WiFi Purchase Help

[BigDCA]

I've got a family member who needs some help with their WiFi setup. They live out in the country and the only decent Internet available is from a local WISP at 6 MB down. They're fine with that service, but they now have a family member living in a travel trailer in a barn about 100 feet from the main house. The barn is covered on 3 sides by corrugated metal and the open side of the barn does not face the house (where the Internet comes in). Given the metal sheeting on the barn, I think they need 2 point-to-point antennas talking?

For various reasons, they don't want to run a hard line to the barn and want instead to do something wireless. I'm assuming what we're looking for is a little point-to-point system. I'm looking for some help on the components that they'll need, but my first take is that they'll need something like this:

Modem -- > Main router -> CAT5/6 -->PoE Directional Antenna (exterior of house) --> PoE Directional Antenna (Exterior of barn) --> Cat5/6 (poked through the exterior wall) --> Cisco/Linksys router (existing, configured as an AP) --> WiFi (2.4/5 ghz) --> Trailer devices (laptop, cell phone)

They won't be doing any local large network traffic between the travel trailer and the house. Given the painfully slow Internet service, 2.4 vs. 5 ghz probably doesn't matter.

Suggestions on setup and equipment?

 

[degrub]

I've got a family member who needs some help with their WiFi setup. They live out in the country and the only decent Internet available is from a local WISP at 6 MB down. They're fine with that service, but they now have a family member living in a travel trailer in a barn about 100 feet from the main house. The barn is covered on 3 sides by corrugated metal and the open side of the barn does not face the house (where the Internet comes in). Given the metal sheeting on the barn, I think they need 2 point-to-point antennas talking?

For various reasons, they don't want to run a hard line to the barn and want instead to do something wireless. I'm assuming what we're looking for is a little point-to-point system. I'm looking for some help on the components that they'll need, but my first take is that they'll need something like this:

Modem -- > Main router -> CAT5/6 -->PoE Directional Antenna (exterior of house) --> PoE Directional (Exterior of barn) --> Cat5/6 (poked through the exterior wall) --> Cisco/Linksys router (existing, configured as an AP) --> WiFi (2.4/5 ghz) --> Trailer devices (laptop, cell phone)

They won't be doing any local large network traffic between the travel trailer and the house. Given the painfully slow Internet service, 2.4 vs. 5 ghz probably doesn't matter.

Suggestions on setup and equipment?

Does the trailer have metal skin ?
Windows might give enough area for the signal to get in, but you might have to put the AP in the trailer.
Does the power feed to the barn go to a sub panel with it's own ground or floating on the main panel ?
You might be able to use the latest powerline ethernet although it is near the maximum distance.

Otherwise 2.4 GHz band high gain directional extender under an eave. If there is direct line of sight, should be ok. Ubiquity is one brand. TP Link is another. Don't know about POE based though. Put the wireless serving the trailer on a different 2.4 GHz channel to avoid interference.

Are they in a lightning prone area ?

 

[BigDCA]

Yes, the trailer definitely has a metal skin, so we were planning on putting the AP inside the trailer. The barn is on a subpanel and they've tried doing powerline ethernet before and it doesn't work, unfortunately. There is definitely line of site between the house and the barn. Lightning is not a common problem in this part of CA.

 

[thiggins]

Use a pair of outdoor bridges. Here's one from EnGenius.

 

[BigDCA]

Use a pair of outdoor bridges. Here's one from EnGenius.

That link times out for me. Is there something possibly wrong with it?

 

[degrub]

other than Amazon is busy ?
worked fine here.

 

[thiggins]

Search for EnGenius ENS500 on Amazon.

 

[BigDCA]

Search for EnGenius ENS500 on Amazon.

Thanks, I see it now. What's the main difference between the Wave2 version and the others?

 

[thiggins]

Thanks, I see it now. What's the main difference between the Wave2 version and the others?

Wave 2 doesn't matter. The fact that it's 802.11ac means it supports higher bandwidth than the 802.11n version.

 

[BigDCA]

Wave 2 doesn't matter. The fact that it's 802.11ac means it supports higher bandwidth than the 802.11n version.

Understood. Given their really slow internet (6 MB) and no need for any sort of demanding network speed on the LAN, could they go with the N version to save money without sacrificing too much? The AC is about $40 more and they're going to need 2 of them, so saving $80 seems like a good trade-off in this circumstance?

 

[BigDCA]

Understood. Given their really slow internet (6 MB) and no need for any sort of demanding network speed on the LAN, could they go with the N version to save money without sacrificing too much? The AC is about $40 more and they're going to need 2 of them, so saving $80 seems like a good trade-off in this circumstance?

Just wanted to confirm my thinking above before we pull the trigger. Am I on track?