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Outdoor WiFi extender
Hi, I was just curious if anyone knows if netgear makes a long range wifi extender. Due to a lot of criminal activities in town and want to protect my operation from unwanted traffic, I would like to ...
- Alright, well thank you all for your help and advice.
It would be a lot easier to discuss pro's and con's if there was a rough drawing of these barns with dimensions and the locations where cameras might be placed.
Attached is a rough sketch of my operation. I hope that’s sufficient. The bins are at the east ends of the barns so I would place the cameras atop the bin. I don’t really want to put them on the roof of the barns as we can get lots of snow and I don’t want them to be ripped off when the snow slides off as it melts
At least the lines are straight, I can't draw a straight line with a ruler. 😁
One good thing is that it looks like based on your drawing that you have line of site from your house to the barns, which would help with the antenna situation. Those would need to be positioned so that you can get a good signal to and from those to your house. You would probably have to wire from the antenna to the camera based on the drawing where you have them positioned, with the antenna at one end of the barn and the cams on the other.
Do you have power in each of the locations you want to have cameras?
- Haha thanks, I hoped everything was legible. It’s hard to write on a phone. But yes there is power on each end as we have yard lights attached to the bins and an outlet that is tapped into that power. So you think I would need two slave bridges one for each camera then? Or would two wifi cameras be able to pick up a signal from just one slave bridge for each camera?
Based on what I have here in my setup, you would need an antenna to send a signal for each camera, because they are in different locations. That could be done in two ways. An antenna to send a signal to the other antenna in the barn as a relay then it goes from that antenna to the house or both antennas just sending the signal to the house receiving antenna. That is assuming there are no obstructions in the way that could interfere with the signal, such as trees. If that is the case, it is possible you may need another relay in the middle, but I don't think so as there are really powerful antenna bridges out now that should handle the distance.
Protecting the wiring is important in these outdoor setups as well. So, I suggest getting those outlet boxes to mount the cameras on to protect the wiring that you are connecting the power and network through. Silicone around those as well to protect water from penetrating. I made that mistake one time and didn't properly silicone and it ended up frying the camera as moisture penetrated through to the connection.
Some others here may have a better way or idea to do this as there a lot of gurus here in the forum that know this stuff better than me, but hopefully this is helpful for you.
There are basically two technical problems to solve:
- Extend the network from the house 900 ft. to the group of barns. Because 900 ft. is much too far for a typical omnidirectional WiFi system, a point to point wireless bridge is a typical solution. A pair of Ubiquiti LOCO5AC units is one solution (Amazon $209). A TP-Link Omada EAP211-Bridge KIT is another (Amazon $141)
Pair of units w/ power adapters: Amazon $209 or $141..
Pair of outdoor mounting brackets: Amazon $37.
Pair of ethernet cables (network to house adapter, barn adapter to electrical source) Amazon $50. - Connect cameras placed on the barns to that network extension.
This is where it gets tricky. (and where a diagram with dimensions would be essential. i.e. is the U-shape one structure or is it three? what are the dimensions of each structure? how many feet between them? Where is electricity available? Are the barns wood or metal?)
It might be that one WiFi access point placed in one of the barns would create a signal strong enough to connect WiFi cameras at those two locations. Perhaps a simple TP-Link AX3000 (Amazon $120) would do the job.
"The Devil is in the Details"
- Extend the network from the house 900 ft. to the group of barns. Because 900 ft. is much too far for a typical omnidirectional WiFi system, a point to point wireless bridge is a typical solution. A pair of Ubiquiti LOCO5AC units is one solution (Amazon $209). A TP-Link Omada EAP211-Bridge KIT is another (Amazon $141)
One practice I have found useful is to:
- Use Google Maps (or Apple Maps) to display the property
- Take a screen shot of the property
- Past the screen shot into a Forum post
Describe the dimensions and material of each building and how far apart they are.
- Alright, well thank you all for your help and advice.
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