Internet in the shop solution

[harryball]

I know a lot of you guys have home shops out back and some may be facing my situation of needing to get Ethernet out there but either not wanting to bury a cable or out of range of a cable (over 100m).

In my case, burying a cable was prohibitive (though not impossible) due to underground power / phone / water lines / sprinkler system that was already installed when we bought the place (that means I have NO IDEA where some of the lines run). The best run I could find meant I would be crossing the existing waterline and the sprinkler system who knows how many times.

My solution was the NanoStation loco M5 by Ubiquiti Networks (ubnt.com)
Each station is about $70 at Amazon and I used the available window/wall mount kit. They are both outside (as these are supposed to survive outside) Currently they have 113 reviews 100 of which are 5 stars.

I installed one on the house under the eave and the other on the front of the shop wall. Pointed them at each other (I used a laser pointer to make it quick) and powered them up. On the house I set a static IP address and set it for Access Point WDS, on the shop I set a static IP with the mode Station WDS. That made a transparent bridge. I then put an Almond Wireless access router on it in the shop and BOOM, wireless (and wired if I want it) internet in the shop.

If you haven't seen the Securifi Almond - Touchscreen Wireless Router / Range Extender it is available on Amazon as well.

Not trying to be a commercial here, I get no kickback on these things. I just found something that works and works well and wanted to share for those that might need a solution but don't know where to look.

/RB

[cr2]

This sounds promising. Can you tell us how many feet it is from your house unit to the shop unit?

Thanks!

[harryball]

In my case it is about 130 feet. The units are rated in miles for line of sight and are supposed to go through glass (if you had windows facing each other). A friend of mine has a set (that's where I learned about them) that has been installed for a couple of years now. In his case it is about 350 feet which is over the maximum cable length.

He says he gets the full 100Mbps from it. I checked mine, I'm also getting the full 100Mbps. I see claims of 1000' and still getting the full 100Mbps.

I will say the unit will not go through my brick walled house. I had hoped being so close, just maybe I could put the unit inside the house but no signal gets through. I suspect it is the wire lathing on the house that blocks it.

[khaos]

In the shop but not on the control computer. Right?

[Logan Y.]

I'm a big fan of ubiquiti products. I recently installed several of their AP access points at the school I'm the network admin for and their performance is impressive. That coupled with their low cost is a win win.

[Brady Watson]

In the shop but not on the control computer. Right?

There's nothing wrong with having your control computer hooked to the net. Just avoid the temptation to do FacePlace and other circus side shows...The practical reason to have the net would be file transfer from your design computer.

-B

[harryball]

In the shop but not on the control computer. Right?

Generally no, the control PC is offline. I leave the wireless switch on the notebook off. However, if I needed to update something, like maybe Windows Updates, I could turn it on, get exactly what I needed then turn it off again. The main danger is browsing around the internet with it, not a good idea.

/RB

[harryball]

I'm a big fan of ubiquiti products. I recently installed several of their AP access points at the school I'm the network admin for and their performance is impressive. That coupled with their low cost is a win win.

Glad to hear that. I wasn't even looking for such a solution, dreading to bury cable. I'd worked with some Cisco radios in the past, they were $600 per unit. It was only because a friend of mine was using them and pointed them out combined with the good reviews I figured, what the heck!

So far I'm thrilled with the performance and ease of use.

/RB

[steve_g]

Any thoughts on their IP cameras?
SG

[barrowj]

I purchased this guy last year so my wife would have wifi for her ipod while mowing the grass, may not sound like a big deal but we have 5 acres and this guy covers it all. My shop is 35'x40' and is 100' behind my house and I mounted it on the front of the shop. It gives us access all around the yard and at my neighbors house. The also have line of site pairs that are point to point and I have heard of people getting great wifi single hundreds of feet away. They are a great product and I got mine from Amazon with prime for $125.

Ubiquiti UniFI AP Outdoor+ WiFi system with form factor built ( 2.4 GHz speed, speed upto 300 Mbps)

[Brady Watson]

That's great to know. I'd like to know how well they'd handle cameras.

-B

[Tim Lucas]

I use Vivotek cameras, great camera and software

[mikeacg]

I use LB-Link wireless USB adapters (BL-LW05-5R2) on all my computers in the house and shop. When I bought them a year or so ago they were about $6.00 each so I bought a handful of them. They are tiny so you almost don't know they are there and will work through a hub so you don't have to lose a USB port.
This is a very similar item and seems to have the same specs:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LL3WY1S?psc=1
$7.99 and Prime
100 meter range indoors, 300 meter outdoors. A very inexpensive way to go... I'm especially liking them now that I have a wireless all-in-one printer. I can print, scan or fax from any computer...
Mike