OT: wifi to a Faraday cage

[reuben]

I have a normal house. The aluminum (Faraday cage) pole barn is about 100-150 meters away. If I stand inside the barn and open the bay doors I can surf Ye Olde Internete fine with my phone, with "mobile internet" turned off and a 2.4GHz wifi connection to my home network. As soon as I close the doors I lose connectivity. So far, so obvious.

I want to stream wifi out there to a stereo receiver with wifi connectivity. I already do this with to a different wireless receiver in my house with no problem to listen to online/internet/streaming music.

2.4GHz is plenty - I just want internet/online radio stations like I listen to in the house. 5GHz probably won't reach to the barn anyway.

So I need an antenna on the outside of the barn to receive the signal (LOS is good, even in summer) then run a short cable inside the barn to another router, WAP, or whatever which will broadcast the signal inside to the wifi receiver.

Needs to:

1) WORK
2) Be relatively robust - attenuation (rain), etc.
3) Be less than obnoxious to install and configure.

Not looking to set up a separate network.

Seems simple, but my searches lead me to all sorts of solutions which are either incorrect (PoE - two separate electrical feeds), overly expensive and complex (mesh), or impractical (digging a trench for a hard line through roots and concrete).

Most of the antennas I've seen want to run RJ45 type cable from the outside. Given the nature of the physical connection, I'd want to shield that somehow from dirt/rain/bugs/etc. Old fashioned coax would be better, but I can protect the exterior connection better if I have to - just get some of that putty or whatever it is electricians use for exterior fixtures.

What say ye?

[Gsinill]

Adding to your "impractical" category: Replace aluminum with wood siding - looks better too

On a serious note, something like this installed in LOS?

[Wunder]

Are you able to run a CAT6 cable from your house to your barn? If so, install one of these inside the barn. Powered over ethernet and extremely reliable. I used one in a detached garage at my old house and have similar ones installed in the ceiling (run through the attic) of my current house.

TP-Link EAP225

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

Your main router in the house assigns IPs, this is just an access point. It is DEAD reliable, mounts easily to an exposed wood beam inside the barn, powers over ethernet (includes a power injector) so you only need to run a single cable to it.

[kppolich]

CAT6 I believe maxes out at 100m or so I've heard.

however, a directional wifi antenna to an access point on the outside of the shed could be a solution.

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by reuben

(...) The aluminum (Faraday cage) pole barn is about 100-150 meters away. If I stand inside the barn and open the bay doors I can surf Ye Olde Internete fine with my phone, with "mobile internet" turned off and a 2.4GHz wifi connection to my home network. As soon as I close the doors I lose connectivity. (...)

Yeah, that 150m distance makes a home network approach hard.

Do you get cell phone data reception outside your barn? Could you do internet media streaming on your phone hooked up to your audio system? If so, perhaps a cell phone signal booster would be cheaper and simpler.

A cell booster consists of an outdoor antenna receiver, an amplifier, and an indoor antenna transmitter. The cost for a good cell signal booster is around $300-$400. It's a "buy once/use forever" generic radio device and doesn't require any recurring fee from a cell carrier.

Maybe it's an alternative worth checking out.

I have *zero* experience with cell phone signal boosters, but they're a thing and they're mainstream. Even Best Buy sells 'em:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/weboost...?skuId=6445839

[truth]

Originally Posted by reuben

I have a normal house. The aluminum (Faraday cage) pole barn is about 100-150 meters away. If I stand inside the barn and open the bay doors I can surf Ye Olde Internete fine with my phone, with "mobile internet" turned off and a 2.4GHz wifi connection to my home network. As soon as I close the doors I lose connectivity. So far, so obvious.

I want to stream wifi out there to a stereo receiver with wifi connectivity. I already do this with to a different wireless receiver in my house with no problem to listen to online/internet/streaming music.

2.4GHz is plenty - I just want internet/online radio stations like I listen to in the house. 5GHz probably won't reach to the barn anyway.

So I need an antenna on the outside of the barn to receive the signal (LOS is good, even in summer) then run a short cable inside the barn to another router, WAP, or whatever which will broadcast the signal inside to the wifi receiver.

Needs to:

1) WORK
2) Be relatively robust - attenuation (rain), etc.
3) Be less than obnoxious to install and configure.

Not looking to set up a separate network.

