Question Long Range Outdoor Wireless Extender

[DanIO]

I want to have up/down internet connection to my workshop and also a spot on my backyard. Don’t need connection all over yard area, just those 2 areas. The shop’s closest distance is 60 feet and the far end is 130 feet. The picnic table in the backyard is 305 feet. The yard has some trees but there is a direct line of sight for both locations. My home is bricked and the signal doesn’t travel far on the exterior. I can run a cat cable to the exterior if necessary.

I appreciate your advice.

 

[DanIO]

I want to have up/down internet connection to my workshop and also a spot on my backyard. Don’t need connection all over yard area, just those 2 areas. The shop’s closest distance is 60 feet and the far end is 130 feet. The picnic table in the backyard is 305 feet. The yard has some trees but there is a direct line of sight for both locations. My home is bricked and the signal doesn’t travel far on the exterior. I can run a cat cable to the exterior if necessary.

My modem/router in a Motorola MT 7711

I appreciate your advice.

 

[Inthrutheoutdoor]

At those distances, AND the fact that you want to limit the coverage area to specific locations, you would be best served by running exterior-grade ethernet cable (or reg ethernet inside conduit) with a repeater/booster, as a direct Cat 6 (please don't use Cat 5 for this project) connection is typically limited to 300ft, especially if you want to maintain or get close to a 1Gbs connection speed... especially out near that picnic table....

Wireless might work too, but there would be no way of really controlling the spread of the signal to places you don't want it to go, like the neighbor's back yard, across the street, or to other parts of your property that don't need a connection.... which could potentially invite snooping/hacking/theft at your expense

 

[DanIO]

Thanks for the speedy reply. I am not concerned with spreading the signal throughout my property and beyond. A secure password will be used. I included the info about the 2 locations in case a directional antenna might be suggested. Both locations are pretty much in line with one another.

I was hoping to install a cable connected sending unit on the brick wall of my home. Is this possible with setting up receiving units at the 2 locations? The far location doesn’t have electricity to power at receiver.

 

[bill001g]

I guess it depends on what you mean by coverage.

The largest issue is no matter how fancy you make the main location the remote end still depends on the radios in the end devices. Most times to go longer distances you would need directional antenna on both ends of the connection.
The 60ft distance might be workable with a just a directional AP on the house side. When you talk 300 ft it is much less likely. With no power on the remote end you do not have much other option that to try this.

It will not be real expensive to try it I guess. Many companies sell outdoor directional AP. Ubiquiti has many option but you can find them from the more common consumer brands.

The only solution pretty much garenteed to work at 300ft would a point to point system with directional radios on both ends and then a AP connected to the far radio. Maybe a small solar panel and batteries would be a option.

 

[kanewolf]

I want to have up/down internet connection to my workshop and also a spot on my backyard. Don’t need connection all over yard area, just those 2 areas. The shop’s closest distance is 60 feet and the far end is 130 feet. The picnic table in the backyard is 305 feet. The yard has some trees but there is a direct line of sight for both locations. My home is bricked and the signal doesn’t travel far on the exterior. I can run a cat cable to the exterior if necessary.

I appreciate your advice.

Is there power at the picnic table? Which building is closest to the picnic table ?

For WIFI in the shop, you have two choices. A cable between the house and shop, or a point-to-point between the house and shop. Since you say you can run a cable outside, I would recommend a direct burial ethernet cable. Then put a WIFI access point inside the shop. With a length of 60+ feet, you may need two WIFI access points.

 

[DanIO]

No power at picnic table.
The shop is located between the house and the picnic table.

I may try running a cable from the in home router to the shop. From there maybe a router (or switch) with POE. The security cameras are a maximum distance of ~55 feet awat from the router.
Does this look like a workable solution to get internet to the shop?

If that work, I can experiment getting internet to the picnic table. Connectivity to the picnic table would be nice but not a necessity.

How long can a Cat6 cable carry signal from the router?

 

[bill001g]

Ethernet cables is rated to run at full gigabit speeds to 100 meters, which you are very close to at 305 ft. When you cut it that close you need to be sure your cable ends are well made. In general it will work at the full rated distance almost all the time.

PoE is a bit of a problem. If you use the industry standard form which is called 802.3at/af that also is rated to run the full 100 meters. Other forms of PoE use proprietary methods and lower voltages. These tend to be limited to shorter distances.

You want to use quality outdoor direct bury cable. You can also run conduit and use indoor rated cable if you like. Be very sure though the wire is pure copper (no cca) and has wire size 22-24 (none of that thin or flat cable). When you go that distance you might try to look for larger wires (ie lower numbers) like 22 or 23 rather than 24. It will help with the resistance of the wire and will help with PoE. It should though work with awg 24 if that is all you can find.

 

[DanIO]

Good info. Thanks, Bill and everyone that replied…

Question -
Once the Cat6 cable is run to the shop, what type of wireless router (Mesh or what?) should I use for 3 security cameras?

Danny

 

[kanewolf]

No power at picnic table.
The shop is located between the house and the picnic table.

I may try running a cable from the in home router to the shop. From there maybe a router (or switch) with POE. The security cameras are a maximum distance of ~55 feet awat from the router.
Does this look like a workable solution to get internet to the shop?

If that work, I can experiment getting internet to the picnic table. Connectivity to the picnic table would be nice but not a necessity.

How long can a Cat6 cable carry signal from the router?

The 305 feet for the picnic table. Is that from the house or the shop? If the shop is closer, then you can use POE from the shop.

 

[bill001g]

Good info. Thanks, Bill and everyone that replied…

Question -
Once the Cat6 cable is run to the shop, what type of wireless router (Mesh or what?) should I use for 3 security cameras?

Danny

You need nothing real special. Mesh is mostly a marketing term that is used to get people to spend money they don't really need to. You do not need any powerful router because you are only using the wifi radios when you run as a AP. It does not pay to buy a real fancy one since most devices do not support things like 4x4 mimo. A router with a number between 1200-1450 will be fine. Using a router rather actual AP will get you extra ethernet ports also.