Wireless repeater recommendation for simple residential user between two buildings 60' apart.
Have a residential client looking for a wireless repeater. We normally would install a wireless bridge to connect to buildings, but this persons budget is very low and I would still like to recommend an option. He wants to stream zoom meetings on a laptop in his shop. The building is about 60' from his house, and the router is in the window closest to his shop. Looking for recommendations on hardware only.
I would rent a slit trencher from the local A-to-Z Rent-All, buy 100 feet of direct burial network cable, and run a hardwire cable from the house to the outbuilding. In a frost-free zone it will only have to be four inches down. This will have the added advantage that there will be no competition for availability of the increasingly crowded WiFi bands and no outages during rain or snow, and the client will get full bandwidth from the router.
ASKER
He has a $100 budget.
What is the range on the existing router? Have you tested it?
You are probably close enough to working that an antenna (or pair of antennas) would get you over the line.
It's the only thing that is going to come in under budget.
You are probably close enough to working that an antenna (or pair of antennas) would get you over the line.
It's the only thing that is going to come in under budget.
$50 for two hours trencher rental, $30 for a 75 foot garden hose to bury in the trench and run standard cable through, and $25 for two 100 foot network cables so two wires can be run. Close enough to $100 and it will be much faster than WiFi which is an issue for video conferencing, plus there will be two full speed secure hardwire paths instead of one reduced speed WiFi path.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=100ft+network+cable+-%221-100ft%22+-%226-100ft%22+-3ft+-2ft+-10ft+-20ft+-25ft+-50ft+-1ft+-6ft&_sacat=20311&LH_TitleDesc=0&_blrs=recall_filtering&_odkw=100ft+network+cable+-%221-100ft%22+-3ft+-2ft+-10ft+-20ft+-25ft+-50ft+-1ft+-6ft&_osacat=20311&_sop=15
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=100ft+network+cable+-%221-100ft%22+-%226-100ft%22+-3ft+-2ft+-10ft+-20ft+-25ft+-50ft+-1ft+-6ft&_sacat=20311&LH_TitleDesc=0&_blrs=recall_filtering&_odkw=100ft+network+cable+-%221-100ft%22+-3ft+-2ft+-10ft+-20ft+-25ft+-50ft+-1ft+-6ft&_osacat=20311&_sop=15
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2.4 GHz should go quite a bit further than 60 foot outdoors without even using $25 directional antennas.
EDIT: you can't connect a directional antenna to a laptop so you have to use a USB transceiver with directional antenna instead such as this one
EDIT: you can't connect a directional antenna to a laptop so you have to use a USB transceiver with directional antenna instead such as this one
ASKER
He has Starlink 2nd Gen router. So no ethernet port to connect a wireless bridge to. I have discussed the bridge idea with him (As that would be standard solution for us - Ubiquiti bridges also), but he won't receive the USB to ethernet port adapter for a few months (He ordered it with the Starlink service).
The trencher idea would cut up his driveway which wraps around the house and goes between the shop. He is also not interested in aerial cable. Not sure I agree with the garden house idea to protect it. But it would be a cheap do it yourself solution.
The Nanostation M2 and PoE injector would be acceptable cost, but I don't believe it will work without an Airmax on the house side.
Existing range is just inside the shop, which he would like to gain full coverage over. He was told that for that price it will questionable in terms of reliability and speeds due to it having to be a repeater. He is open to spending more if the first attempt fails. The client is going to install on his own. He was a very good client for 2 businesses, until his recent retirement. That is why I am looking for this option. I normally would say NO to a repeater and walk away from the job.
The trencher idea would cut up his driveway which wraps around the house and goes between the shop. He is also not interested in aerial cable. Not sure I agree with the garden house idea to protect it. But it would be a cheap do it yourself solution.
The Nanostation M2 and PoE injector would be acceptable cost, but I don't believe it will work without an Airmax on the house side.
Existing range is just inside the shop, which he would like to gain full coverage over. He was told that for that price it will questionable in terms of reliability and speeds due to it having to be a repeater. He is open to spending more if the first attempt fails. The client is going to install on his own. He was a very good client for 2 businesses, until his recent retirement. That is why I am looking for this option. I normally would say NO to a repeater and walk away from the job.
