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Long Range WiFi (long range internet)

Mike Freeman <http://freemansgarage.com/blog/?author=1> | February 1,
2010 | Projects <http://freemansgarage.com/blog/?cat=3> | 58 Comments
<http://freemansgarage.com/blog/?p=157#comments>
Long range Wi-Fi is another one of my hobbies. I have successfully
installed over 20 projects that range from 600ft to 5 miles. I thought I
would post a little bit about how I do this. The 5+ mile links are by
far the most fun and they are really quite amazing when they work
correctly. I do this for fun and do not really have a business or
anything (so far). The main purpose of this is to share a single
internet connection between multiple houses however it is a full network
that supports file & printer sharing or anything else you would like to do.
<http://freemansgarage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/P10100471.jpg>
Here is a typical 12 dB omni directional antenna on one of my
installations. The white box houses the access point. I will use these
for the base station if multiple clients are used. This particular
antenna links 9 houses that range from 2000ft to 1 mile in range. The
antenna is mounted on a roof.
<http://freemansgarage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/us031.jpg>
The diagram above shows how the system works. Its just like setting up a
wireless router in your house except all the antennas go outside. One
house will have the router and internet connection and the other
houses will connect as clients just like a laptop connects to your home
wireless router.Farm
Line of sight is very important. I live out in the country and can see
for miles in every direction. A few trees will not interfere much but a
forest or huge buildings will severely cripple the signal. The farm in
the distance is 1 mile away and has WiFi. I have a perfect signal from
where I am standing. Roof top height is more than ample for this
technology as long as you have line of sight.
<http://freemansgarage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/P10100491.jpg>
Houses that are clients get a panel antenna. Its about 12dBi gain and
is directional. I just aim it at the base station antenna and it works
perfect. The AP mounts inside this particular panel antenna.
<http://freemansgarage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/P101001311.jpg>
Inside the panel antenna is the Access Point (AP). Signal loss is huge
in the antenna wire so you want to keep your antenna wire as short as
possible. Mounting the AP inside the antenna is a great way to minimize
signal loss. All I do now is run cheap Cat5e cable from the inside
computer to the antenna on the roof. This antenna is a Rootenna and
cost about $30. I have bought about 15 of these and they are excellent.
<http://freemansgarage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/P10100431.jpg>
Here is another panel type antenna on a house. This one does not have an
inside spot for the AP so I had to mount the AP in a separate box under
the antenna. It still works perfect.
POE
Getting power to the AP is easy. What you need to buy is a Power Over
Ethernet <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet> (POE)
injector. The one on the right is $5 and works excellent. What this does
is injects 12 volts from a power adaptor and sends it over the unused
CAT5e pairs. The Access Point is smart and can be powered right from
the CAT5e cable. This injector will sit under your desk by the PC and
plug into a wall outlet.

POE Injector <http://freemansgarage.com/blog/?attachment_id=880>

The black box above is also a POE injector.
AP
The access point is made by En Genius and is the most expensive part of
the setup. They are roughly $130 but there are other options available
today that are cheaper. I have bought about 20 of these and will gladly
vouch for their quality. I have some that have been in service for 4
years outside without a single reset.
There is more to this than just the hardware setup. The networking,
TCP/IP setup, and DHCP control is another subject on its own which will
not get explained here. You will have to do some reading on that subject
on your own.
UPDATE:
I no longer buy the $130 access points. I have bought 3 of the Bullet2
Access points made by Ubiquiti for about $38 each. They are 200mw power
which is plenty for 5 mile links. These are excellent and are small.
I simply connect them direct to the back of a panel antenna (shown
above). No need for the rootenna or external box.
<http://freemansgarage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/bulletb.jpg>
Bullet2 Access point. They really are great and cheap.
Bullet 2.0 <http://freemansgarage.com/blog/?attachment_id=879>
Bullet 2.0 <http://freemansgarage.com/blog/?attachment_id=878>

Homemade stuff:
There was a time when I had no money but still liked to play with
wireless stuff. You can make your own equipment fairly easy if you want
to. I made many antennas and they all worked well.
omni

Here is a very simple 1/4 wave omni antenna called a spider

<http://www.freemansgarage.com/http%7C/flakey.info/antenna/omni/quarter/>
and is made from a female N type connector. It has one vertical radial
and 4 ground radials. This antenna works very well for what it is and is
very small. It works very well for war driving
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardriving>.
This antenna has no gain.
Biquad
This is my favorite homemade antenna. It is called a bi quad
<http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/15/how-to-build-a-wifi-biquad-dish-antenna/>
and is directional. I use this exclusively for war driving to identify
where the signal is coming from. You can also use these to feed an old
dish network dish for increased range. It has 11dBi gain and can have
24dB if used to feed a old dish network or direct TV dish.
I have connected up to a mile with this antenna and the PCMCIA card below.
pcmcia

Here is my old laptop PCMCIA card and homemade pigtail. I use this for
war driving and site surveys for new clients. Its a 200mW card and I have
connected miles away with this card.
More to comepage under construction.

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58 Comments
Older Comments
<http://freemansgarage.com/blog/?p=157&cpage=1#comments>
1.
Ken Shehan October 12, 2016
I have Grandchildren living approx. 1.5 klm`s from a MacDonalds .
What setup would be required to receive WiFi ? Thanks , Ken.
2.
Steve C <http://none/> October 19, 2016
Could you help me with the set up of the Bullet 2 Access Point? I am
a complete novice.
3.
Stuart Browne October 20, 2016
Mike,
I have a project to provide wifi to a village in Africa. We have a 9
meter telescoping tower and can provide 500 to 1000 watts of solar
power to run the station via 24 vdc or 48 vdc battery plant ( all DC
no inverters). There is a 1 meter VSAT that back hauls into the
Internet.
Im interested in what youd recommend for a village wifi system to
get max coverage at 2.4 ghz. Have you worked with wifi billing systems?
4.
Daryl Ortiz <http://bestreviewsage.com/> November 28, 2016
I use my dont when camping. I find it hard to reach the wifi in the
campgrounds a lot of times is there a wifi antenna booster I could
buy to hook up to the roku.
5.
RAkib Hasan <http://www.bdmoviz.blogspot.com/> December 6, 2016
My need High Range Wifi Access point within 3,000 meter Coverage .
I want wifi business .
please help me, and suggestion me, how i do it.
6.
Noble December 30, 2016
How much kilometers wifi broadcast this?
7.
Rivinji January 28, 2017
Good day Sir, I am Rivinji from Philippines. My place is 6 kms from
town ( line of sight) 12 kms by road.. I have a small computer shop
(the only computer shop in my place) my present internet connection
is via 3G which very difficult to have a good net connection ( my
customers always complaining for that matter).lately i learned that
 wifi can be transmitted for long distances, my problem is I dont
know what kind of hardware to buy and what to do.my place is 60
meters above sea level, I got minor problem there is mountain 90
meters high blocking me from town the towns elevation is 45
meters. hoping for your reply. Tnx in advance.
Note: It is possible to compensate the lost of signal because of
that mountain ( 90 meters) is to have a long antenna pole?
8.
Corby February 19, 2017
I live in a rural area with lots of trees. I now use Verizon and it
is very expensive since I have retired. I have a private road that
runs in front of my houswe and approximately 1/2 mile from available
signal ( recommendation pls DSL Cable Or)
I would like to send internet to my house that is set 150 ft from my
road . Can you help info etc .
Older Comments
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