Wifi "farm" extenders/MESH

[Gaspasser]

Looking to extend my off grid WiFi on my wooded 50 acre lot to link security/wildlife cameras and gate controller. I have seen the Arystone system advertised claiming up to 2 mile range. Does anyone have this or an equivalent system? I really only need 800ft range and the gate and cameras are "relatively" line of sight. Would appreciate your reviews and experience. Thanks gang.

 

[mikester]

I'd suggest going point to point wireless bridge with long range antennas vs mesh to get better throughput. You will need line of sight.

Trees and buildings in between will degrade your signal.

You could roll your own using access points and can-tennas. I see a lot of chinesium mystery vendors online these days....In general you get what you pay for. If you go that route I'd put them on their own network and don't do any internet banking through them.

I ended up going to buried CAT 5 between the house and barn for reliability. I strongly suggest lightning suppression on both ends if you go that route as I've discovered indirect lightning strikes can still fry your network equipment.

 

[InTheWoods]

I don't have any experience with the Arystone system. But, I've designed RF stuff professionally for >30 years and have some personal experience with Wi-Fi through the woods.

Read and understand this page - real line of sight requires an understanding of the Fresnel zone.

"Line of Sight" and how to get around it - Ayrstone Productivity

wireless farm networking meshing outdoor wifi for rural locations

ayrstone.com

Trees, especially ones with wet leaves absorb 2.4 GHz signals amazingly well, unfortunately.

When it comes to Wi-Fi 'range' , it's not the distance as much as what occupies that distance. 5 miles through outer space is easy. 500' through the woods - not so much.

Personally, I'd be leery of their system and would only go that route if there were no other options. A mesh topology is complex and you don't get as much data throughput as a point-to-point topology. Mesh has more ways to fail.

Have you done any experiments? If you're keen to tinker, you might start with some simple 2.4 GHz access points as high as you can get them, and see what you can achieve. Something like a TP-Link CPE210 is inexpensive, reliable and decently easy to set up. I have that setup to an outbuilding - it just works. It has a directional antenna which will mean you have to point it in the favored direction - might be OK, depending on where your gate/cameras are.

CAT5/CAT6 is limited to 100 meters, at least by the book. It also opens you up to lightning damage (ask me how I know!). Fiber is the best, if you are willing to trench it in...

 

[Bmyers]

I'm just jumping in so I can follow the conversation.

We have TP-Link router setup at the farm and in the coming months, I will be researching this topic myself.

I have used the WIFI extenders from TP-link at our house successfully to extend coverage out into our garage area. Yet, looking at a much larger area and I don't believe these will have the coverage needed.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

I went with a lower frequency industrial (not for home use--it's too powerful) solution and older WiFi technology because it travels farther and through more "stuff" and it's been rock-solid reliable for 10 years, but I'm in an industrial environment with a lot of RF noise so this might not be best for your situation:

TP-Link TL-WA7210N High Power Outdoor Wireless N150 Access Point, 2.4GHz 150Mbps, WISP/AP Router/AP, 12dBi antenna, Passive POE (WA7210N)

 

[trikepilot]

Me too! I am jumping in and have bookmarked this thread as I will soon be in need of some sort of similar solution.

I will soon have broadband brought into the main house on the property and will then be looking for solutions to get it 500feet away downhill through sparsely treed woods to the boat dock and then 100feet of open space uphill to the shop/apt and then another 500ish feet up thru a bit of tree cover in between to get to the gate where I have a security camera.

I have already started researching my options but this thread will be a huge help.

 

[Old Machinist]

This may not help you but I have my home network and outdoor wifi cameras on a GL.iNET GL-AR300M EXT travel router. I replaced the antennas with longer 12db antennas and have it sitting in a window sill on the north side of my house. It connects to my cameras out 500 feet but is at around 48% at that distance. I can view them remotely from anywhere I have a data connection to my phone. I have a wyzecam in my metal barn about 400 feet from the router and on the south side of the house and it connects reliably.

I have 3 different brands of outdoor wifi cameras and they all connect through this tiny little router.

I don't think the AR300M EXT is available any more but they have similar versions starting at $30. Just make sure you get a model with the external antennas.

I would be willing to bet if I used some extension cables and mounted my antennas outside and elevated the range would be even further out.

 

[InTheWoods]

...TP-Link TL-WA7219N...

I think that one is obsolete, replaced by the CPE210 I mentioned above.

 

[Grimor]

Unifi makes some good out of the box P2P devices that have very good range, but they work best with a managed controller or at least internet access for updates.