Seems simple, but my searches lead me to all sorts of solutions which are either incorrect (PoE - two separate electrical feeds), overly expensive and complex (mesh), or impractical (digging a trench for a hard line through roots and concrete).

Most of the antennas I've seen want to run RJ45 type cable from the outside. Given the nature of the physical connection, I'd want to shield that somehow from dirt/rain/bugs/etc. Old fashioned coax would be better, but I can protect the exterior connection better if I have to - just get some of that putty or whatever it is electricians use for exterior fixtures.

What say ye?

I'd go with a Unifi Building Bridge

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by truth

I'd go with a Unifi Building Bridge

Beware the Unifi bridge requires immersing one's self in the entire Unifi ocean. From the link:

"Note. Cannot be set up standalone and must be managed by a UniFi Console, Official UniFi Hosting, or a Self-Hosted UniFi Network Server."

[reuben]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

Yeah, that 150m distance makes a home network approach hard.

Do you get cell phone data reception outside your barn? Could you do internet media streaming on your phone hooked up to your audio system? If so, perhaps a cell phone signal booster would be cheaper and simpler.

A cell booster consists of an outdoor antenna receiver, an amplifier, and an indoor antenna transmitter. The cost for a good cell signal booster is around $300-$400. It's a "buy once/use forever" generic radio device and doesn't require any recurring fee from a cell carrier.

Maybe it's an alternative worth checking out.

I have *zero* experience with cell phone signal boosters, but they're a thing and they're mainstream. Even Best Buy sells 'em:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/weboost...?skuId=6445839

I have to use wifi calling due to the lack of cell service here. But that's the general idea - pick up a signal (2.4 GHz wifi), wire it into the barn, rebroadcast the signal.

#rurallife

[merckxman]

For outdoor connectors you want to use Coax Seal, also avail on Amazon.

[reuben]

Originally Posted by Wunder

Are you able to run a CAT6 cable from your house to your barn?

...

Originally Posted by reuben

impractical (digging a trench for a hard line through roots and concrete).

[reuben]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

Beware the Unifi bridge requires immersing one's self in the entire Unifi ocean. From the link:

"Note. Cannot be set up standalone and must be managed by a UniFi Console, Official UniFi Hosting, or a Self-Hosted UniFi Network Server."

Yeah, seems kinda like buying an iPhone.

And probably overkill. But I've ogled their products, trying to make sense of them. Seems like a simple problem that should have an inexpensive and well known solution.

[Philster]

I’m not a techie, but I can tell you what I did with my guest house. It’s similar to your barn in that it gets a Wi-Fi signal from the main house but only a good one in the closest corner.

I just got a Wi-Fi range extender (repeater) which is designed for large houses. I plugged it in as close to the main house as possible. The incoming modem and router is already in the part of the main house that is closest to the guest house. This works really well and was cheap. I should add that some of these extenders use the house’s wiring to carry the signal. That’s not the kind you want.

In your case, you would probably want to house the extender outside the barn in a weather proof cabinet or something.

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by reuben

(...) Seems simple, but my searches lead me to all sorts of solutions which are either incorrect (PoE - two separate electrical feeds) (...)

Don't dismiss devices that require PoE. Remember if you don't have power on your network wire, you can add power with a generic PoE injector, which plugs into an outlet. Twenty bucks.

https://www.google.com/search?q=poe+...client=gws-wiz

[Carbonita]

Mikrotik has products that fit this use case, power line and los. Reliable and supported for many years with firmware updates. Can be fiddly to set up, but now have a quick start setup.

[Peter P.]

Originally Posted by Philster

In your case, you would probably want to house the extender outside the barn in a weather proof cabinet or something.

The cabinet would have to be plastic, and the unit itself would have to be designed to withstand outside temperatures and humidity. Check the specs before you buy.

Cat. 5 and Cat. 6 cable is limited to 100m. You would have to use outdoor rated cable, suitable for direct burial.

Our company uses Cambium products. We either get our products direct from Motorola or from TESSCO. Expensive, but it's ready to go.

Someone mentioned sealing an outdoor RJ-45 connection. Many devices, including some by Cambium mentioned above, use what's called a "gland". It installs on the cable behind the RJ-45 connector and screws in to the antenna, acting as both a strain relief and a weatherproof seal.

One microwave link our company installed actually has one antenna mounted inside a building, behind a window. The distance to the other end is only 1/2 mile, but it works. Perhaps you could set up something similar and avoid a lot of installation hassle.