Did any of that address the simple solution of a directional USB aerial/transceiver to boost the gain for the laptop?
There's also the option of moving the Starlink kit, at least he's not limited to having it in one spot in the house like you are sometimes with ADSL etc due to fixed incoming cables. Starlink works fine on the roof of a car 5 miles from the registered address until the car battery goes flat.
Not sure how good the wi-fi antenna on the Starlink router is, wouldn't be surprised if they'd coupled a $1000 phased array antenna to talk to the satellites with a $2 wi-fi antenna to talk to the clients.
There's also the option of moving the Starlink kit, at least he's not limited to having it in one spot in the house like you are sometimes with ADSL etc due to fixed incoming cables. Starlink works fine on the roof of a car 5 miles from the registered address until the car battery goes flat.
Not sure how good the wi-fi antenna on the Starlink router is, wouldn't be surprised if they'd coupled a $1000 phased array antenna to talk to the satellites with a $2 wi-fi antenna to talk to the clients.
ASKER
The Starlink router was already in the best location for connecting in the shop. The WiFi issue (Shop side) involves tablet, laptop, and 2 phones. The laptop is OK most of the day and doesn't move from its location very often. The secondary devices are what he said he is looking to gain. Keep the questions coming, and I will continue to bounce them off the client.
I wonder whether you can use a directional antenna/transceiver to connect laptop to Starlink router and then use mobile hotspot to share over its inbuilt wi-fi for the other devices.
If you can establish a "Good" WIFI connection at any location in the shop then a cheap solution would be to use another router in bridge mode. That said the connection will be somewhat limited but without getting into dedicated solutions your options are limited also.
ASKER
Robert please give an example of a specific router that can be configured as a wireless bridge for Starlink network.
The only ones I have ever configured personally for bridge mode would be a linksys and one ubiquity unifi one.
That said there are many out there that are capable of bridging. There are even some youtube videos that walk you through how to configure it.
In general most all but the cheapest routers will have the ability to be configured in bridge mode and work for you.
When your shopping just find a model you like and search "configure xxxxx router for bridge mode" and it should give you details.
That said there are many out there that are capable of bridging. There are even some youtube videos that walk you through how to configure it.
In general most all but the cheapest routers will have the ability to be configured in bridge mode and work for you.
When your shopping just find a model you like and search "configure xxxxx router for bridge mode" and it should give you details.
What's the advantage of a router in bridge mode Vs the laptop using mobile hotspot?
Both would need a directional antenna to get a good connection to Starlink wi-fi although admittedly the one for a router might not need inbuilt transceiver.
Both would need a directional antenna to get a good connection to Starlink wi-fi although admittedly the one for a router might not need inbuilt transceiver.
If you used a laptop with a hotspot you would need to keep the laptop on all the time. Additionally processing the traffic on the laptop would have some (probably minimal but a factor) impact on performance on the laptop.
ASKER
Bridge mode by definition would not provide wireless. I would have to connect an access point to the far end bridge. If the devices supported MESH, that would be one radio for the bridge and additional radios for WiFi. That is not an option.
If those options are not open to you then you may need to suggest he wait till he has the budget to do it properly.
ASKER
The question is the best repeater. Please stick to the question. At best I might convince him to spend $200. Money is not an issue for him. Keeping it within the amount he is willing to spend is my task.
The cheapest configuration that I would recommend to a client would be something like the airMAX GigaBeam 60 GHz Radio – Ubiquiti Inc. But that cost would be closer to $260. Aside from that a bridging a normal router is the only way I could come up with to make it cheaper with any kind of reliability.
ASKER
Repeater is a four letter word to me, and it sounds like everyone treats it the same. I am going to try the Nanostation, as I am familiar with ubiquiti, and youtube videos show it working as a repeater.
ASKER
The Nanostation M2 didn't work as a wireless repeater, but I was able to purchase an open box Netgear WiFi 5 router from Walmart... I set the M2 to connect to the Starlink as a bridge and connect the Netgear in AP mode to provide WiFi in his shop. He is happy with the results, and compromised with the little extra cost.