outdoor wifi extenders / access point

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Re: outdoor wifi extenders / access point

Postby greenwoo » Thu Mar 07, 2019 8:53 am

FWIW Chris....
the 'thing' i bought basically looks like an antenna, and is powered by PoE. So i'll plug an ethernet from the router or an indoor access point into the PoE and then run another ethernet from that to the antenna which is fully waterproof. The cabling run can apparently be up to 60metres...i imagine to allow for putting the antenna way down a garden or on an outbuilding to give coverage from that point back towards the property.
For my use i'll just have a short run through an outside wall, whichever one gives consistent signal to the gate. And in the process that'll cover the normal sitting out area too.
it was via amazon, down from £70 to £40.

will report back on effectiveness...

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ChrisL
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Re: outdoor wifi extenders / access point

Postby ChrisL » Thu Mar 07, 2019 9:23 am

Sounds interesting and about the same price as another Asus router and a lot less hassle. Be interested to see how you get on....

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David T
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Re: outdoor wifi extenders / access point

Postby David T » Thu Mar 07, 2019 8:49 pm

I assume the gate is on 240v, so you could use a powerline extender. We've one with two Ethernet ports for the tv and Sky box. Much more reliable and better throughput than the Wi-Fi signal. In fact this one broadcasts it's own Wi-Fi access point too, but we don't need to use that.

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Re: outdoor wifi extenders / access point

Postby jeffw » Mon Mar 11, 2019 6:18 am

greenwoo wrote:FWIW Chris....
the 'thing' i bought basically looks like an antenna, and is powered by PoE. So i'll plug an ethernet from the router or an indoor access point into the PoE and then run another ethernet from that to the antenna which is fully waterproof. The cabling run can apparently be up to 60metres...i imagine to allow for putting the antenna way down a garden or on an outbuilding to give coverage from that point back towards the property.
For my use i'll just have a short run through an outside wall, whichever one gives consistent signal to the gate. And in the process that'll cover the normal sitting out area too.
it was via amazon, down from £70 to £40.

will report back on effectiveness...



Sounds like you have bought an Access Point. It will be interesting to see how you get on configuring it.

There are external high gain Aerials where you can extend the Co-ax BNC connection on the WiFi router to provide an external signal. These can be directional or Omni Directional.

There are also repeaters which look like plugs, Powerline units as described by David or you can use a Mesh network.

I would run an Ethernet cable to a switch in the position you want to use it where you can use another Wifi AP or plug into the switch. If you use Cat6 cable/fittings you can get 120m with 1Gb connection.

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Re: outdoor wifi extenders / access point

Postby greenwoo » Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:58 am

@ Jeff, agreed, multiple ways to boost wifi coverage. In truth i was going the mesh route til i got the freebie from Sky which accomplished similar indoors. I'd had powerline adapters running to 1 end of the property and games room in the past and when they work they're great, but i found from time/time the connection would drop and be a pain to get it back.
For anyone reading with half an interest....powerline adapters 'somehow' work across multiple circuits/circuit boards....ie/ if you have one plugged in to a circuit indoors on 1 consumer unit and happen to have a sep consumer unit for a shed/garage - they will still connect.


Anyhoooow.
connected the TP-Link EAP unit this morning. Instructions were awful, but found a utube vid that made it far simpler. 5 mins later had it running and had set up a password so that it's secured. Couldn't test the ultimate range for my purposes as i didnt have any network cable longer than 3 metres....but in a compromised position outside it still reached the gate - albeit it not brilliantly. Plan is to run a longer cable and mount it to the sky pole/dish which is 9ft/10ft above ground. That 'should' give me total garden coverage.....
BTW- i made an error in an earlier post - these things will work with an ethernet cable that is up to 120m long!

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Re: outdoor wifi extenders / access point

Postby jeffw » Mon Mar 11, 2019 1:34 pm

120m is standard Ethernet distance.

I'm not a fan of Powerline units, fine for temporary connections but long term isn't ideal. I'm also not a big fan of Wifi for serious through put/connection stability. Ethernet cables and proper switches are the most consistent connectivity method.


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