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Forum Discussion
trying to decide what to buy to reach my barn
I have an RBR50 Orbi router, plus a satellite in my house. The satellite does not reach my barn (150' away) with consistent signal. Should I buy another satellite and put it in the barn...
ptdurfee wrote:
Should I buy another satellite and put it in the barn? Would that receive signal better from the satellite in the house?
OR should I put a range extender in the house?
What will reach that distance better?
There are two issues:
- How to get the network extended 150' to the barn
- What WiFi signal to provide at the barn location.
The #1 solution is to place an ethernet cable between the house and barn. It gives the highest and most reliable signal. 200ft. of Cat6 direct burial cable is about $60 on Amazon. The cable, however, is a minor part of the total project cost. Digging 150' of trench, potentially across roadways and other obstacles, installing 150' of conduit (what if the cable needs to be replaced in the future?), penetrating both the house and barn. The total cost and effort can be considerable.
Many users have been successful at this distance using a point to point WiFi bridge, such as this one:
I am not recommending this particular product. It just popped up at the top of the Amazon page. (They probably pay Amazon for that.)
There have been any number of posts recommending Ubiquiti Nano Stations which cost a bit more but have higher performance. Since these units are rated in terms of kilometers, they usually have enough power to be mounted inside the house and the (non metal) barn.
Netgear also sells one of these: https://www.netgear.com/business/wifi/wireless-bridges/wbc502/
The second issue is what to put in the barn. This depends on what you want the network in the barn for. (smart phone? computer? milking machine? ) Purchasing an Orbi satellite will provide seamless WiFi coverage. Same WiFi name (SSID) and password. Your phone wll "just work" going back and forth. This may cost more than the WiFi bridge.
A less costly solution would be to put any WiFi access point in the barn. Ethernet devices will connect directly and be on the main network. You may have to experiment with the WiFi SSID. If devices drop WiFi by the time they reach the barn, that access point can have the same SSID/password as the Orbi system and devices will just see it and connect. Otherwise, it may take action on your part to switch the connection.