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Extending WiFi to detached gargage

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esburger

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Hi all. Got a question. I made the mistake of not running an ethernet cable in my trench when I ran power out to my barn :mad:. So know I am looking for a way to some how boost the Wifi in the house to reach the barn. The barn is about 250 ft from the house with no obstructions, other then the house walls and the barn steel. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks a bunch! :beer:
 
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esburger

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Didn't even realize this existed! Nice! gets great ratings also. I will give it a try for 30 bucks. I wonder how I could make this work to have the ability to just use an Ipad out there, or any other Wifi gadget without plugging the USB from that unit into it.
 
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jeffmoss26

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I set up a point to point wireless link for 2 office buildings across the street from one another using EnGenius products. Most likely overkill for a home but it's very nice stuff.
 
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MichMan517

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This one seems much faster,it's an n, for just a few bucks more....

http://http://www.amazon.com/Alfa-AWUS036NHR-High-Gain-Wireless-N-Strongest/dp/B005ETA5K2/ref=pd_sim_e_6[/URL]
 
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esburger

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Thanks guys! some good ideas. Hey Nutt, the project of running electrical slapped me in the face. Spur of the moment, I had some people to help me for only one day. Luckly I had the water line, otherwise that wouldn't have gotten done either. Yeah I am kinda kicking my own ***. I wish I would have ran natural gas and cable and ethernet. I think we will be switching back to dish network shortly, and I plan on throwing a propane tank behind the barn for heat. So that solves those issues. Not to mention, I did it all without inspection... so I wanted to get it done during the weekend. I guess I am learning from my mistakes...
 
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paris_tj

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I used EnGenius EOC-1650's for about $50 each and they work great for my shop at a distance of about 150 feet. Now if you could just find a way to get cable tv to my shop wirelessly.....
 
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Motofixxer

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Lots of new wifi cable boxes etc. Uverse has em too and can run through a network. Gotta love technology.
 
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slakwhere

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if it makes you feel any better, you can't run power in the same hole as ethernet without serious shielding... otherwise you won't have any signal regardless. you always want to run net and power perpendicular to each other.
 
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JMcFly

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Goobzilla said:
This is what I used:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002WCEWU8/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Mounted it on the outside of the shop drilled a small hole to run the cable thru. Pulls in my network and lots of others. Works like a champ on my metal sided pole barn.
Click to expand...

I use one of those in combination with Backtrack for penetration testing friends wifi networks when they forget their passwords.


jdmae86 said:
WRT54G with high gains... buy one & put tomato firmware on it. With the aftermarket free firmware you can boost your signal with a couple mouse clicks.

I have one setup as a normal WIFI router & one as a repeater... I bet I could get 75-100yrds with my WIFI signal line of sight.

$30-$40 shipped all day
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=See-All-Categories&_from=R40&_nkw=wrt54g tomato&_fscr=1
Click to expand...

second the tomato firmware
 
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MFortie

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slakwhere said:
if it makes you feel any better, you can't run power in the same hole as ethernet without serious shielding... otherwise you won't have any signal regardless. you always want to run net and power perpendicular to each other.
Click to expand...

Ah, no. You can run them in the same trench with a minimum of 12" separation. I design structured wiring solutions and have miles of joint use trenches in the San Diego county school districts that work just fine...
 
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ishiboo

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MFortie said:
Ah, no. You can run them in the same trench with a minimum of 12" separation. I design structered wiring solutions and have miles of joint use trenches in the San Diego county school districts that work just fine...
Click to expand...

And the 12" is mainly for high voltage/low voltage isolation, you could run the two wired tied together in most residential installs and never notice the difference :)
 
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slakwhere

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MFortie said:
Ah, no. You can run them in the same trench with a minimum of 12" separation. I design structured wiring solutions and have miles of joint use trenches in the San Diego county school districts that work just fine...
Click to expand...

good info to have! i may be running gas/water/sewage/network to the garage this summer :thumbup:

And the 12" is mainly for high voltage/low voltage isolation, you could run the two wired tied together in most residential installs and never notice the difference
Click to expand...

even over 150-200 feet like the OP is suggesting? :wtf:
 
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Teken

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The Bad Lands
jeepxj said:
Assuming you're on the same panel for both buildings:


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AZUTCS/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Click to expand...

If you decide to use *Power Line Ethernet* you may also have to ensure that the first module is on the same leg as the one leading to the garage. Otherwise you will need to bridge the two legs to ensure correct coupling.

I use the Trendnet unit and works great: http://www.trendnet.com/products/proddetail.asp?prod=120_TPL-405E&cat=65

I have no problem streaming 1080P from any outlet and there is no problem with wireless interference.

Regardless, a hard wired method is the primary method in all cases where the data needs to be consistent, reliable, and secure.


Teken . . .
 
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Falcon67

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Merkel, TX
MFortie said:
Ah, no. You can run them in the same trench with a minimum of 12" separation. I design structured wiring solutions and have miles of joint use trenches in the San Diego county school districts that work just fine...
Click to expand...

What he said. There are miles of Cat5 cable laying on flo lights, running past mercury floods and dropped in the same chases as high power electrical here on campus. We have Cat5 cable in buildings wired in the 30s and 40s. No problems even at Gig speeds. Helps that it's certified cabling. but that's what the "twisted pair" deal is about - attenuating interference. If you really want to get over on it, run shielded cable and ground one end of the shield.

