Hi all,
My wife started a thread on a forum trying to deduce what product we need to get Starlink internet from our main house to a tiny house 100 yards away. We are thinking of using a wireless bridge, but know very little about this sort of thing.
Here's the thread:
https://community.ui.com/questions/seeking-product-recommendation-total-novice-extending-wifi-to-another-building/c886befc-6b1b-4cb9-8dfd-4db0fb529913
And here are the tech words I don't understand:
For 100 yards you can use several different products. In the 5GHz line, two Loco5AC with appropriate POE adapters are $65 per side. A pair of NS5AC can use 48V POE if you have it already and can pass that through to another device like a WIFI AP. Figure $125 per side. An easier to mount and aim device is the NBE5AC. These are $99 each. All of these 5GHz solutions are good for about 200-300Mbps throughput.
For true gigabit speed, get a pair of Wave Pico but these will set you back $179 each.
I am feeling confused by the above options. I am hoping to install this myself. Also, just FYI power is limited to an extension cord at the tiny house.
Thanks for any insight you can offer.
Can you run an ethernet cable out to the tiny house?
In reply to BoxheadTim :
I suppose I could, but it's a challange. It's a 100 yards and would have to be buried as it would be crossing a lawn. Seems like a lot of digging.
So all of the above random letters/numbers are their part numbers for the devices.
The other main acronym is PoE. Power Over Ethernet if you have a switch/router that has it, allows you to power a device with only the Ethernet cable. So, they're saying make sure you buy a WAP (wireless access point, not the more, errr... Contemporary meaning) that has PoE.
The devices you linked to would work great. You'll need a WAP at the little house to share Ethernet over there.
Thanks! by WAP, you mean like a router, correct? (And appreciated the joke).
Do you know a router that can handle being outside?
CyberEric said:
In reply to BoxheadTim :
I suppose I could, but it's a challange. It's a 100 yards and would have to be buried as it would be crossing a lawn. Seems like a lot of digging.
You mentioned the power limitations, hence the question.
I assume you already have Unifi gear (based on the link to the forum)?
CyberEric said:
Thanks! by WAP, you mean like a router, correct? (And appreciated the joke).
Do you know a router that can handle being outside?
WAP is a Wireless Access Point, not a router. Two different kettle of fish, although the router tends to have an access point built in for WiFi. With your type of setup, you just need the access point for your wireless devices to yell at, no need for a router.
Some of the Unifi devices are rated for Indoor/Outdoor use, for example this one and that one. I've got a couple of the latter ones and they seem to be working well, but they also live inside.
In general, I would buy Ubiquiti gear directly from them and not via the 'zon - even with the cashback credit card, the prices directly seem to be better IME.
CyberEric said:
Thanks! by WAP, you mean like a router, correct? (And appreciated the joke).
Do you know a router that can handle being outside?
BoxheadTim covered it, but you don't need your access point to be a wet-arsed access point... You can have that inside, you'll connect it to the wireless bridge which is outside.
For your mental map, the bridge you linked to is equivalent to a single wire connecting the house to the little house. You can't share that to multiple devices, only one.
The wireless access point will allow all the other decides to connect, it's connected to your "single wire."
Thanks for the links and explanation.
Just to make sure I'm understanding, I will plug the WAP into the POE adapter?
So I don't want anything inside the tiny house. I want the WAP to be outside in a woodshed next to the tiny house because we don't have a way to run cables inside and can't drill (not my tiny house). Will that first WAP BoxheadTim linked work for this application?
And I would buy directly from them rather than Amazon, but the reason I'm not is that this package on Amazon sounds like it's pre-configured for non techy people like me. But if you have other ideas, I'm open to them.
Think of the POE adapter as a power brick. That's all it is, it powers whatever's on the end of the cable.
As Wonko said, the wireless bridge is a direct equivalent to a wire. I use one to connect my house to my shop, then there's a WAP in the shop. The shop is a metal building so I have to use an actual cable to go from the wireless bridge mounted outside to the WAP that's inside. At the house end, the wireless bridge sender inside, is shooting through a wood wall with stucco on it (concrete and chicken wire), so you probably wouldn't have to worry with a tiny house. Having to pass the signal through the wall is undoubtly costing me some bandwith, but I have 99% signal strength and no difficulty streaming video across it.
I've used a wireless bridge on two occasions. It's quite possible I had some settings wrong, but I never had great results. They aren't easy to set up either.
100yds is too far for Ethernet. I ran a fiber cable with a fiber to Ethernet box on each side. If you don't mind digging a little, it's the way to go.
