Any network gurus here??

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
jymbee

jymbee

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 20, 2018
Posts
3,489
Location
Upstate NY
Trying to find the best solution to provide Internet access to a relative's RV near our house.

We have Internet via a cable connection through our local service provider. We had to go underground about 900 feet from the main road to our house for the installation (long story there). Long before internet was available, we got power from the power line on the same main road. Power comes down to a pole then out to our house as well as another property. From that pole, power goes underground to the transformer & meter that feeds our house as well as a power outlet to the RV. Both our house and the RV are on the same meter.

In the past I've had pretty good results connecting outbuildings to the Internet using devices like the Ubiquity NanoStation loco M2. Connect to Internet on the transmit side then connect wirelessly on the receiving side to a router. In this case however some fairly thick woods rules that out as a possibility.

I've read a bit about these powerline extenders and am wondering whether even though our house and the RV are well apart, does the fact that they both feed off the same meter make such a device a viable option, or... ?

I'll attach a crude diagram in an attempt to illustrate the overall layout.
 

Attachments

  • dd.jpg
    dd.jpg
    39.7 KB · Views: 20
What is the distance involved from house to RV?

The woods are problematic. WiFi needs direct line of sight as you know.

I have used those TPlink Internet over power lines in the past in an apartment with thick cement walls - mediocre results but doable. The key is not just to be on the same box but to be preferably be on the same circuit/circuit breaker.

There are pretty slick repeater systems now and our RV park has one on a pole but it needs to be wired to the router. Even that isn't great because folks several RVs down the line with no LOS still can't get good reception. I mounted a remote antenna on my RV roof with a repeater inside and mine works good.

My property setup will be something like yours and I am considering making a "utility" box mounted at the meter/breaker and installing the box and router there and branching everything for internet from there either wired or wirelessly.

The good news is the tech is such now is that you don't have to have subnets. The boxes can all behave as one network if you get the right stuff.

I had an issue getting reliable Wifi to a remote garage. I used the "Mesh" boxes and set one up in the window of my den with LOS to the garage, mounted the another Mesh box in the window of the garage and it was perfect. The router was in my L/R behind 2 brick walls so the signal went from L/R --> Den --> garage. Again not a solution for you due to LOS needs.
 
Ex-Calif said:
What is the distance involved from house to RV?
Click to expand...
Obviously the scale of my diagram is pretty sloppy. It's about 700 feet from our house to the RV in a direct line through the woods. 200 feet from the transformer/meter to the RV.
Ex-Calif said:
I had an issue getting reliable Wifi to a remote garage. I used the "Mesh" boxes and set one up in the window of my den with LOS to the garage, mounted the another Mesh box in the window of the garage and it was perfect. The router was in my L/R behind 2 brick walls so the signal went from L/R --> Den --> garage. Again not a solution for you due to LOS needs.
Click to expand...
Hmmm... just starting to read about these mesh systems. What distances were involved with your L/R to garage setup? In my case we could go "around" the woods with a straight line from the house to the meter, then from there another straight line to the RV. But perhaps the distances involved would be an issue?
 
LOS to the garage was about 500 feet I would guess.. I forget what the Mesh range is but signal strength was strong. The mesh units are not weather proof but depending on distance from the meter to the RV I guess it could be housed in a plexiglass box as long as there is 110V power at the post.

I am not sure that's the best solution for you though... Read the specs on everything before committing.

I am sure there are guru's that will chime in with other options. I just haven't had to cross these bridges lately...
 
It can be done with wifi and directional panel antennas if the woods are not too thick, line of site is relative with wifi, panel or sector antennas tend to work better through wooded obtructions better than other types of directional antennas (yagi or dish). Also if you use wifi stick to 2.4 ghz it hands obstruction better than the other frequencies.

If I were to do it I would probably try something like a pair of these, total cost under $100:


Amazon.com: TP-Link 2.4GHz N300 Long Range Outdoor CPE for PtP and PtMP Transmission | Point to Point Wireless Bridge | 9dBi, 5km+ | Passive PoE Powered w/ Free PoE Injector | Pharos Control (CPE210) , White: Computers & Accessories

Buy TP-Link 2.4GHz N300 Long Range Outdoor CPE for PtP and PtMP Transmission | Point to Point Wireless Bridge | 9dBi, 5km+ | Passive PoE Powered w/ Free PoE Injector | Pharos Control (CPE210), White: Wireless Access Points - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
smile.amazon.com
 
Last edited:
Part of the line of sight equation is topography. So if there's any elevation at either end at all in play, that can make a big difference in the path. Along that line is antenna height - any option for hoisting these links up a tree or pole? The higher you get it the better, so maybe some experimenting with a router and some directional antennas will reveal a path.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
I agree even if you can only get the antennas up 10-15 feet on each end it can help considerably.
 
jymbee said:
Trying to find the best solution to provide Internet access to a relative's RV near our house.

