What do you need to extend a Network on a farm?

[dylanharbour]

I was at a friends farm in Wellington yesterday, and he's having some networking issues.

The problem is that one building has a ADSL while the other (a few hundred metres away, possibly with line of sight from the top of the chimney) doesn't have ADSL or any way to connect to the internet.

What would he need to be able to share the ADSL from building A with Building B? And how fast would it be? Its either that, or else he'll have to wait for Telkom to install a second line to Building B.

Neither of us are actually networking guys, but we understand the basics.

Please point us in the right direction?

 

[longboy]

Buy the required amount of network cabling and run it to the other building.

 

[irBosOtter]

You could get two wireless Mikrotik SXT routers, could get 50 - 100MB speeds out of it (5 - 10Mbps download speed) TCP 5Mbps and UDP up to 10Mbps.... but most will be TCP traffic I think

Maybe more speed, maybe less... will not really know unless you try lol

Cable route will have to be fibre and that's not going to be cheap at all.

 

[Compton_effect]

Or look at Ubiquiti. Decently priced (Last time I checked), reliable, can be set up as wifi access points or range extenders. And certified for commercial use, so you can mount them anywhere.

 

[MartyMarts]

Cable route will have to be fibre and that's not going to be cheap at all.

Unless you go the CAT 5 route ... with repeaters every 89m

 

[irBosOtter]

Unless you go the CAT 5 route ... with repeaters every 89m

Haha ja, also an option.

At one site we are running 6 X 110m cat5 cables to Cisco AP's, plus POE to power the AP, not problems yet lol
One cable was 120m, did not work at all to power up the AP

 

[dylanharbour]

You could get two wireless Mikrotik SXT routers, could get 50 - 100MB speeds out of it (5 - 10Mbps download speed) TCP 5Mbps and UDP up to 10Mbps.... but most will be TCP traffic I think

Maybe more speed, maybe less... will not really know unless you try lol

Cable route will have to be fibre and that's not going to be cheap at all.

Ok, so something like this:
http://www.dbg.co.za/product_info.php?products_id=816



Or on the Ubiquity side, I guess one of these options (i have no idea which one?): http://www.dbg.co.za/index.php?cPath=1_69_96


So how easy is this to put together?

Is it basically a ethernet cable running into an outdoor point to point antenna on Building A, which transmits to the second point to point antenna on building B. The second point to point antennae is also connected to a wireless router in building B using an ethernet cable and the router in building B broadcasts a network for everyone to use?

Is it as easy as plugging in the ethernet cable on building B's antennae to the WAN port of the router and letting it sort itself out?

 

[Nerfherder]

Directional Antenna, you just need one.... then normal WIFI on the other side.

Thats the cheapest/simplest... if you have cash then you can get directional on both sides.

 

[The_Ogre]

Or look at Ubiquiti. Decently priced (Last time I checked), reliable, can be set up as wifi access points or range extenders. And certified for commercial use, so you can mount them anywhere.

+1

Read up on this: http://www.ubnt.com/picostation

 

[Azimuth]

Here you go.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=604694

If you were to buy 2 * Nano Loco M5's, I'll happily link you to my config files on Dropbox to get the link up and running with zero effort. If memory serves, they're rated for 11km and have a very small footprint.

 

[MartyMarts]

Haha ja, also an option.

At one site we are running 6 X 110m cat5 cables to Cisco AP's, plus POE to power the AP, not problems yet lol
One cable was 120m, did not work at all to power up the AP

Impressive.

+1

Read up on this: http://www.ubnt.com/picostation

That looks really cool. Tiny as well.

 

[Azimuth]

I would rather recommend the UniFi Outdoor+. Do note that an outdoor AP is not really suitable for linking up buildings. It's really only to give outdoor areas WiFi access.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Or use a bird/cat/radio-controlled car to send/receive packets stored on an USB drive...

 

[ColinR]

Here you go.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=604694

If you were to buy 2 * Nano Loco M5's, I'll happily link you to my config files on Dropbox to get the link up and running with zero effort. If memory serves, they're rated for 11km and have a very small footprint.

This is your answer. Perfect use case. Depending how many 'few' is, consider getting two Nanobeams instead.

 

[irBosOtter]

This is your answer. Perfect use case. Depending how many 'few' is, consider getting two Nanobeams instead.

Also suspect the Ubiquity's might be easier to setup than the Mikrotik's, not 100% sure about that though

 

[Azimuth]

Rest assured, they are *much* easier. Plus you have the UniFi controller for remote management of the whole network.

 

[Azimuth]

The other option is to install a UniFi Outdoor+ on a mast on building A, then upgrade the omni antennas.

Edit: on second thought, the above is only optimal if the whole site is UniFi. Otherwise go with a RocketM and airMAX Omni. This solution will have the advantage of having WiFi all over, not just inside each building.