wireless in metal bldg

[Smooter]

I'm building a metal bldg. next to my lake house and want wifi in the new bdlg (without having to purchase a separate service). what is the best way to do this?

 

[Ralston18]

What is the distance between the lake house and new building? Anything in between? If yes, what?

What will be inside the new building? Walls, equipment, storage, man cave....?

Please add a few more details. There are some experts here on such things and they can help. Just need to know more about your environment and plans.

 

[Smooter]

There is garage attached to the house that is 25 ft and then another 30 ft of space between garage and metal bldg. the building will have a man cave (TV, etc) and a wood working shop. the main thing I want internet for is to be able to use a wireless box (direct tv) for the tv in the man cave. the man cave will be on the wall closest to the garage so the 55 ft is a good number for where the internet needs to reach.

 

[Ralston18]

Thanks.

In that environment, my recommendation would be to go coax and ethernet versus wireless. Hopefully, you will be able to run cable(s) through the 30 feet of space either on poles, or maybe underground...

My reasoning is that using wireless will be subject to too much degradation and interference. Resulting speeds will not provide the performance level you will want to have. 55 feet is well within coax and ethernet distances plus some additional footage for the internal runs.

However, if there is a good wireless solution out there then that should be considered as that would meet your opening requirement for wifi.

 

[thefarcus]

Thanks.

In that environment, my recommendation would be to go coax and ethernet versus wireless. Hopefully, you will be able to run cable(s) through the 30 feet of space either on poles, or maybe underground...

My reasoning is that using wireless will be subject to too much degradation and interference. Resulting speeds will not provide the performance level you will want to have. 55 feet is well within coax and ethernet distances plus some additional footage for the internal runs.

However, if there is a good wireless solution out there then that should be considered as that would meet your opening requirement for wifi.

In supplement to this, if you do decide to bury a drop, make sure you purchase outdoor rated cat5e (or 6). This will have better, thicker shielding which will protect from moisture, UV and some critters. Some also has steel reinforcement for ground swelling/shrinking to mitigate stress on the copper. Also PLEASE purchase solid copper core and not CCA rated for your outdoor runs. In the cold, the CCA (copper clad aluminum) becomes very brittle and breaks.

 

[hang-the-9]

I'm building a metal bldg. next to my lake house and want wifi in the new bdlg (without having to purchase a separate service). what is the best way to do this?

If your router has an external antenna connection you can use a directional antenna on the router pointed to the other building. Chances are you do not have an external connection on your router unless you already have a good one, in that case you need to get a router with an external antenna connection.

If the new building is on the same circuit as the main building, you can use a power line adapter and use ethernet and a wifi extender off that.

 

[Pooneil]

If you elect not to run an Ethernet cable the next best solution is to put in a wireless bridge to span the gap, assuming there is line of sight between the two buildings. Engenius and Ubiquity both make products just for this purpose. They have reasonable prices for outdoor equipment.

From where you have a wired network, you run an ethernet cable to the bridge access point. On the other end the bridge client converts the wireless back to ethernet, which goes inside the metal building via ethernet. Since these will be outside, it is a good idea to make the runs of with outdoor cabling. But this is not strictly needed as standard cat 6 should last for several years.

THese are examples of the technology.
http://www.engeniusnetworks.com/product/product.php?c=9&s=21&p=85
https://www.ubnt.com/airmax/nanostationm/