We have Internet via a cable connection through our local service provider. We had to go underground about 900 feet from the main road to our house for the installation (long story there). Long before internet was available, we got power from the power line on the same main road. Power comes down to a pole then out to our house as well as another property. From that pole, power goes underground to the transformer & meter that feeds our house as well as a power outlet to the RV. Both our house and the RV are on the same meter.

In the past I've had pretty good results connecting outbuildings to the Internet using devices like the Ubiquity NanoStation loco M2. Connect to Internet on the transmit side then connect wirelessly on the receiving side to a router. In this case however some fairly thick woods rules that out as a possibility.

I've read a bit about these powerline extenders and am wondering whether even though our house and the RV are well apart, does the fact that they both feed off the same meter make such a device a viable option, or... ?

I'll attach a crude diagram in an attempt to illustrate the overall layout.
Click to expand...
powerline extenders are really only good for short distances < 100 feet.
I have several questions.

1. do you have line of sight from the house to the transformer ?
2. do you have line of site from the transformer to the RV ?
3. how thick are the woods ?

if you have LOS from the house to the transformer and RV then a simple wireless repeater would work.

if you have partial sight of the RV from the house then a lower frequency 900 MHZ PTP link would work.

do you have a shovel ?.. did a trench and lay CAT6 cable or fiber.
 
I would agree 900 mhz would perform best, but it is slow and expensive, therefore I would try 2.4 ghz first, I have had good luck with 2.4 ghz and directional panel antennas through light to moderately wooded areas with ranges up to 1,250 feet, with some dropouts after heavy rains and lots of wet leaves.
 
Interesting product. It's implied it's not proprietary but gotta wonder what it's "phoning home".

"each device is monitored on AyrMesh.com, so you can tell at a glance that each device on your wifi data network is connected and working properly."

A few years ago I did some messing around with mesh networking using amateur radio based firmware in linksys and ubiquity routers and it can work, the problem is getting the stations set up so they can hear each other. Gain antennas and height are the key. I used to have a "router on a stick" (battery powered dual dipole router on a 16' painter pole) I would use as a "sniffer", using a phone as a display for signal strength, and walk around to find the "hot spot" to put a node. I could get a good half a mile out of a home 2.4GHz linksys router with a clear shot. For playing around in the mountains setting up wifi cameras and such it worked OK but never went so far as to set up any permanent links to the internet with it.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
I designed and built a mesh network at the University's remote wooded area resort cabins. Using 2.4ghz rf on mesh points with hi-power omni dipole antennas the tree foilage was a real stopper. I set it up on the posts of a walkway that passed nearby all the cabins and meeting spaces, keeping the signal below the canopy. The mesh points allowed client connections as well and the system worked well. NOT CHEAP!
If you can clear a path at a lower elevation above the ground, depending on your distance, you may be able to get something working at a reasonable cost.
 
Directional to directional vs directional to omni-directional antennas helps considerably when dealing with wooded areas. Also as mentioned above panel or sector type antennas seem to do better than yagi or dish antennas in wooded areas.
 
A cable is not an easy solution as this exceeds the maximum distance for standard ethernet cable which is 328 feet.
 
The LInk Ubnt products info is to a company that makes some amazing and not all are expensive products.. Google Nano Station Loco M or (M2) I have the smaller of the two M's

Over open ground (no trees in the way) it can see for miles (not all that many) to another of it's kind in the house or several hundred yards to most home or office routers.

They also make units that see for tens of miles but those cost more and are harder to set up.

I parked mine on top of a flag pole (using a hose clamp) very impressed with the performance.
 
They do make ethernet extenders for cable that work well. I have some experience with those as well.
We did a "private" DSL connection over standard phone cable to a location just over a mile away. Got 10Mb/s throughput. Enough for most any regular network use.
 
Last edited:
Isaac-1 said:
A cable is not an easy solution as this exceeds the maximum distance for standard ethernet cable which is 328 feet.
Click to expand...
easily overcome with POE powered extenders, the biggest issue here is trenching, not fun with 1200 feet or more, in fact, for longer runs, fiber is a more reliable and cost effective solution.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 507 (members: 12, guests: 495)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,913
Posts
1,387,274
Members
137,666
Latest member
nativoacai
Back
Top Bottom