[SOLVED] Wi-fi signal improvement

[dotas1]

Hello,

So, many small villages in my country have a free wi-fi hotspot area near schools. It's an upgrading rural areas program funded by EU and goverment. It's meant to give internet access to all the people in the village.

My grandma is living in such a village but unfortunately her house is one of the further away houses and receives a very weak signal inside the house which is far better when you are in the house yard.

My question is if there is some hardware to be installed in order to boost the received signal in the house even if it's for just 1 spot. I am clueless when it comes to networking so, apologies if it's been asked before, I couldn't even write a proper title for this question.

Btw, my grandma does not have a device that can connect to the internet yet, but I can buy her a tablet or give her my old laptop and teach her how to answer video calls. I am saying this because it does not have to be a hardware solution of wi-fi, but a network cable as well (if there is such solution).

Thanks!

 

[bill001g]

What might help are directional bridge devices.

In effect they are wifi cards are outdoors that connect via a ethernet cable.

As a example of ones I have used are ubiquiti loco m2. These are about $50. It is all going to depend on what you can get and the wifi regulations can be different in different countries. Maybe ones used in the EU would be legal there.

The other thing you have to be careful of is the radio band. Most these type of devices can only run on 1 frequency ..ie 2.4 or 5. Most consumer equipment can do either. You need to find out what they are using on the hotspot. It is likely 2.4 since that have more coverage but is a bit slower.

So that would get you internet inside the house via a erthernet cable. The ethernet cable also provides the power to the outdoor radio so you do not need to worry about a power outlet outside. If you need Wifi inside the house your are going to need a AP. Any very inexpensive router can run as AP. Most modern routers have the ability to set them to bridge or AP mode.

 

[dotas1]

What might help are directional bridge devices.

In effect they are wifi cards are outdoors that connect via a ethernet cable.

As a example of ones I have used are ubiquiti loco m2. These are about $50. It is all going to depend on what you can get and the wifi regulations can be different in different countries. Maybe ones used in the EU would be legal there.

The other thing you have to be careful of is the radio band. Most these type of devices can only run on 1 frequency ..ie 2.4 or 5. Most consumer equipment can do either. You need to find out what they are using on the hotspot. It is likely 2.4 since that have more coverage but is a bit slower.

So that would get you internet inside the house via a erthernet cable. The ethernet cable also provides the power to the outdoor radio so you do not need to worry about a power outlet outside. If you need Wifi inside the house your are going to need a AP. Any very inexpensive router can run as AP. Most modern routers have the ability to set them to bridge or AP mode.

Excellent! Thanks for that!
Is it hard to set it up? On the software side I mean.

 

[bill001g]

There is no software really. The settings are pretty much the same as setting up wifi on a end device. Now some of these units have extra features but you can just ignore those and run it as simple client-bridge

 

[kanewolf]

Excellent! Thanks for that!
Is it hard to set it up? On the software side I mean.

You need to be sure you buy either the M2 or M5. NOT the AC model. The AC units only work in pairs. The M2 and M5 can be used to bridge to standard WIFI.
I have an M2, I bought to play with. You connect it to 24V power-over-ethernet and the POE injector (NOT INCLUDED) to a laptop. You can then access the configuration GUI built-into the unit. Might want to watch a setup video like this --

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGi_m1Pq2I

 

[dotas1]

There is no software really. The settings are pretty much the same as setting up wifi on a end device. Now some of these units have extra features but you can just ignore those and run it as simple client-bridge

You need to be sure you buy either the M2 or M5. NOT the AC model. The AC units only work in pairs. The M2 and M5 can be used to bridge to standard WIFI.
I have an M2, I bought to play with. You connect it to 24V power-over-ethernet and the POE injector (NOT INCLUDED) to a laptop. You can then access the configuration GUI built-into the unit. Might want to watch a setup video like this --

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGi_m1Pq2I

Thank you both!