Internet Options for my Mom

[EddieWalker]

On Monday, Spectrum ran fiber optic to my house. Yesterday, they installed it. Since then, my mind has exploded in how fast it is!!! I've never been able to upload a video without waiting several minutes for it to happen, and half an hour wasn't unusual. So far, I've uploaded two videos, and they where instant!!! My second day of this and I'm still amazed.

My Mom is still struggling with Skynet, it's an over the air antenna for internet. It's what I've had for the last 8 years. I have there fastest service, Mom has the one just below that. When it works, it's OK. The biggest issue that we've had with it is in how often it drops out or is offline. Some days it's flawless, other days, it happens every couple of minutes, or a few times an hour.

Mom has a tablet that she keeps up with friends on Facebook. That's all she does with it. She has no other need or use of the internet.

Her house is 100 feet from my house. I built it right behind my house so my wife and I could take care of the as they aged, which has worked out great.

From what I understand, I have two options. I can have Spectrum run another fiber optic line from the road to her house, and they can install it in there for her tablet. I would prefer that she didn't have another bill, and I don't really want another bill either, but my wife says that we should pay for it to make her life easier.

Option two is why I'm posting this. Is there a way to get her tablet, which is about 200 feet from my modem, to pick up my wifi signal? How do people with barns do it? I can run a cable to her house is that works, but I would prefer to not have to dig through 100 feet of compacted gravel between our houses.

If there is something that you have used that works for something like this, and what brand and model is it?

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[ponytug]

On Monday, Spectrum ran fiber optic to my house. Yesterday, they installed it. Since then, my mind has exploded in how fast it is!!! I've never been able to upload a video without waiting several minutes for it to happen, and half an hour wasn't unusual. So far, I've uploaded two videos, and they where instant!!! My second day of this and I'm still amazed.

My Mom is still struggling with Skynet, it's an over the air antenna for internet. It's what I've had for the last 8 years. I have there fastest service, Mom has the one just below that. When it works, it's OK. The biggest issue that we've had with it is in how often it drops out or is offline. Some days it's flawless, other days, it happens every couple of minutes, or a few times an hour.

Mom has a tablet that she keeps up with friends on Facebook. That's all she does with it. She has no other need or use of the internet.

Her house is 100 feet from my house. I built it right behind my house so my wife and I could take care of the as they aged, which has worked out great.

From what I understand, I have two options. I can have Spectrum run another fiber optic line from the road to her house, and they can install it in there for her tablet. I would prefer that she didn't have another bill, and I don't really want another bill either, but my wife says that we should pay for it to make her life easier.

Option two is why I'm posting this. Is there a way to get her tablet, which is about 200 feet from my modem, to pick up my wifi signal? How do people with barns do it? I can run a cable to her house is that works, but I would prefer to not have to dig through 100 feet of compacted gravel between our houses.

If there is something that you have used that works for something like this, and what brand and model is it?

Thank you,
Eddie

I wouldn't run a second fiber. I would try either a WiFi extender pointed at your mom's house, or an actual point to point wireless set. E.g. Ubiquiti nanobeam.

However, as both expose your home network to the open air and whatever your mom does on Facebook, I would highly recommend that you set up a virtual LAN for just your mom's place, that can only see the outside world, and perhaps even bolting that down to just being allowed to see Facebook, and ensuring that your mom's WiFi can't talk to or see anything inside your house. (That would also help keep your mom bubble wrapped from some of the crud out on the internet.)

For a single tablet, I would not bother with a cable, as the bandwidth is so low.

Yes, this may mean that you need to upgrade your home router, but that is a good thing. VLAN's are your friends to keep your printer or dishwasher from hacking the rest of the house and keeping guest electronic devices out of everything in the house. I would not buy a low end router to do this due to security concerns, e.g. not TP-link (under consideration to be banned for sale in the US), or its price competitors.

All the best,

Peter

 

[civilian]

Just a question. You say mom's place is about 200 feet away. In relation to ponytug's info, how far are your houses from other houses, streets etc. My house is 1/4 mile from the street, neighbors maybe a little less. So I don't see any other wifi's when I search and I doubt they can see mine. Also are both your houses on the same electrical meter? Supposedly there are some internet sharing that way. Someone else will have to pop in with that info. Just some thoughts. Jon

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm sort of in the middle of nowhere. My house is 700 feet from the street. The closest house to me is right at a mile away. Then there are more homes after that, which are spread out along the road going farther away.

 

[EddieWalker]

Yes, both houses are on the same electrical meter. I have a 1,200 amp panel with one meter, and six 200 amp breakers inside the panel.

 

[EarPlug]

I use 2 - TP-Link CPE-210 to go from house to metal barn for my cameras. They are good for about 4 miles!

