trying to get wireless to reliabily reach external building, Ubiquiti UniFi?

Kremlar

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
1,426
3
81
We have an external garage we'd like to get wifi to. Our existing 802.11g wifi does reach out there, but barely and only intermittently.

I'm thinking of adding another WAP in our main building - a location a bit closer to the external garage with better line of sight. I'd like to go with something as high range as possible to increase the chance of reaching the garage wirelessly.

I'm trying to avoid external outdoor antennas because we're trying to keep the project simple and inexpensive, and the wall is concrete/metal.

I was looking at some TP-Link models, like this one:
http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/?categoryid=239&model=TL-WA901ND

..and adding some 8dBi antennas:
http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/?categoryid=2473&model=TL-ANT2408CL

However, I've seen a lot of excellent reviews on the Ubiquiti UniFi and looking through the documentation they do seem quite good. If the range claims are true, I don't see how they wouldn't reach our garage seeing that our existing WAP is ALMOST good enough.

I'd be looking to add a WAP in our main office, then a second one in the garage to use as a wireless extender and boost the signal in there.

Biggest complaints I see on the Ubiquiti UniFi is poor support, no phone support, 2 days to get back to an email... which seems like a nightmare. But if the units work well then I guess I'm willing to overlook that.

Any opinions/suggestions?
 

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
29,485
391
126
We have an external garage we'd like to get wifi to. Our existing 802.11g wifi does reach out there, but barely and only intermittently.


I'm trying to avoid external outdoor antennas because we're trying to keep the project simple and inexpensive, and the wall is concrete/metal.

Given the environment it is Not a matter of hardware used, or to be used. High gain Antenna from inside the building would do nothing with "wall is concrete/metal".


I'm thinking of adding another WAP in our main building - a location a bit closer to the external garage with better line of sight. I'd like to go with something as high range as possible to increase the chance of reaching the garage wirelessly.

You need two units bridged and placed in facing Windows with line of sight. You can start with the least expensive.


P.S. If you need support from a Sub $200 hardware Wireless vendor you are better off no even starting with Networking project.



:cool:
 

Kremlar

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
1,426
3
81
P.S. If you need support from a Sub $200 hardware Wireless vendor you are better off no even starting with Networking project.

LOL - I don't need support for configuration, but I do need support if a unit dies.
 

dawks

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,071
2
81
If you're going to take a highly directional antenna and try and shoot it at/through a concrete/metal wall, you're going to have a bad time. It will likely reflect back like a mirror.The 600ft advertised range is 'line of sight', not accounting for a concrete/metal wall.

Best bet is probably an antenna mounted on the other side of the wall. There is a unifi outdoor model that isn't very expensive and would work pretty well.
 

VulgarDisplay

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2009
6,188
2
76
We have an external garage we'd like to get wifi to. Our existing 802.11g wifi does reach out there, but barely and only intermittently.

I'm thinking of adding another WAP in our main building - a location a bit closer to the external garage with better line of sight. I'd like to go with something as high range as possible to increase the chance of reaching the garage wirelessly.

I'm trying to avoid external outdoor antennas because we're trying to keep the project simple and inexpensive, and the wall is concrete/metal.

I was looking at some TP-Link models, like this one:
http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/?categoryid=239&model=TL-WA901ND

..and adding some 8dBi antennas:
http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/?categoryid=2473&model=TL-ANT2408CL

However, I've seen a lot of excellent reviews on the Ubiquiti UniFi and looking through the documentation they do seem quite good. If the range claims are true, I don't see how they wouldn't reach our garage seeing that our existing WAP is ALMOST good enough.

I'd be looking to add a WAP in our main office, then a second one in the garage to use as a wireless extender and boost the signal in there.

Biggest complaints I see on the Ubiquiti UniFi is poor support, no phone support, 2 days to get back to an email... which seems like a nightmare. But if the units work well then I guess I'm willing to overlook that.

Any opinions/suggestions?

I've had great luck getting support for Ubiquiti products on their forums from their loyal customers. I have a netgear wireless router set up in my parents house and I mounted a Nanostation on my brother's house about 200 yards away, and it gets great signal and performance through trees to just the cheapy netgear router.

If you set up two of the nanostations between the buildings as a bridge you would have no problems.
 

Kremlar

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
1,426
3
81
I'm happy to report I was able to install 2 of the UniFi Long Range WAPs and get solid connectivity out into the garage - even with a few pine trees in the way and a concrete wall. During testing I had 50%+ signal, but once mounted on the wall it dropped to about 30%.

We're getting more than enough bandwidth for our needs, and the connection seems solid. I feel I could increase the signal strength by adjusting the WAP locations, but we'd prefer to leave them where they are for aesthetic reasons if the connection stays reliable.

On a side note I am really impressed with these boxes. The only complaint I have is that the controller software uses common ports (80443, etc.) that might likely need to be changed if installed on a server. Seems silly to have to edit a text file in the user profile folder to change the ports - changing the port #s should be built into the GUI IMO.

I also installed a unit in my home and was able to replace 2 Cisco/Linksys WAP4400Ns with a single UniFi AP Long Range and get great coverage everywhere - and I think even better coverage than I was getting before.

Otherwise, great stuff!
 

kevnich2

Platinum Member
Apr 10, 2004
2,465
8
76
I'm happy to report I was able to install 2 of the UniFi Long Range WAPs and get solid connectivity out into the garage - even with a few pine trees in the way and a concrete wall. During testing I had 50%+ signal, but once mounted on the wall it dropped to about 30%.

We're getting more than enough bandwidth for our needs, and the connection seems solid. I feel I could increase the signal strength by adjusting the WAP locations, but we'd prefer to leave them where they are for aesthetic reasons if the connection stays reliable.

On a side note I am really impressed with these boxes. The only complaint I have is that the controller software uses common ports (80443, etc.) that might likely need to be changed if installed on a server. Seems silly to have to edit a text file in the user profile folder to change the ports - changing the port #s should be built into the GUI IMO.

I also installed a unit in my home and was able to replace 2 Cisco/Linksys WAP4400Ns with a single UniFi AP Long Range and get great coverage everywhere - and I think even better coverage than I was getting before.

Otherwise, great stuff!

For the outside building like you have it, if you have problems later I'd recommend going with the Ubiquiti airmax nano stations. These are more directional and from a building half a mile away, I'm getting 94% signal, even going through one tree.

For the ports, I'm not sure why you'd need to change the ports? I have this running on a dedicated VM by itself and with the default config, it runs just fine. I don't see why you'd need to change port settings for this? Even on a shared system, it doesn't use standard 80/443 ports anyway so I'm not seeing a conflict on that side either.

As far as support, the company does more support through it's distributors than through itself but the product is rock solid enough and there's so much online support for configuration, I don't see that being an issue. Plus, the more support a company needs to give, the more the prices increase. Support is where a company spends most of it's money so if it can keep that cost down, the price of the hw stays low and I'm a big fan of ubiquiti.

I REALLY wish they'd get their supply issue taken care of, I can't find more ubiquiti hardware ANYWHERE right now and I need a few more 3 packs of AP's for a project we're doing. This is the only issue I have with them right now.
 

Kremlar

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
1,426
3
81
For the ports, I'm not sure why you'd need to change the ports? I have this running on a dedicated VM by itself and with the default config, it runs just fine. I don't see why you'd need to change port settings for this? Even on a shared system, it doesn't use standard 80/443 ports anyway so I'm not seeing a conflict on that side either.

This is a small business so don't have the luxury of a dedicated machine or VM in this case. Options are a workstation or available server. I chose server but it also runs the Symantec EndPoint Management which also defaults to port 80443 for a service.