 Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me. |
Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Extending network 200m through scrub
| Author | Message | ||||
| yobortsa Newbie  Joined: 12/12/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 37 |
Shedders, I have some sheds down the back I'd like to extend my network to. The block has a gentle slope up hill toward the sheds and through trees. Here is a photo:  I'd prefer not to trench and pull cable. What's the best way to do do this wirelessly and cheaply? Does anybody have experience? It's approx 200m in total. I tried a $30 eBay 2.4GHz Yagi antenna but it made absolutely no difference to range - it was the same as the supplied dipole antenna which got about half way there before losing signal. I'm using some D-Link routers with DD-WRT in bridge mode at the moment and locking them both to WiFi N which I understand has the best range of the various standards. Regards, David |
||||
SimpleSafeName Guru  Joined: 28/07/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 351 |
For something like that, I would recommend either 900Mhz, or 433Mhz (whichever is legal in your country). The downside is that you lose performance going down in frequency, and they aren't necessarily cheap. But they will get through where 2.4Ghz can't (60 Km is easily achieved with 900Mhz) |
||||
bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2950 |
Hi David, Sorry I cant offer a decent WIfFI solution, especially as it doesn’t look like you have line of site. Ethernet wont work on a 200m run either.. (max is about 100m ) There is a trick we used at work when we needed a reliable signal more than 100m apart and that was to use a pair of ADSL modems and you only needed a single pair of wires (eg telephone) between the two. What I mean is you plug your network into the Ethernet port of the router and the phone port goes to your telephone wire run to the other ADSL modem telephone socket and your remote PC plugs into the Ethernet. It worked quite well but speeds were reduced (varied depending on many variables but around 4-8mb/s were common, which was enough for our task.) Of course you still need a run of wire but some gel filled telephone wire would survive a `string through the trees’ approach for many a long year. I think I might have a pair of modems if you are interested.. I am not sure if there was any configuration needed but I suspect they were just set up in BRIDGE mode. Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
||||
TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6283 |
I would look at some Ubiquiti gear. Not cheap but the most likely to succeed if you want full WiFi capabilities. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
||||
| SimpleSafeName Guru Joined: 28/07/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 351 |
I tested Ubiquiti radios for my last job, and while they weren't as good as an Esteem radio, they were about 1/10th the price of an Esteem radio. And for this application they would fit the bill nicely. |
||||
| ryanm Senior Member  Joined: 25/09/2015 Location: AustraliaPosts: 203 |
Cheapest decent wireless link would be something like a set of Ubiquiti Nanostations, but I really don't like your chances of punching a wifi signal through 200m of trees that thick. Might get away with it if you cable a few meters either end and put the wireless link in that clear paddock? Also make sure you're using shielded cable and connectors to mount any external wifi gear so it has ESD protection. |
||||
Quazee137 Guru Joined: 07/08/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 593 |
Had to go find the video we saw back then. Linus We had to send the signal down a hill side. Had a box on the pole connecting to the ISP and then used these. Took some time getting them aligned but after that there just worked. We set it up we using two small laptops/netbooks. I'll have to see if I can find the archived Drives with some pictures. Now the monitoring station uses a sat based system. |
||||
| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2442 |
do you have mains power running to the sheds? if so, then a pair of "powerline" ethernet over mains adapters may do the trick. i can see how any above-ground wiring would ruin the ambience of the bush. cheers, rob :-) |
||||
| Paul_L Guru Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 769 |
Check out fiberoptic media converters! They're getting to be really cheap and fishing line strung through the trees would be good for miles! Paul in NY |
||||
| greybeard Senior Member Joined: 04/01/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 174 |
I know this is with a clear line of sight but it may be of interest. https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2159920 One thing to consider is that a lot of the ebay yagi antenna have a cable that is both excessively long and extremely lossy it 2.4GHz effectively negating any antenna gain. |
||||
| zeitfest Guru Joined: 31/07/2019 Location: AustraliaPosts: 582 |
Do trees selectively absorb vertical-polarised RF ? I am wondering if say horizontal or helical aerials would make a difference with the vegetation ? Maybe do a check of reception range without the trees ? |
||||
CaptainBoing Guru Joined: 07/09/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2170 |
I know you don't want to trench it all, but wireless is a long shot in 200m of trees without spending a kings ransom on kit -and it can be quite variable. I would get a mate with a mole plough (or rent one) of some flavour, dig in some 8-pair (plenty of spare for other stuff... telephone, alarm etc...) armoured UTP about 100m from each end, run power in one of the trenches. Meet in the middle with an ethernet hub in a little IP54+ cabinet bolted to a tree. Try 4 pairs for a stretch to gigabit, if no good then 100mbit should work (and almost certainly 10) Earth the armour (gives a bit of a shield), go down about a foot and right in the middle of the track so you remember where it all is. Should do a 200m run OK. Might get a bit of a voltage drop on the AC line so make sure the hub has a SMPSU. 's what I'd do... a day's work if you are lucky and don't hit snags. lost faith in wireless+trees ages back... get it all working then it is rainy and windy and it all goes to pot. Edited 2020-04-30 17:58 by CaptainBoing |
||||
| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
I maintain 4 Ubiquiti links for my clients, with one having 3 of those links. The one of particular interest is the 400mm Powerbeam that connects me to their office. Only 1.24km, but man does it have to punch thru some trees... Schools, Sports Grounds & a tree lined easement. It's sitting around 25Mbps this morning, but once a few leaves drop it will climb back up over 200. A few tests previously had shown it was pretty impressive at short distances in thick scrub over a few 100 m's range. Other thought that would require stringing some cable amongst the trees is some VDSL transceivers. Bit costly, but there was a hill in the equation. Robert.rozee's suggestion of EOP adaptors is probably the best place to start, but beware I had totally useless results here after a few first tries over short runs. But then connected the shed over a 60m run & got a rock solid 250/90 Mbps connection. Key was getting the units in close connection to the ends of the long feed. (And yes there as a few extension leads involved. Cheers Phil |
||||
 Print this page |
 |
The Back Shed's forum code is written, and hosted, in Australia. | © JAQ Software 2025 |
