AJWhite1970 Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Hi Currently running a staff wi-fi network using 50 x Buffalo routers running DD-WRT which gives 100% site coverage and a smaller student wi-fi network on a different VLan. The PE department are now asking if it's possible to extend the staff wi-fi to the sports fields which is about 800m away as the crow flies. It's mostly fields between the two and if you stand on tiptoes on the roof of the main site you can see the hut so a fairly good line of sight. What do the fellow geeks of this fine forum suggest as the cheapest way of extending the wi-fi that far? The hut is secure and has it's own electric supply so no issues with putting in a cabinet or leaving equipment powered on. All they want to do is run a RDP connection back to do the registers either on their ipads or netbooks. Any ideas gratefully recieved Thanks Andrew
abillybob Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Use a simple powerline adapter connect it to a port on the switch and connect the other side into the sports area then the one from the sports area could have a wireless array connected to the other powerline adapter? 1
abillybob Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Obviously as long as the Sports hall shares it's electric with the main building and isn't on a separate electrical circuit!
AJWhite1970 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Posted January 13, 2014 Hi Sadly, totally separate supplies. Andrew
localzuk Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) I'd say your "best" option is to get a fibre cable run between the 2 buildings. I'd guess that the landowners between the buildings wouldn't put up a huge fight to having such a cable buried along hedgelines or similar. However, that will not be the cheapest. Other than that, you're looking at point to point wireless, which would require something like this - Liberator-V320 | 60GHz Point to Point Wireless Ethernet Bridge | Sub10 Systems. Every installation is different though, so you'd probably be best speaking to a network specialist like @Net-Ctrl. Edited January 13, 2014 by localzuk 1
featured_spectre Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Xirrus arrays may be of use here, as they have a massive range on them (and can handle a large amount of users). If I remember there is an xirrus account on here who could help. Failing that, you could also look at wireless repeaters. 1
localzuk Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Neither an ordinary wireless 'repeater' or a Xirrus array would be any use as far as I can tell, as you're talking about nearly 1km distance. Best 'small' units I've seen are Unifi devices which will work over 600ft outdoors. 1
abillybob Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 I have used Xirrus arrays before and yes they're very good but don't think they will reach up to 800 meters away and are very expensive bits of kit (rightly so!) To have that many wireless repeaters he'd need a socket every 50 meters to plug one in and the connection would be so unstable he wouldn't be able to use it. @AJWhite1970 If they're on separate circuits fibre might be your only option as any other cable that length such as Ethernet you would loose too much power and wouldn't work properly I completely agree with localzuk!! Hope this helps mate!Xirrus arrays may be of use here, as they have a massive range on them (and can handle a large amount of users). If I remember there is an xirrus account on here who could help. Failing that, you could also look at wireless repeaters.
glen_j Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 something like this should fit the bill. Ubiquiti NanoStation M5 AirMax Wireless PTP Kit 5Ghz - Ubiquiti NanoStation M5 i've not used the company but have been looking into similar solutions. upto 15km should do it 1
TronXP Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 You could speak to someone like 4gon about point to point wireless if there is line of site. Point to Point Wireless - 4Gon Solutions 1
White_Fi Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Hi Andrew, Are you looking to provide wireless access across 800m stretch or to an areas that is ~800m from a building? If it is to provide coverage locally to an area 800m from the building then an option (using mostly existing kit) is to use directional antennas and create a MESH (WDS) link between two APs. There are mainly out of the box solutions that would do the job nicely too. Ruckus have a PtP solution, the 7731, that comes as a pair. Its a transparent layer two bridge. One AP at each location. 1
jamesreedersmith Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Ubuiquiti Nanostations to bridge the link and a normal access point at the sports hall end. 1
abillybob Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Hmmm I don't know. I've never heard of this company myself either and if you don't use them then their "up too 15km" wouldn't satisfy me I've also never heard of the manufacturer :/ but that's just me!something like this should fit the bill. Ubiquiti NanoStation M5 AirMax Wireless PTP Kit 5Ghz - Ubiquiti NanoStation M5 i've not used the company but have been looking into similar solutions. upto 15km should do it
Achandler Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 The manufactuer is well known, the company is a reseller. Ubiquiti are the ones that make Unifi that people use, I think they started off doing point to point wifi though. 1
localzuk Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) Hmmm I don't know. I've never heard of this company myself either and if you don't use them then their "up too 15km" wouldn't satisfy me I've also never heard of the manufacturer :/ but that's just me! They're relatively new (in the education arena at least), but there's a pile of people on here who swear by Ubiquiti's equipment. Supposed to be very good, and very cheap for what it does. As much as I love Ruckus gear, the 7731 is very expensive from what I've looked at. Edited January 13, 2014 by localzuk
AJWhite1970 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Just to clarify, I'm looking to bridge the wi-fi 800m and then connect a normal Buffalo router at the other end to cover the sports field rather than try and cover a 800m radius from the main site. The Ubiquiti NanoStation M5 AirMax Wireless PTP Kit is looking interesting, anyone out there with any real world experience of this kit? Andrew Edited January 13, 2014 by AJWhite1970 Spel Chequer...
synaesthesia Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) Ubiquiti is a bigger name in wireless than 90% of the companies you know, that's a guarantee. ** edit - I use the standard UAP External's for some small bridges, they work awesomely well. I believe it's the nano's a lot of councils use for external public access? @m25man's your man there I think Edited January 13, 2014 by synaesthesia 1
Domino Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Looked at a p2p laser link? if you've line of sight they tend to perform pretty well (obviously adverse weather can impact them). We had a (much shorter than 800m) set connecting some outlying buildings in a school I used to work at, very much set and forget. plus...you know... LAZORZ! 1
AJWhite1970 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Posted January 13, 2014 Usage: Either 10" Android devices running afreerdp connections back to the main site or Windows netbooks again with RDP. Very low level usage and certainly nothing data heavy, just the PE department looking to do live registers. Andrew
steveg Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 We used to have a wireless link to a nursery using ubiquiti kit and it was solid for the 18 months that is was in, before they moved. - Not a single call out to it in the whole time it was in. Link was approximately 1km with line of site over the top of houses and an industrial estate, speed was between 30 and 50mbps. We now run one using the same kit (the mini dish ones, not sure what the exact model is) back to my house, which has a few trees in the way, but still works. Again been very reliable for the last 6 months. Steve 1
IrritableTech Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 I haven't used the point to point kit from ubiquiti but can't praise their wifi kit enough. We've got it in four of our schools now (and my house) and it's been fantastic. At the price - I'd be my first option if I needed to connect two remote buildings over that kind of distance. 1
Chris_ Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 We use Ubiquiti UniFi for our managed wireless in school and have a few of their NanoStations devices for point-point and point-multipoint links around the site. Works great, we have access points and VOIP phones on the other end of the links working fine. Admittedly our links aren't the longest of distances, the longest probably being less than 500m (with a few trees in between). 1
twin--turbo Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 I have done p2p wifi across town full line of sight 1.5Miles also done .5 miles obscured point to point across a business park and some other P2P stuff. Used both Ubiquitin Nanostation's and deliberant APC-5M's I would go with a pair of APC-5M-18's It's very easy to do and you will get good performance on near line of sight. Rob 1
m25man Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Ubiquiti Nano's all the way, longest P2P I've had is 9 miles!!! I am 300 ft above sea level with unrestricted views from Romford to Wrotham across the Thames so distance isn't an object here. If you can see it UBNT will deliver it, end of. 1
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