Antenna boost for Airport Extreme

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to work around a situation on a farm. Our signal comes into the barn, where we have a base station, which sends the signals back to the house (where there are two more base stations). They are about 200 yards apart. By the time the signal reaches the house, I've lost significant speed.

Is an antenna the best way to go to rectify this? There is no clear line of sight from the barn to the house, as there are trees in the way. Also, will each base station within the house require a receiver or whatever to send the signal back to the barn (instead of just the antenna fixed on the barn's base station)?

Thanks.

200yards with obstructions is a big ask of consumer wifi.

Is there no way you could run an ethernet cable under the surface of the ground or maybe use Ethernet over power if both structures are on the same ring main

The ether net is possible/a great idea, though I'll have to mull over how cost/time effective it would be.

We're still getting a signal in the house, FYI. It's just not as fast as we prefer. And the tree blockage isn't too bad -- just leaves. Come winter, for example, there's effectively nothing in the way.

Someone has since suggested I just use a couple of boosters... perhaps one in the barn, and one in the house (with one base station, as opposed to both of them). Not sure if that's a viable alternative or if anyone has any thoughts on that.

We're still getting a signal in the house, FYI. It's just not as fast as we prefer

Click to expand...

When you say fast . . . . If you connect wirelessly in the barn and do a speed test, then repeat the the test in the house what's the difference in upload/download speeds. You can use speedtest.net.

As far a signal boosters go . . . these, can help but good quality ones can be expensive and in the instance I'd suggest those that can accept external antenna connections. You can then mount the antennas on the exterior of both buildings.

Ethernet over power adapters are also worth a thought

Using an antenna

Hi everyone,

My boss is looking to use an antenna to boost the signal on his farm property. Basically, the signal comes in at the barn, then travels about 100 yards to the house. There are two base stations inside the house.

He is getting a signal and can use the net in his house, but it's degrading and his speed isn't where he'd like it. If we were to add an antenna to the barn (boosting the signal being sent toward the house), do we need to add something to one or both base stations within the house to ensure the signal going out to the barn is also boosted?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as this kind of stuff is above my pay grade.

You can buy a WiFi antenna that plugs into a USB port. Some are directional and can give useable results more than ¼ mile away in my experience. This helps sending and receiving data at the laptop end.

You could also use the DD-WRT firmware which certain wireless routers can accept. They can boost the output power a bit to put you above water so to speak. This helps sending data from the WiFi unit to the laptop. Some claim it is like upgrading from a 60 dollar router to a 600 dollar pro version. As delivered, consumer wireless routers are barely idling they are set so low.

The antenna needs to be as close to the router as possible. An external antenna with long cable will degrade as well...you my not gain anything. There are also gain amps that attach to the back of the router and use the existing antenna.

I think this is a near duplicate of a previous post. How did you get on with those suggestions?

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/in...ntenna-boost-airport-extreme.html#post1431512

Merged threads..please don't post the same question multiple times.

Stanley said:

You can buy a WiFi antenna that plugs into a USB port. Some are directional and can give useable results more than ¼ mile away in my experience. This helps sending and receiving data at the laptop end.

Click to expand...

But if I use the antenna, will that only help data one way? For example, I would only get increased downloads (as the antenna is focusing from barn to house, where I'm using the laptop or whatever) vs. uploads (say, if I was sending emails or using Dropbox)? I read in the comments section of a site that sells antennas that one individual actually put an antenna at both ends of his setup. Is that something I need to consider?

Raz0rEdge said:

Merged threads..please don't post the same question multiple times.

Click to expand...

My apologies.

mrplow said:

When you say fast . . . . If you connect wirelessly in the barn and do a speed test, then repeat the the test in the house what's the difference in upload/download speeds. You can use speedtest.net.

Click to expand...

OK, I will talk to my boss about doing this. He hasn't been home in over the past few weekends (the farm is a few hours outside of the city) and likely won't be home until at least next weekend.

mrplow said:

As far a signal boosters go . . . these, can help but good quality ones can be expensive and in the instance I'd suggest those that can accept external antenna connections. You can then mount the antennas on the exterior of both buildings.

Click to expand...

OK, I asked someone else in this thread about the two-antenna option. Is that the only way to ensure I get increased results both transmitting and receiving? Sorry if I'm double-beating that question, guys, just trying to respond to everyone.

If ethernet-over-power and cabling are both non-starters then you need a good quality router that has a removable antenna. Connect a external antenna and mount that to the exterior of the barn nearest the house. Have a similar antenna setup at the house connected to a wireless bridge.

It'll be a trial and error screnario as more extreme wifi setups tend to be. You may be lucky or you may find you need a commercial router and boosted antenna setup

To answer your single/double antenna question....

It's just like a radio station - big transmitter to send and small antennas to receive. So a single antenna will work to a point. However, wifi needs to be bi-directional. For the maximum performance your after you need two strong bi-directional antennas. That will ensure a good quality connection.

All that said, environment permitting, some cheap plastic piping buried a few inches below surface (or even on the surface) with a 200m ethernet cable running from the barn router to a wireless access point in the house will give you the single most robust connection available.

mrplow said:

To answer your single/double antenna question....

It's just like a radio station - big transmitter to send and small antennas to receive. So a single antenna will work to a point. However, wifi needs to be bi-directional. For the maximum performance your after you need two strong bi-directional antennas. That will ensure a good quality connection.

Click to expand...

OK, that's good and also leads to my next question -- how will this all work in relation to Airport Extreme base stations. Does the antenna effectively replace the first base station, or does it simply swap antennas on the router?

I'll try to clarify... basically, there is a wimax tower that comes into the barn. This connects to a router (via N connector, I believe), which connects to an Airport Extreme (via ethernet). Then the AE sends out a signal to the house, where there is actually another router and two more Airport Extremes. So am I swapping the barn's AE for the antenna, or does it remain in place and the actual physical antenna on the router is swapped for the new one?

My gut instinct is to replace the AE in the barn and house with new routers with external antenna connections. It's fewer hops and therefore more robust.
If you want to keep the AEs then you can connect a wireless access point (with external antenna) by ethernet to the AEs

When you use outside antennas..dont forget about lightning. Underground cat5 would be the way to go..Im trying to do optic fiber to get around the lighting issue. Thing is I have to go 135 ft throw the air and cant afford to do outdoor fiber.