What exactly do I need to extend wifi to another building?

[dawnscarboro]

Ok... here goes. I have been researching for the last few days "how to" extend the wifi from the main house to a second building on the property about 150-200 ft away. However, much of the information that I am finding is outdated. In 2017.... what are my (more economical) equipment options? I understand that I can run an Ethernet cable from point A to B. And I know that I can do an outdoor repeater/extender. If I go this route, what all will I need to purchase? Do I need a router in each location PLUS two extenders? Or two routers and one extender? Is there a better way that I have not come across? I'm trying to do this a simply as possible because I don't have a lot of time to put into it, and I will not spend a small fortune either.
Thanks in advance for any assistance

 

[Lutfij]

You will need two-three repeaters/range extenders and that will be it. Provided you don't face interference, you can get away with one-two repeaters. you won't need a router at the other end but if we were to look at the most economical solution, that would be to run an ethernet wire to the second building/household and have an access point(AP) at the end of the ethernet cable. You could setup a wireless router in place of the AP but that will depend on how many devices will connect to the AP at the same time at any given day. Routers tend to be more robust and allow file sharing between devices while AP's are meant to only distribute internet access.

Further reading.

 

[mcnumpty23]

or a cheap option

and have even seen these put on satellite dishes to make it even more powerful

i have the smaller version of this if my internet goes down i use it to connect to the free BT wifi point 400 yards away (good line of sight and on second floor of building like most aerials the higher up the better)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WiFi-Antenna-MACH1-Double-Biquad-RPTNC-Linksys-WRT54G-WRT54GL-DD-WRT-Tomato-Pair-/141080801063?hash=item20d9122f27:g:irsAAOxy4dNSzDuk

 

[boosted1g]

Router --(ethernet)-->ubiquiti nanostation on your roof pointed at buiiliding B --(wifi)--> ubiquiti nanostation on roof pointed at building A ---(ethernet)---access point (or router configured as acccess point).

The wifi option requires line of sight, if you have trees or obsticles in the way then it will not work very well.

Burrying an ethernet in conduit would be the far more reliable option and if you have digging equipment or cheap/free labor then that part is not hard at all.
If you have drop ceilings or a unfinished commercial building then getting the cable from the exit point to the router will not be very difficult at all.

 

[dawnscarboro]

So, how exactly does this set up work?

or a cheap option

and have even seen these put on satellite dishes to make it even more powerful

i have the smaller version of this if my internet goes down i use it to connect to the free BT wifi point 400 yards away (good line of sight and on second floor of building like most aerials the higher up the better)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WiFi-Antenna-MACH1-Double-Biquad-RPTNC-Linksys-WRT54G-WRT54GL-DD-WRT-Tomato-Pair-/141080801063?hash=item20d9122f27:g:irsAAOxy4dNSzDuk

 

[mcnumpty23]

So, how exactly does this work?

or a cheap option

and have even seen these put on satellite dishes to make it even more powerful

i have the smaller version of this if my internet goes down i use it to connect to the free BT wifi point 400 yards away (good line of sight and on second floor of building like most aerials the higher up the better)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WiFi-Antenna-MACH1-Double-Biquad-RPTNC-Linksys-WRT54G-WRT54GL-DD-WRT-Tomato-Pair-/141080801063?hash=item20d9122f27:g:irsAAOxy4dNSzDuk

its a very high gain antenna--though the one i linked as an example might have a different connector--normally you get them with a rp-sma connector on them

you connect it to any receiving wifi card/usb wifi etc that has removable antennas--those are usually only 2db

this is probably in the 16--20db range

or you can get them where they have attached the antenna for you to a high power usb wifi like alfa for example

if you look on youtube for biquad or double biquad you can see real life use of these

not saying these are perfect for every one

but they are a very good cheap option with little or no work to do to install

if you have good line of sight and if can get a bit of height on the antenna--though in some cases the height isnt needed

they really do pick up a very strong signal

i made mine when i lived in a large victorian house--every wall was thick solid brick so wifi reception was terrible

and drilling through all those brick walls to run ethernet cable would have been a lot of hassle

this was cheap and easy to make--though as you can see can get them already made for you on ebay

it cured my wifi problem easily

and i still use it now and then if my internet goes down to connect to a free wifi hot spot till my net is back up

 

[boosted1g]

So, how exactly does this work?

or a cheap option

and have even seen these put on satellite dishes to make it even more powerful

i have the smaller version of this if my internet goes down i use it to connect to the free BT wifi point 400 yards away (good line of sight and on second floor of building like most aerials the higher up the better)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WiFi-Antenna-MACH1-Double-Biquad-RPTNC-Linksys-WRT54G-WRT54GL-DD-WRT-Tomato-Pair-/141080801063?hash=item20d9122f27:g:irsAAOxy4dNSzDuk

You dont want to use those old wrt54g setups. They were fine and dandy in 2008 for browsing the internet. they however will fall on their face for HD video and for trying to do any actual business work of transfering files.
They use a wireless G 54mbps router, so real speed is about 30 mbps with a STRONG connection. Well you are now using it as a single radio repeater so split that bandwidth in half so you are left with 15 mbps bandwidth for all devices connected to it (probably more realistically 10).

With my design listed earlier you have 2 radios (1 from your router and 1 from your antenna) so you dont split the bandwidth in half and are not reducing inside signal stregnth by taking away one of the anetennas. Not to mention you are at least getting 150mbps N speed devices.

ADDED:
Use these to interconnect the buildings: https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-NanoStation-loco-M2-Wireless/dp/B00HXT8FFI/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1488817628&sr=8-2-fkmr1&keywords=ubiquiti+nanostation+300mbps
Connect the 1 to primary rotuer in Building A, and connect the second to another router (configured as access point) in building B.

As stated earlier though, burying ethernet cable will be far more reliable, far better performacne, and far more trouble free.

 

[mcnumpty23]

So, how exactly does this work?

or a cheap option

and have even seen these put on satellite dishes to make it even more powerful

i have the smaller version of this if my internet goes down i use it to connect to the free BT wifi point 400 yards away (good line of sight and on second floor of building like most aerials the higher up the better)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WiFi-Antenna-MACH1-Double-Biquad-RPTNC-Linksys-WRT54G-WRT54GL-DD-WRT-Tomato-Pair-/141080801063?hash=item20d9122f27:g:irsAAOxy4dNSzDuk

You dont want to use those old wrt54g setups. They were fine and dandy in 2008 for browsing the internet. they however will fall on their face for HD video and for trying to do any actual business work of transfering files.
They use a wireless G 54mbps router, so real speed is about 30 mbps with a STRONG connection. Well you are now using it as a single radio repeater so split that bandwidth in half so you are left with 15 mbps bandwidth for all devices connected to it (probably more realistically 10).

With my design listed above you have 2 radios (1 from your router and 1 from your antenna) so you dont split the bandwidth in half and are not reducing inside signal stregnth by taking away one of the anetennas. Not to mention you are at least getting 150mbps N speed devices.

yes my link was only intended to show the biquad/double biquad

only just realised that it was showing one specifically for a router model with rp-tnc connector

and as i said not for every one depends on what you want

for basic internet they work great and are relatively cheap

if you want hd video streaming etc then yes need a more expensive/more work solution