Local Network over 400 meters...

fguinan

I need to run a local network between my house and an outdoor office about 400 meters away. I have thought about getting wireless internet access in the office with a static IP address and connecting from my home connection but i don't want to have to pay for two broadband subscriptions if i can get away with it. Any thoughts on how to do this? Thanks

Capt'n Midnight

if you have line of site then you can do this with wifi , though the units will need external antennas
and they will need to support WPA since WEP is broken

fguinan

There are trees as well ESB pylons in the way...

ob

Is it possible to lay cable between the buildings, laying fibre between the buildings would be the best option, but this would cost a few quid...

FusionNet

Hi there,

Im afraid what your looking for is a solution to a problem that many big companies face every year. The difference is you probably dont have the same purse! In my opinion there is no way to cheaply solve this problem. Even if you had a clear line of site the Outdoor wireless would cost you quite a bit and at times they can be flakey, depending on many things like athmosphere, tree growth, new buildings etc. Secondly installing wireless is a hard days work and if your not into DIY or are indeed a professional at this kind of thing I would never recommend anyone without training and proper H&S equipment climb a roof.

I really think if you can get a phone line into your office and get a seperate connection there that it would be cheaper, faster, more reliable and if you do it right you can set up a mini VPN between the two so you can file share etc.

By the way running Fibre for 400m underground would cost approx €10,000 to €30,000! Think two subscriptions would be cheaper. dont forget when laying Fibre you need to get permission, test for underground cables and utilities, dig, trunk it, lay pipes, back fill with sand and earth, have safety statements, insurance, safety plans, an IT company to terminate and instal fibre switches and cabinets, and if it goes near main roads forget about it!!!

Hope you get sorted

fguinan

Thanks for the reply's. I think i'll go with getting wireless broadband in the office with a static IP address. Next Question - does anyone have any recommendations for an ISP that will allocate me a static IP address, and a connection of atleast 2 or 3 Mbps.

Capt'n Midnight

Don't give up on WiFi so easily.

Stick an access point in an open window and see how far away you can pick it up with a laptop, try again from the other end. Use netstumbler to monitor the signal.

JohnnieM

Ive used a VDSL router (master and a slave) to overcome this problem.. .
you will however still need cable between the buildings an outdoor grade cat5e or any type of poly poly will do.. only a single pair is used..You can even piggy back an analogue telephone line on the same cable..

Moriarty

Is this crossing fields, a built up city environment or somewhere in between? Depending on what you need to cross, different options will be more attractive..

merkuree

I think the 400m distance rules out Cat5 unless you can place a repeater somewhere in the middle to re-amplify the signal (which also implies running power).

You may be able to use a directional antenna connected to the wireless base station in the house and a directional antenna on the office to enable wi-fi connectivity.

JohnnieM

fguinan wrote: »

- does anyone have any recommendations for an ISP that will allocate me a static IP address, and a connection of atleast 2 or 3 Mbps.

Magnet business
ps you never said was it or was it not possible to lay cable between the buildings?

Capt'n Midnight

merkuree wrote: »

I think the 400m distance rules out Cat5 unless you can place a repeater somewhere in the middle to re-amplify the signal (which also implies running power).

You may be able to use a directional antenna connected to the wireless base station in the house and a directional antenna on the office to enable wi-fi connectivity.

can you get POE mini hubs yet ?


Another alternative would be to use a FON at one end they are doing cheap external antennas at the moment

http://www.fon.com/en/
https://shop.fon.com/FonShop/shop/IE/ShopController

Buy La Fonera+ and get La Fontenna for only $/€2 more! To get the discount, add both products to the cart.

merkuree

Good suggestion Captn.....not sure if POE hubs exist....certainly POE switches.

I believe though that POE is still limited by the effective distance of Cat5 copper....so 100M or so.....which is a shame because POE would be so much more useful with a longer effective distance.

Jackz

Your neighbour could sniff it then?

Capt'n Midnight

merkuree wrote: »

Good suggestion Captn.....not sure if POE hubs exist....certainly POE switches.

I believe though that POE is still limited by the effective distance of Cat5 copper....so 100M or so.....which is a shame because POE would be so much more useful with a longer effective distance.

If you are going to lay cable then lay extra cable to power the mini switch - most run from 5V so a 7805 regulator would work no matter the voltage drop accoss the cable.

if there are houses in the middle you could offer them internet access in exchange for putting an access point there - both ends would point at the access point, and the house would connect wirelessly to the FON