Outdoor wireless network

[philwilson2004]

Hi, I'm enquiring as to any cheap way of creating a network to cover a distance of about 500 metres. It doesn't need to be connected to the Internet, as its just going to be used for connecting security cameras at my father's farm for viewing in their house. I have a couple of old routers, but not oppesed to buying specific one

 

[bill001g]

Depends what you mean as cheap. You can get a couple outdoor bridges from companies like ubiquit. They run in the $50 each range. They sell really fancy ones but you are not going very far. You do need clear line of sight between the 2 locations.

Old routers will not work for this. First most can not run in "client-bridge" mode and second the key to going long distance is directional antenna. It does not pay to try to replace the antenna on a router with directional antenna when you can get a outdoor bridge that has a similar antenna and the electronics for about the same price.

 

[kanewolf]

Since you said cameras (plural) I have to believe that you want to cover multiple directions. That is more difficult. The answer @bill001g gave above is also what I would recommend. BUT, since you may want to cover different directions, it won't work as easy. You could try an omnidirectional outdoor access point on the house with directional WIFI bridges for the cameras. It is hard to say if it will work or not. You will also need to be aware of how many cameras you are trying to stream simultaneously. 2.4Ghz WIFI can be limiting. If you have some cameras close and some further away, a dual band access point on the house and then a mix of 2.4 (further) and 5Ghz (closer) directional units with the cameras would help spread out the bandwidth usage.
The outdoor AP on the house would be connected to the main house network/router with an ethernet cable which would provide both power and network.