Wireless bridge point-to-point help

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c0brakai

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I live in a valley where my only internet option is satellite. It's slow (1Mbps down, 0.3 Mbps up), laggy (762ms latency), and they limit my download (11GB/mo).

A neighbor nearby has fast internet via long-range wireless through a local ISP. By 'fast' I mean 3-6Mbps with no DL cap and 15ms latency. They said they'd be glad to hook up an antenna or wires and then split the bill.

I would like to connect from their home to mine. There is one point within about 50 feet of each of our homes where we have line of sight. The distance between these points is probably around 1000 feet. I would have to figure this out more precisely.

What are my options? We are the only home to be connected, so the throughput isn't very high. I would like to game occasionally though. I would like something reliable and affordable. Considering my bill is now $80/mo and would reduce to around $40/mo or less, I can factor that into the inital equipment cost. What are the downsides of doing something like this?

Thanks for any help :)
 
I have used ubnt gear on a client last week. Rocket m on top o a cupola and about a 1000 feet away in 4 spots the nanobride units that look like satelite dishes
 
Engenius is what I would use- take a look at this. They have similar in 2.4; the 5GHz would minimize interference. PM me for a quote on hardware if you can't find it. You'd have to run a cable the final 50 feet for PoE or have power at the Line-of-Sight location.
 
Direct burial cat5 to the area 50ft away, mount bridges and be good.

I have used both engenius and ubnt and I prefer ubnt I think both way will be very inexpensive
 
Thanks for the suggestions. So I'm probably looking at around $200-$300 for everything including wiring (assuming i set it all up myself)?

How good is the PoE? Does it degrade the signal quality or speed at all? It might be the better solution rather than trying to get separate power to each antenna.
 
/usr/home said:
Look into Ubuiquiti hardware. It'll do what you want as long as you have line of sight. Cheap hardware as well but solid.
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As long as you have good line of sight with no obstructions, a pair of 5.8ghz Nanostation M5 Locos will work well almost up to a mile. After that I would look into the full blown the Nanostations. If you have a few trees in your LoS go with 2.4ghz with a smaller channel width to reduce the harmful interference from consumer routers/microwaves/phones.

A pair of 5ghz Locos will put you back around $140 US plus shipping. 2.4 is a little cheaper around the $100 ball park.
 
I would highly suggest using nanobridges in 5ghz along as there isnt no trees and if there is any trees then you want to use nanobridge M2.

As for the loco's in 5Ghz for a pair I was able to get them for under 100 dollars.

If you want to know more about Ubnt product ask me or go to there forum at http://www.ubnt.com/forum/index.php

Because I got both pairs of Nanobridges in 2ghz and 5ghz and I got 2 bullet m2 hp's, Nanostation M2 and Nanostation Loco M2 and Pair of Loco M5's, 3 Rocket M2's 1 Rocket M5 and a 30dBi rocket dish. If anybody wants to know why I go so many is because I am starting up my own WISP here in NW Ohio.
 
Does it matter that the wireless phones in my home are 5.8Ghz?

Also, regarding the trees. I live in a densely wooded area, but there is a line of site to this one point, probably a 30 foot square. I could go directly from roof-to-roof, but it would have to travel through a few redwood trees along the way.

What's the better option? A 5Ghz system with direct LoS and remote wiring/power to the antennas, or a 2.4Ghz system going through the trees but mounted closer?
 
Any advice given is based on your accurate descriptions. Please post some basic pix of your descriptions.
 
Yeah, that could help. Here is a little sketch. I will try to get an actual picture also.

M07Ob.jpg


I should also mention that the home with internet gets their internet from a wireless antenna located about 500ft directly horizontal to the right, via a 2 ft square receiver. Do I have to make sure the bridge is on a different frequency?
 
its probably better have real picture of the trees and the distance between the houses to help.

Also I would watch out on the phones with the 5Ghz setup it might interfere with the signal depending on what channel the phones are.

I would upgrade the phones to dect 6.0 incase of any interference.
 
are those pine trees? if those are pine trees it doesn't matter what the distance is you can't shoot through them. reason being the size of the 2.4ghz radio wave is roughly the width of a pine needle so when you attempt to shoot a pine needle length wave through a bunch of pine needles the signal turns into nothing but noise.

you can test this for yourself over really short distance. put a decently full branch of pine needles between 2 radios and the connection turns to shit.

it those trees/shrubs/whatever are leafy you can shoot through them fairly easily.
 
timreichhart said:
its probably better have real picture of the trees and the distance between the houses to help.

Also I would watch out on the phones with the 5Ghz setup it might interfere with the signal depending on what channel the phones are.

I would upgrade the phones to dect 6.0 incase of any interference.
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Yeah, I figured. I'm at work and it's dark when I get home but I will try anyway.

madrebel said:
are those pine trees? if those are pine trees it doesn't matter what the distance is you can't shoot through them. reason being the size of the 2.4ghz radio wave is roughly the width of a pine needle so when you attempt to shoot a pine needle length wave through a bunch of pine needles the signal turns into nothing but noise.

you can test this for yourself over really short distance. put a decently full branch of pine needles between 2 radios and the connection turns to shit.

it those trees/shrubs/whatever are leafy you can shoot through them fairly easily.
Click to expand...

They are mostly oak and redwood. Redwood needles are similar to pine trees, but flatter and wider. That's a good point. I guess I should avoid shooting through trees anyway.
 
deciduous trees and leafy shrubs aren't a big problem unless you get into a cluster of lots of small branches. whenever the radio wave contacts something that is about the same width/height/length (however you want to describe it) the signal just dies.

if say the antenna you're shooting at is somewhat elevated and there are a few oak tree branches in the way it shouldn't be a big deal.
 
Get a couple AP's that can do 802.11 n, bridge them, and buy two directional antennas.
 
AP = access point. PoE will not affect data signal at all. Clear Line of Sight is preferred.I seriously doubt 5.8 GHz phones will interfere with 5GHz networking. 5GHz is awesome in free air, but is blocked easily by obstructions. Is going over the trees an option? Maybe a tripod or mast on your roof?
 
Ah, okay. Turns out the phones are actually DECT 6.0. I assume that's good for this situation.

There really isn't a way to get over the trees, they're hundreds of feet tall.

Another thing I should think about is partitioning the wireless speed. Say my neighbor gets 6MBps service and we want to split the bill. To be fair, is it possible with software or firmware to limit each of us to 3MBps... or limit it only when the other person is using the internet?

I know I'm asking a lot of questions. This forum has been an excellent resource for me :) Thanks to everyone very much so far.
 
Well with Ubnt product you can login to the GUI and set the speed at your AP at neighbors and CPE at your End.
 
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