go uphill with 50m Ethernet cable to the inside unit, there’s a track in front of the house. The WISP router shall go in a plastic box outside the house.
Sorry for the long explanation, I made a drawing of what I intend to do.(hosted at ImgBB)

Knowing this, the questions I have are:
Is it possible to have three routers, and two switches in between like on the drawing?
Which one should be DHCP server?
DNS?
Gateway?
Should I leave automatic or assign satic IP's to all Hosts?
Thank you for your time and for sharing some knowledge.

 

[bill001g]

So i will assume the yeacomm thing is how you get your internet ?

The device that talks to the internet is the only device you want to be a actual router. You can technically have as many "routers" in the network as you like but that means multiple subnets. The single router will provide all the DNS dhcp dns etc.

Still the way you have the IP addresses assigned is they way you really want to do this. You want the other routers to run as AP or bridge units. Your WISP is a client-bridge and the other units are AP. These unit may have a AP mode but the key thing to do is disable the DHCP server and assign a non conflicting address. I suspect if you have this working you have done this correctly already.

I am unfamiliar with the equipment you are using but it may work just fine. You may want to consider a outdoor bridge unit rather than messing with plastic boxes. It is tough you can get it waterproof but then you worry about equipment overheating. I would look at ubiquiti for something like a nanostation. Which exact one depend on if you want 2.4g or 5g or if you want 802.11ac. They sell many more advanced models but the nanostations loco are about 50 and can run as what you have marked as WISP. They can also run as routers if you really want to do that.

 

[Garouda]

Dear Bill,
Thank you so much for your reply. Yes the Yeacomm kit is the internet access.
The way it works now is the following, I connected the WISP router to my computer, it's DHCP enabled and can manage all IP addresses. I can connect other WIFI clients like a tablet or my Smart Phone.
The reason why I figured out another setting was to have the WISP bridge as close as possible to the other router with the SIM card. Now the WISP router is on my desk with 72% signal strength. Thank you for your advice about outdoor routers, regarding the Yeacomm device, there are two parts, one outdoor and one indoor, it's powered by PoE, so I have no choice. I made a new diagram, as the forum recommends not to disclose IP addresses, I blurred the last two digits...

Is there a way to place the router after the switches? PC--SW1--SW2--Router ? Or like on my first diagram PC--ROUTER DHCP enabled WIFI enabled--SW1--SW2--WISP not DHCP enabled I'm asking this to keep the existing wiring.

Here a screenshot of ipconfig /all

Here a scan of DHCP clients on the LAN all wired up to the Galaxy J7

 

[bill001g]

In your case hiding the ip means little. Those 10.x.x.x ip addresses are private ip so it is not the actual address. You are likely sharing a ip with multiple users. The DNS ip are not sensitive since they are intentionally designed to accept traffic.

The key to going to the first diagram from the current one is to make the n630 router run as a a AP. Pretty much this is a dumb switch with wifi radios.

I am not 100% sure on your current IP layout but adding another AP will have no effect. Just think of this as extra wifi radio antenna.

The really is little different from a IP design. The traffic of course passes through a bunch of switches but that likley is not gong to slow you internet traffic unless you gigabit internet and the switch connections are say 100mbps.

 

[Garouda]

Indeed, I think the IP addresses given by the ISP will vary from one day or one connection to the other. The purpose of having the WISP repeater (bridge) at the front of my house is to place it as close as possible to the other part of the bridge so to say. Did not change anything yet but the signal dropped from 72% to 64% (day-night effect???)... I'm adding a picture of that Yeacomm device FYI

Here the outdoor unit on site in the middle of our rubber trees.

Here the indoor unit, power ON/OFF with remote control (receiver under the plate)

And from there to the house, in the middle of nowhere, power from solar cells, water from a deep well and now eventually internet.