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Get solid network link out to detached guest house

  • Currently bridging from main house to guest house with a router set up in the guest house acting as both wireless bridge and AP, but the connection is a little wonky. It's only about 100 ft between the two houses, but I guess the walls are attenuating the signal too much. Running ethernet cable would solve the issue, but would involve holes in the houses, which I'd like to avoid (but will consider if necessary). Powerline networking didn't work. Any thoughts? Thanks! The long/detailed version: My parents built a detached guest house about 5 years ago, which I use when I visit, and my Dad uses frequently to watch sports. There's no wiring running from the main house, and the router in the main house gave a tenuous wireless signal in the guest house, so I set my parents up with a secondary router out in the guest house that acts as both wireless bridge (that's how it connects to the main network with WAN connection) and an AP (to give a solid signal to users in the guest house). Both routers are Buffalo Airstation WHR-HP-G300N, advertised as "high power", which I figured gave me the best shot of a solid connection. It's only about 100 yards from the main house to guest house, but the wireless bridging seems less than rock solid -- WAN speed will stutter and then drop to zero from time to time. It doesn't happen inside the house, so I figure we're just on the edge of what the two routers can handle. This past Christmas, I decided to look for alternatives and tried bridging with powerline networking adapters instead wifi, but we couldn't get the powerline signal to pass between main and guest house. All my approaches thus far have been driven by a desire to avoid putting holes in either house (for wired connectivity), because I'm not very handy and it feels so permanent. But at this point, I'm willing to consider some holes if need be. I'm thinking an external WiFi antenna wired to one of the routers but mounted outdoors should do it, but I've never done such a thing. Any thoughts/recommendations would be appreciated!

  • Answer:

    Is Coax run to the guest house? If so, then I'd recommend http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EQ4BQG/ Solid as a rock and great speeds.

bigjoec at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source

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Ugh forget the pringles can or directional wifi antenna thing in general. Just get something like the nanostations. I don't even want to get in to the hassles i've had with the directional long range wifi thing, i had my own ask about that a while back and i'm a junior network engineer as well. Just no. The coax thing is also a great idea, but just give up on the wifi. Two of http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004EGI3CI/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ will be overkill and solve the problem. You can connect any cheap AP on the other end(including a http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004XXMUCQ/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/, which are actually great). So yea, $160 and then you're done hassling with this.

emptythought

See http://ask.metafilter.com/231325/Help-me-spread-the-wifi-through-the-trees-into-this-log-cabin. The Ubiquiti Nanostations I bought have been running rock solid for 2 years. Speed and bandwidth are great, almost zero dropouts. Highly recommended.

cosmicbandito

The poweline adapter likely didn't work because the guest house is on a different circuit. What you need is a proper outdoor point-to-point wireless bridge. These come as a kit and are mounted externally, so there is a bit of drilling involved, but no more than you'd need to do to mount an outdoor electrical socket (a long drill bit and a tube of silicone is all you need).

pipeski

Google the "pringle can" wireless antennae? It is good for extending line of sight wifi longer distances.

RustyBrooks

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-make-a-wifi-antenna-out-of-a-pringles-can-nb/

RustyBrooks

At my inlaws' lake cabin we had good success with a wifi repeater installed down by the dock, since getting a signal from the house was spotty due to a hill being in the way. We put the wifi repeater in the best line-of-site spot we could find, which was actually about 50 feet past the dock, but since it has line-of-sight it was able to repeat the OK signal for the people sitting on the dock behind the hill. No wires, not cutting or drilling holes (we put ours in a waterproof enclosure where a hydraulic pump lives because it had an extra outlet and will keep the repeater dry). It's crucial that you have almost no obstructions between the repeater and the access point in your house -- it will essentially let you 'bend' your wifi around all the obstacles that are preventing you from getting good signal directly from the house.

AzraelBrown

NanoStations, as cosmicbandito says.

devnull

I think the distance we spanned was more 50 ft than 100 ft, but we used a http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004N625AA/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ with a matching router. Had no problems with signals. The range extender I linked to creates a separate wifi network, that people in the guest house would connect to. (I think NanoStations are probably the newer/better version of a range extender.)

ethidda

Get two of http://www.balticnetworks.com/mikrotik-rb-sxt-lite2-10dbi-2ghz-dual-polarity-cpe.html, which are highly reliable, fast, and will certainly be sufficient to cover that distance. I've used them to connect outbuildings much farther and through thick walls and foliage easily. Think of them as a long Ethernet cord, so you just plug each end into whatever devices you need to.

odinsdream

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