Hello
I have a steel building 100 feet from my neighbors house and would like to connect to there WIFI. I only need to use it maybe a few times a month and they have offered to let me use it. Outside there is a great signal but not inside the building .It will show up under networks but no signal. There are no windows in the side of the building. What I was hoping to do is get a Extender with removable antennas and mount one outside and run wire to that antenna inside to the extender then broadcast WIFI inside my building. I have not found any extenders with removable antennas and would this even work if I did? Is there another way?
I don't want to ask them to do anything on there end if possible and I really don't want to run any cables unless I have to
Thank you for you time
How far away is your house from your steel building? Your neighbor may be okay with you using their internet, but I always get a little iffy when others say that. Why not repeat your own signal?
Solution #1 - Antenna/Repeater
Pros - Should be relatively easy setup /crosses fingers
Cons - Repeater solutions aren't the fastest. In my limited experience, most repeaters we setup were limited to about 300-400mb/s max, and they sometimes lose connection. You say you only need to "check emails" now, but once you have internet in your building you're going to be thinking of new ways to utilize it.
Something like this should work. You'll need to install the antenna on the outside and make a penetration into your steel building. If you do, you can use a 90 degree rigid conduit elbow that's threaded on one of the ends, and thread it into a flange that's mounted on the side of your steel building. You can then make your penetration in the center of the flange, allowing the cable to route through the conduit elbow and into your building to the receiver. Angle the elbow so it's pointing down so you're not funneling water into your building (water will travel along the wires via gravity, so make sure your routing doesn't allow that). Some clear silicon should do the rest. Alternatively, you could just buy the Ubiquiti universal antenna mount that Amazon is linking along with it, but both solutions will do the trick.
Antenna/Repeater -
https://www.amazon.com/Extended-Rep...+range+extender+antenna&qid=1662032778&sr=8-3
Flange -
https://www.topaz-usa.com/rigid-imc-fittings/293?returnurl=/rigid-imc-fittings/
90 Degree Rigid EMT elbow -
https://www.topaz-usa.com/elbows-ni...l=/elbows-nipples-couplings-elbows-rigid-90d/
Or, universal antenna mount -
https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Uni...64-b1da-d407ff2f172a&pd_rd_i=B006J1WSGI&psc=1
Solution #2 - Hardline CAT6 to WiFi solution
Pros - Fastest (good to 5gb/s), lowest latency, bulletproof solution since it's your own internet, and relatively easy setup
Cons - Limited to 300ft. Some physical labor involved. Get a PoE injector with built in surge protection
Run an outdoor direct burial CAT6 cable from your house to your steel building. I'm not sure how far it is between your building and your house, but CAT5e/CAT6 cables are good for just shy over 300ft.
CAT6 Direct Burial Cable -
https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Ethe...x=outdoor+rated+ca,electronics,96&sr=1-3&th=1
It's preferable to run it inside PVC conduit, but you don't have to. Running it in PVC will also help with surge protection.
Ubiquity Wifi 6 AP -
https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Acc...cs&sprefix=ubiquiti+ap,electronics,93&sr=1-19
(AP = Wifi; it stands for
Access
Point)
Mount this sucker inside your steel building and it'll be like internet inside your own house. Ubiquiti AP's are fairly simple and straight forward to setup, too.
You'll need to buy a POE injector separately. They're like $25. Get one with built-in surge protection.
|Home Router ---> PoE Injector |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--> AP|
Solution #3 - Bridge to bridge extender
Pros - Very simple solution, long distance
Cons - 100mb limitation, probably gonna give you some trouble on the setup (maybe).
https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Out.../dp/B09Y593F9J/ref=psdc_1194486_t5_B08QG92M83
Simple solution, but it's probably gonna require some setup.