How to build a Wireless Network between home and farm using tp-link products

Amazon.com

Another option that might work is Ethernet over Powerline. This will depend on how the power is run from your house to Mom's. Plug one unit in at your house/router then the other at Mom's house/router. Will only work well if both houses are on the same phase of the electrical. I used this before I switched to the CPE-210. The reason I switched was it didn't have the bandwith for all of the camera to run at full speed.

Amazon.com

 

[ponytug]

Just a question. You say mom's place is about 200 feet away. In relation to ponytug's info, how far are your houses from other houses, streets etc. My house is 1/4 mile from the street, neighbors maybe a little less. So I don't see any other wifi's when I search and I doubt they can see mine. Also are both your houses on the same electrical meter? Supposedly there are some internet sharing that way. Someone else will have to pop in with that info. Just some thoughts. Jon

While you can do a certain amount of sharing over a power line, it is rather low speed. I'm afraid it has gone out of style as devices have gotten more greedy for bandwidth.

The concern is more that anyone with a half decent antenna can pickup a WiFi from over a mile away, more if you are trying to beam the WiFi in a particular direction.

@EddieWalker welcome to the fiber world by the way. It does make a world of difference, doesn't it?

All the best,

Peter

 

[civilian]

My property is heavily treed, also. Jon

 

[lman]

I installed these a few years ago for my barn about 500 ft. away.

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-LocoM2-2-PACK-Nanostation-Outdoor/dp/B0161G653W?crid=2LOE75PJQN1LN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.rtUdyCz032PDUctqCWnZspY9u66XoIHFac5jA5Jt5V75CxLbh4jysOx6u9titUyHkBoGATS48iNW1loJcowZMoWiwj2PenMwi2XZqjx-JGQQUVV5Yrrgbc8pcpdnDcjn7napc4BpIg3DAW9IJCh2bVsvBcn4pWOkNnYeSFm1lFQ_SlF9RoFotvl9oNiMgyKrACjQeJbgCvL6o8AFjpHMWLWaB5EWcpxC2RFylgh-s14._GCjSs9kGrVAi0JMsQfoctEFWzvssfPtYvq5RvmzKe4&dib_tag=se&keywords=Ubiquiti+NanoStation+locoM2a&qid=1735141975&sprefix=ubiquiti+nanostation+locom2a%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-3

 

[scootr]

I'm 1k ft from any neighbor but when I search wifi connections they all show up....

 

[B7510HSD]

Eddie Look at the Wifi on the tablet and see if yours shows up maybe all you need is to connect it?

 

[EddieWalker]

That was our original hope, but it's not showing anything. They guy who installed the fiber optic told us that it covers 1,600 square feet. So we're good for about 40 feet according to him.

 

[EddieWalker]

What is a WiFi Bridge?

 

[EarPlug]

What is a WiFi Bridge?

A WiFi Bridge is a pair of radios (CPE-210) that replaces a cable connection by using a radio signal. You can think of it as a wireless piece of cable.

From Google:
A WiFi bridge is a device that connects two points wirelessly, allowing devices outside of WiFi range to connect to a router. WiFi bridges can be used for a variety of purposes, including:

• Extending WiFi coverage: WiFi bridges can be used to extend WiFi coverage to outdoor areas, such as pools or community areas.
  
  
• Connecting smart devices: WiFi bridges can be used to connect smart devices, such as security cameras and smart locks, to a router.
  
  
• Connecting buildings: WiFi bridges can be used to connect two buildings or campuses, or to connect an indoor location to an outdoor one.
  
  
• Improving wireless signal: WiFi bridges can be used to boost WiFi signal through walls.
  
  
• • Providing internet service: WiFi bridges can be used to provide internet service to guest houses.
    

WiFi bridges are directional, meaning they focus radio frequency energy in one direction. This helps to minimize interference from other transmitters.

 

[JJT]

Checkout a mesh network router. I have no problems reaching a trail cam over 600' from the house as well as the mailbox alert that is about 700' away.

Excellent signal in the detached shop about 150' away. Not cheap, ~$200 for the Google Nest equipment, (2 pack) and less than 10 minutes to setup.

 

[ericm979]

The concern is more that anyone with a half decent antenna can pickup a WiFi from over a mile away, more if you are trying to beam the WiFi in a particular direction.

If you use the built in WPA2 security for wifi that would protect from other people reading the traffic or using your network.

It's perhaps not nation-state attacker level of security but it's plenty to keep neighbors off your wifi.

The neighbors may however be able to see that you have a network and would then see the network name, so don't name it "<neighbor's name>_sucks" unless that's the message you want to send.