We're trying out a set of Nano Station Ms as an ethernet bridge. The span is .4 miles and we're running regular PC traffic and IP phone traffic over the link. The switching ends are set at 100m half duplex. No errors. Nice web interface and pretty easy to set up. So far so good, out performing some equipment that easily costs more than double. Cheap enough that if the remote site wants to start video broadcasts (it's our soccer and softball complex) we'd just add another set dedicated for that traffic.
 
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shoturtle

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You are shooting 250ft then through steel, you will lose allot of through put with a little wifi extender. All those wifi extender on the market is only really good for about 100ft. Unless you set up a line of site setup. Which is not cheap.
 
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shoturtle

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Also depending on how much you are willing to spend. You can setup a microwave link between the barn and your house. It will not look pretty, but it will have high through put and not be affected by fog like a optical link system.
 
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Accrdwgnguy

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Feb 5, 2012
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High gain directional wifi antennas are $30ish each on ebay. They look like pre-80's TV antennas, but if you don't mind those hanging off the side of your hosue and garage, they will work great. Coupled with 2 Aps set to bridge with each other, should have a decent wireless link.
 
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esburger

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BINGO! so I am an android phone guy. I have the motorola razr. A new app called FoxFi just came out. This enables your cell phone to be a WiFi hotspot. Which means you can connect up to 5 WiFi devices wirelessly to your cell phone. The pro to FoxFi is you don't have to root your phone or pay the tether fee that Verizon requires. I use it for my Ipad. I think this just solved my WiFi issue..... and I didn't even have to buy anything.

Here is the link that I found it on. It will tell you what phones it works with and which ones it doesn't.

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1176471/

enjoy!!
 
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shoturtle

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esburger said:
BINGO! so I am an android phone guy. I have the motorola razr. A new app called FoxFi just came out. This enables your cell phone to be a WiFi hotspot. Which means you can connect up to 5 WiFi devices wirelessly to your cell phone. The pro to FoxFi is you don't have to root your phone or pay the tether fee that Verizon requires. I use it for my Ipad. I think this just solved my WiFi issue..... and I didn't even have to buy anything.

Here is the link that I found it on. It will tell you what phones it works with and which ones it doesn't.

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1176471/

enjoy!!
Click to expand...

All the new droid phones have that option without needing an app. Just find out if VZ will charge you for tethering. They sometimes do that. Is it the LTE or the CDMA2000 service. You should get about 6-10 down if it is lte with good coverage on the phone, and you will loose a little with the tethering.

Also if you used the droid built in feature, you have a little better speed without running the additional app for wifi.
 
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esburger

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joe.gravelle said:
What kinds of speeds can you get with it? Will your carrier throttle your speed?
Click to expand...

Let me get back to ya on that, currently at work... We just used it in the car for the first time on tuesday taking the family to great wolf lodge. My wife said it was just as fast as being on the WiFi at home. I will run a speed test and get you some numbers. This app bypasses the need to contact verizon for the tethering capability, it automatically sets it up without the added cost. The nice thing is, you can name your network, and password protect it also.
 
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esburger

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shoturtle said:
All the new droid phones have that option without needing an app. Just find out if VZ will charge you for tethering. They sometimes do that. Is it the LTE or the CDMA2000 service. You should get about 6-10 down if it is lte with good coverage on the phone, and you will loose a little with the tethering.

Also if you used the droid built in feature, you have a little better speed without running the additional app for wifi.
Click to expand...

Its LTE. If I was to go through verizon it would cost me. Not sure how this app does it, but it bypasses that need. Most android users will root there phone to gain access to the hotspot feature without paying. But rooting comes with some big risks
 
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shoturtle

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They will most likely throttle you down once you get to the 4gb of down load a month. So if you are using it on occasions and not camping on it. You should not get throttle down by VZ. But they do know when you are tethered. So I would look into you plan to check. You do not want to run into any surprise fees.
 
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esburger

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shoturtle said:
They will most likely throttle you down once you get to the 4gb of down load a month. So if you are using it on occasions and not camping on it. You should get throttle down by VZ. But they do know when you are tethered. So I would look into you plan to check. You do not want to run into any surprise fees.
Click to expand...

I will check into that! thanks
 
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shoturtle

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esburger said:
I will check into that! thanks
Click to expand...

The carriers know when you are tethering. Just by the type of data traffic you are requesting and the amount. There is allot of M webpages, and then there are the full blown ones. And their billing system do know the difference between app date, and the different web data.
 
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mrobins297aaa

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slakwhere said:
good info to have! i may be running gas/water/sewage/network to the garage this summer :thumbup:



even over 150-200 feet like the OP is suggesting? :wtf:
Click to expand...

my barn is 170' feet from the house and I put everything I could think of in that trench before it got covered and its all on top of each other 18" down.
4- 2/0 wires for 100 amp service, cat 6 wire, coax cable, even 5 wire lawn sprinkler wire, 3/4" pex well water, 3/4" pex soften water line. Covered it all up and my cable and interenet works fine. I ended up with about 340' of cat 6 (330' pc was about 10' short of reaching my router in the house.)
the only problem I have is with my dish network remote and changing the channels in the barn I have to the the barn door open for it to work otherwise I have to go in the house to change the channel, need to find a way to boast the signal for the remote.
 
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mjbdesigns

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Late in chiming in but getting ready to run power to my shop and noticed the mention of wiring done without inspection. I was also going this route until a friend whos also an insurance agent asked if it was worth the risk of losing it all in the event of a fire or other related loss? I'll have $50-$60k wrapped up in mine and although I have Journeymen electrician buddies to do it, Don't want to risk not being covered due to non-inspection in event of loss. You have an awesome and well thought out shop and would hate to see you come up empty in event of fire etc.
 
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