In reply to lnlogauge :
100 yards is actually just within the maximum Ethernet distance. The buried fiber like you did would be a better solution though.
Thanks everyone, really appreciating all these responses.
I just want to double check something, when I put the wireless bridge near the house, does it need to be connected to the router inside the house with a cable, or does it just pick up the wifi and send it to the unit at the tiny house?
In reply to CyberEric :
Typically a wireless bridge needs a wired connection, it's possible to do it wirelessly (I've done it with some OpenWRT routers, connecting two houses with a wireless device in a garage in between) but it will double the potential wireless signal problems so I wouldn't recommend that.
GameboyRMH said:
100 yards is actually just within the maximum Ethernet distance. The buried fiber like you did would be a better solution though.
100 meters is the maximum segment length for most common types of copper-based Ethernet (*) and 100 yards is about 10% less than that, so yeah it's within the distance spec.
(*) 10, 100, and 1000baseT are all 100 meters over fairly simple cat5e cable and connectors. 10GbaseT is also 100 meters, but is a lot pickier about the cable. Also, the fiber that Inlogauge used is almost certainly still "Ethernet" (IEEE 802.3).
I'm generally a fan of using cables instead wifi whenever possible (as I see it, wifi is for devices with batteries that get moved around). That said, I can see the value over digging a long trench here. You definitely want to plug the two ends of the link, though. Any wireless extender or repeater that is wireless on both sides cuts your bandwidth in at least half and usually more like 1/3 to 1/4.
Got it, super helpful. Thank you!
I may have more questions tomorrow, but this feels good for now.
Exploring this more today....
Hearing what you have shared codrus, and contemplating the complexity of mounting these wireless bridge transmitters (or whatever they're called) in workable mounting locations, I'm wondering if it makes more sense to go with an ethernet cable after all.
If I did go with a cable, what one would you recommend? And what WAP on the other end at the tiny house?
Here's what I've found so far for cables (first three from amazon, link 4 from cables.com):
LINK 1
LINK 2
LINK 3
LINK 4
IMHO you definitely want direct burial, waterproof cable.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
Ok thx. Can you post a link of what you would use? I'm getting lost in cable google searches.
How about this problem:
I have a rural farmhouse with no internet or cable. I'm there a few weekends a month and don't want to pay for a dish. It is very hilly and there is no cell signal at the house, but if I walk ~500 yards up the hill, not only do I see the sky and daylight again, but I also have normal LTE. Any solutions for cell at the house?
In reply to Apis Mellifera :
You could put a cell receiver with a mini off-grid power system (small solar panel and wind turbine) on the hilltop, and connect it to the house with either a wireless link if there's line of sight (there are a few different options including an optical link), or with a long buried fiber link if there isn't. If there's line of sight you could probably do it using a long-distance wifi link with a couple of used satellite dishes for just a few hundred.
I would get cat6 cable and connectors. If you're digging a trench, I would also recommend running at least two lengths of cable through it, both for future expansion as well as to have a backup cable in case the first one fails. Digging trenches sucks and you don't want to have to do it again. A 1000 ft spool is probably enough for 3 runs.
I would also recommend a spool of bulk cable rather than pre-terminated so that you can get exactly the right length. If you do this you will then need to terminate it on both ends -- this can be as simple as just crimping an RJ45 connector onto it (so that you have a cable hanging out of the wall) or you can get wall plates (google for "keystone jacks"). If you want to get really fancy you can use telephone-style punchdown blocks on a patch panel, but that's probably overkill.
You will need an RJ45 crimp tool, something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T69GMCM (I have no specific knowledge about that tool, the one I have is ancient and not made any more)
The Keystone blocks I have used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IO3HEN6/
Those blocks have mini punch-down blocks on them, so you'd need a punch-down tool as well: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0072K1QHM/ (again, no specific knowledge about this one)
They go in wall plates like this, which mount on normal outlet boxes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092DS418Q/
You can probably also get keystone blocks that have RJ45 connectors on both ends and skip the punchdown tool if you want.
Sorry I have no specific recommendations for cable, I have only run it inside the house/crawlspace, not buried it.
Edit: nevermind, everything important I said about direct burial cable was already covered :)
So get this, my land mate told me someone from an internet company had stopped by, and offered the deliver fiber to our property just a week ago. So we are going to going to ditch the Starlink and get fiber in the end! Not the result I was expecting.
Thanks for all the help, ya'll are amazing!
