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General discussion

Need Advice on Setting up a home network between 3 buildings

by Blueacre Dec 16, 2016 3:52PM PST

I currently have a wireless home network setup in my house with a trendnet router connected to the internet with wireless connections to our 2 laptops, 2 tablets, 2 cell phones and 2 wireless printers.

I would like to extend the network to two additional buildings as follows:
Network Diagram.jpg

Workshop - my workshop is located approximately 600 feet from our house - there is clear line of sight from the house to the workshop. I want to have access to the internet in the workshop and possibly install a security camera in the workshop that can be viewed on the network.

Second House - my son's house is located approximately 0.4 miles (2000 ft) from our house and approximately the same distance from my workshop. We want to extend the network to his house so we can share the internet connection for his computers, tablets and phones. There is no line of sight between our house and my sons house - there is a hill and trees blocking a direct path between the two locations, however there is good line of sight from a location approximately 200 ft from my workshop to my son's house.

I see there are quite a few 2.4 and 5 GHz outdoor long distance wireless units that can be setup in Access Point, Bridge and other modes - some questions on using these to solve my problem:

- can I use a pair of these to extend the network from our home to my workshop

- once I have the network setup in my workshop can I use a second pair of these to extend the network to my son's house if I run a hardwired Ethernet cable from the workshop to the location approximately 200ft away where there is good line of sight to my son's house

- what additional routers or other hardware do I need in addition to the outdoor wireless devices.

I would appreciate anyone's input and advice on the required hardware and setup to extend my home network to these 2 additional locations

thanks Gary

Discussion is locked

10 Posts
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I'd try powerline links.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 16, 2016 4:20PM PST

Ethernet wiring is good to 100 meters (328 feet) so you can reach that with ease. It's pretty cheap as wiring goes but powerline is a better idea if the power is on your meter.

The one thing I would not use is WiFi for the links. The distances are over the range for reliable links.

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Re "I'd try poweline links" Reply
by Blueacre Dec 16, 2016 4:57PM PST

My workshop is on the same meter as my house so powerline links might work there - wasn't sure if there was any distance limitation ? My son's house is not on the same meter and has 2 transformers and high voltage utility wiring in between so wont work for that part for sure

You made the comment " Ethernet wiring is good for 328 ft so able to reach that with ease " - not sure what you mean - house to workshop is 600 ft and to my sons house 2000 ft

thanks
Gary

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For links beyond single run Ethernet
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 16, 2016 5:15PM PST
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Re Reply to "For links beyond single run ethernet"
by Blueacre Dec 16, 2016 6:03PM PST

Thanks for the input - we are out in the country - no high speed cable or phone internet available - we have to use a wireless ISP - cost is approx. $80 per month so at nearly $1000 per year we can afford to invest in a fair bit of hardware.

The run to my Son's house is across 2 other peoples property so running a fiber or any other hard wire cable is not possible - need a wireless solution

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Google like this.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 16, 2016 10:12PM PST
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Re Reply to Google this
by Blueacre Dec 17, 2016 5:57AM PST

Thanks for the reply but I don't think these will help or the high cost is necessary for my problem - says they are good for minor obstructions like a few trees - my problem is a solid hill blocking direct line of sight to my sons house but I do have good line of sight to my workshop and from my workshop area to my son's house. If I can set up 2 line of sight wireless connections I can go around the hill.

My main question is how to connect 3 locations where the internet connection is at location 1 - Location 1 has line of sight to location 2 and location 2 has line of sight to location 3. All the examples of using wireless that I find on line are either for only 2 locations that have line of sight or for 3 or more locations where location 2, 3 and so on all have direct line of sight with location 1 which has the internet connection.

I am thinking of using outdoor wireless equipment like the following - http://www.ebay.com/itm/TP-Link-5GHz-300Mbps-13dBi-High-Power-Outdoor-CPE-Access-Point-5GHz-300Mb-New-/301986496989?hash=item464fcc41dd:g:bfYAAOSwzJ5XYZNW

Operation modes for these include AP/ Client / Repeater / AP Router / AP Client Router (WISP). The specs say these are good for several miles with direct line of sight - I am thinking that two pairs of these units should be able to do what I need but have no experience setting up an Access Point or Bridge or Repeater so not quite sure how this would work in my situation where the ISP connection is at Location 1 which can connect wirelessly to Location 2 and Location 2 connect wirelessly to Location 3

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Try it out.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 17, 2016 7:17AM PST

I find consumer WiFi to falter as we near 100 feet. If you feel the TP-Link will do the job, go for it.

So many try those and learn so much first hand. It appears folk want to believe so it's best to let them try. Nothing like learning first hand.

Me? Just an electronics designer that wrote router code in the 1990's.

Post was last edited on December 17, 2016 7:36 AM PST

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Re - Try it out
by Blueacre Dec 17, 2016 9:23AM PST

Thanks for the feedback - I have no idea if the TP Link equipment will work - no experience with this type of setup - their website says this model is good for 15+ km so I thought 2000 ft should be no problem.

Assuming the hardware is good for the distance I still need to know how to configure the hardware - should they be set up as access points, bridges or other configuration and would the configuration be different for the pair from Location 1 to 2 and the pair for 2 to 3

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I will bow out here.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 17, 2016 9:29AM PST

When folk try this out, I let them deal with the maker's support. Not that I'd like to help but it's like a tar pit. I won't follow folk into such a mess.

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Look into "horn antenna"
by James Denison Dec 17, 2016 10:34AM PST

Highly directional. I know pre-amps work to increase power of digital TV signals. You might investigate if you can add that into the 3 broadcast/receive points. Remember, each location must do both broadcast and receive at signal strength to reach each other. 2.4G travels farther than 5Ghz at same power used.

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