 

[MMC]

On Monday, Spectrum ran fiber optic to my house. Yesterday, they installed it. Since then, my mind has exploded in how fast it is!!! I've never been able to upload a video without waiting several minutes for it to happen, and half an hour wasn't unusual. So far, I've uploaded two videos, and they where instant!!! My second day of this and I'm still amazed.

My Mom is still struggling with Skynet, it's an over the air antenna for internet. It's what I've had for the last 8 years. I have there fastest service, Mom has the one just below that. When it works, it's OK. The biggest issue that we've had with it is in how often it drops out or is offline. Some days it's flawless, other days, it happens every couple of minutes, or a few times an hour.

Mom has a tablet that she keeps up with friends on Facebook. That's all she does with it. She has no other need or use of the internet.

Her house is 100 feet from my house. I built it right behind my house so my wife and I could take care of the as they aged, which has worked out great.

From what I understand, I have two options. I can have Spectrum run another fiber optic line from the road to her house, and they can install it in there for her tablet. I would prefer that she didn't have another bill, and I don't really want another bill either, but my wife says that we should pay for it to make her life easier.

Option two is why I'm posting this. Is there a way to get her tablet, which is about 200 feet from my modem, to pick up my wifi signal? How do people with barns do it? I can run a cable to her house is that works, but I would prefer to not have to dig through 100 feet of compacted gravel between our houses.

If there is something that you have used that works for something like this, and what brand and model is it?

Thank you,
Eddie

Here's a specific "system" I use to connect my house internet to the farm shop, about 300 feet away. It demonstrates the Point to Point antenna concept mentioned earlier. To me, this is just a house broadcast signal directionally aimed to another identical small antenna at the shop. The units do look identical, but one is set up as the Master and one as the Slave (receiver) at the shop.

Amazon.com

You need 120v for the POE plugs feeding the units on each end. Because my shop is tin I did have to mount the receiver antenna outside and run an ethernet cable inside to a separate shop router (through a watertight connection). The broadcast antenna in the house is just attached to a windowframe on the second floor. If you and your Mom have two windows facing each other (with no large metal obstructions), all that could be completely inside the two buildings. The package descriptions say Starlink systems compatible, but I don't believe that makes any difference.

For example, I use a mesh router system in the house downstream from Starlink and I just ran an ethernet cable from one of the mesh units to feed the broadcast antenna. The internet signal received at the shop just sees this as its parent being the name of the mesh router system at the house.

A couple of insights: First, this is cheap. Second, it's easy to set up using the instructions in the box. Third, I have almost a solid year of use with no problems whatsoever (and one of these is outside in the weather all the time). Well, no problems yet... But, I'd certainly buy another one if there were any problems. I did measure the speed a year ago, but have forgotten it now. Still, it allows me internet for parts ordering and is fast enough to stream a movie and a couple of cameras.

I did try the powerline (AC) solution at the shop with another earlier shop internet solution and I like this better. Much better.

Also, a friend asked about this system and ended up buying the same thing to use with another separate building on his property. No problems.

As Ponytug mentioned, I would get a separate router for your Mom's house (even though you could actually run an ethernet cord to the antenna for the laptop). And security is always a problem. And always will be. Try to keep up with the latest security tech. And his comment hits home with me on TP-Link. I got a mesh system made by them through Costco. Great system...but don't buy anything new from them until the government figures out how much of a threat China poses with TP-Link connections. And when and if they do, I'll through mine away and buy something else...assuming I can find it.

At any rate, good luck on your search. At least you have some more real world data now. If you go the route I did, I would send the mfg. a question through Amazon and verify these antennas transmit internet from any ISP router, not just Starlink. I think that's the case, but perhaps more technically inclined folks here could also offer advice.

 

[WM75Guy]

I am using the D-Link Eagle Pro AI AX3200 Mesh Wifi 6 2-pack systems in my house and my shop. The cost $151 off of Amazon. Pretty easy setup with the phone app, plus you get alerts if something goes down. You lose some speed on the remote mesh antenna. I don't have a Spectrum router or wifi, the primary mesh router plugged into my Spectrum modem and then I placed the wifi extender where I needed it.

 

[EddieWalker]

Is a Mesh a way to spread the internet around inside your house? Basically increasing the area that the router is giving you?

And is a Bridge a point to point signal from one building to another building?

I'm not seeing a lot of options on Amazon for Wifi Bridget Systems. Should I be using different words for my search?

 

[JJT]

I did a quick Amazon search for Google Nest and see a 3 pack of mesh routers for $299.

I considered a wifi extender, it's cheaper, but went with the Nest since I already have multiple Nest products - lights, thermostat, door bell cameras, etc and all have been trouble free for years.

A neighbor has been fighting with his wifi for months trying to get multiple wifi extenders to work for his detached shop. Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't. I'll pay more to avoid the aggravation.