Outdoor WiFi

[cdk]

My current home wifi router works great in the house, however the signal dies fairly quickly when I am outside. What are my options for providing a usable signal outdoors on my property?

[MacinJosh]

It depends on the size of the property. I live on an acre of land and have a Linksys E1200 and have coverage to about 75% of my yard. Of course, my walls on my house are pretty thin, so that may help my case.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk

[lilotimz]

My current home wifi router works great in the house, however the signal dies fairly quickly when I am outside. What are my options for providing a usable signal outdoors on my property?

Depends on how big your outside is.

 

Easiest solution if you have a small outdoor area is to mount a wireless router near a window and set it as a wireless access point.

 

If you have a bigger outdoor area and you want to cover it you'll need to set up a higher powered wireless access point which is a bit more pricey.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[cdk]

Depends on how big your outside is.

 

Easiest solution if you have a small outdoor area is to mount a wireless router near a window and set it as a wireless access point.

 

If you have a bigger outdoor area and you want to cover it you'll need to set up a higher powered wireless access point which is a bit more pricey.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

My wireless router is near a window, and for the front of the house that works fairly well. It is the backyard where it falls flat. It is not a huge yard, maybe 50' by 150'. What sort of price tag are we talking?

[Steve Dean]

My wireless router is near a window, and for the front of the house that works fairly well. It is the backyard where it falls flat. It is not a huge yard, maybe 50' by 150'. What sort of price tag are we talking?

 

We ended up adding an additional WiFi router to accommodate.  Now have coverage for both front and back of the house. 

[cdk]

We ended up adding an additional WiFi router to accommodate.  Now have coverage for both front and back of the house. 

 

I figure it will cost me no matter what way I go, another router on the backside of the house was the first option I thought of. I was hoping to learn of some other possibilities before I chose that route. 

[lilotimz]

We ended up adding an additional WiFi router to accommodate. Now have coverage for both front and back of the house.

Upon further review it actually isn't all that pricey.

 

You'll need something like these..

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004EGI3CI/ref=mp_s_a_1_sc_1?qid=1429552774&sr=8-1-spell&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=Ubiquiti+nano+Staton

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004EHSV4W/ref=mp_s_a_1_sc_2?qid=1429552774&sr=8-2-spell&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=Ubiquiti+nano+Staton

 

Basically directional antenna units. You can achieve 2x2 mimo beam forming and the like with the ubiquiti equipment though if you need wider coverage then there are models that support a single omni antenna with the downside being less range.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[WiWavelength]

I figure it will cost me no matter what way I go, another router on the backside of the house was the first option I thought of. I was hoping to learn of some other possibilities before I chose that route. 

 

You seem like you would prefer a different solution.  Why?  A second router set to join your current Wi-Fi network is likely your easiest and cheapest option.  You should be able to accomplish that for $100.

 

AJ

[MarshieZ]

2.4 GHz will be your friend here. We live on 5 acres, using about 3 of it and it got interesting to provide decent WiFi outside.

 

I'm a fan of Netgear, so I will soon be replacing what I have and going with a more powerful Netgear AC1900 Nighthawk Range Extender.

 

The way I have it setup, I can't ever run a hard wire to do it the right way. But at least now I have my router on one side of the house and my current range extender on the other side and works fairly well. 

 

I wanted to upgrade so I can equip the new AC beam-forming technology.

[cdk]

You seem like you would prefer a different solution.  Why?  A second router set to join your current Wi-Fi network is likely your easiest and cheapest option.  You should be able to accomplish that for $100.

 

AJ

 

It is not so much that I would prefer a different solution. I just wanted to see if there where other solutions out there that may have been better options.

[WiWavelength]

It is not so much that I would prefer a different solution. I just wanted to see if there where other solutions out there that may have been better options.

 

I will use my setup as an illustration.  I have my main router, a current generation 802.11ac AirPort Extreme, at the front of the house by the cable outlet and modem.  I have my second router, an older generation 802.11n AirPort Extreme, at the back of the house by a window facing the backyard.  The second router connects as a client to my main router via 5 GHz 802.11n.  Since both routers are 3x3 MIMO, the max MCS index between them supports 450 Mbps -- plenty fast.  Additionally, because the second router is on my desk in the kitchen, I can use its Ethernet ports for my NAS drives and a cheap Windows laptop that I do not want on my Wi-Fi network.  Never underestimate the fringe benefit of additional Ethernet ports in other parts of the house.

 

AJ

[Steve Dean]

It is not so much that I would prefer a different solution. I just wanted to see if there where other solutions out there that may have been better options.

 

 

I will use my setup as an illustration.  I have my main router, a current generation 802.11ac AirPort Extreme, at the front of the house by the cable outlet and modem.  I have my second router, an older generation 802.11n AirPort Extreme, at the back of the house by a window facing the backyard.  The second router connects as a client to my main router via 5 GHz 802.11n.  Since both routers are 3x3 MIMO, the max MCS index between them supports 450 Mbps -- plenty fast.  Additionally, because the second router is on my desk in the kitchen, I can use its Ethernet ports for my NAS drives and a cheap Windows laptop that I do not want on my Wi-Fi network.  Never underestimate the fringe benefit of additional Ethernet ports in other parts of the house.

 

AJ

 

I understand your dilemma Craig.  I also looked at several options before installing the second router.  The final decision came down to costs.  I am not at the extreme of AJ but as you and others are probably in the same situation with multiple devices connecting and poor reception from one end of your home to the other.  It is nice to be able to have WiFi reception on your property regardless of your location.

[shaferz]

AJ nailed it. I also run a two-router setup. Covers our entire 3/4 acre lot and I have excellent signal everywhere in the house.

[djw39]

I think I had read the ideal way is to run an ethernet cable from your main router to the secondary one which you will connect as an access point. AJ can you comment on wired vs wireless for the second access point? Are you sacrificing anything noticeable if you don't run a cable?

[lilotimz]

I think I had read the ideal way is to run an ethernet cable from your main router to the secondary one which you will connect as an access point. AJ can you comment on wired vs wireless for the second access point? Are you sacrificing anything noticeable if you don't run a cable?

Increased latency and speed decrease is typical.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[MarshieZ]

I think I had read the ideal way is to run an ethernet cable from your main router to the secondary one which you will connect as an access point. AJ can you comment on wired vs wireless for the second access point? Are you sacrificing anything noticeable if you don't run a cable?

 

The biggest thing going wireless will be speed.

 

I personally would recommend always going wired if you can, other wise you do lose a noticeable amount of speed going wireless. Sometimes you have no other option. And with the new technology being used in the newer routers/access points, it's not as big of an issue as it used to be.

 

@CDK What speeds do you pay for?

[caspar347]

I had serious latency issues when I tried a wireless extender (It wasn't a real extender, just an old router with DD-WRT which was probably the problem) so I ended up repurposing some phone wire for Ethernet to the repeater and now it works great, covering the whole house and yards.

[cdk]

The biggest thing going wireless will be speed.

 

I personally would recommend always going wired if you can, other wise you do lose a noticeable amount of speed going wireless. Sometimes you have no other option. And with the new technology being used in the newer routers/access points, it's not as big of an issue as it used to be.

 

@CDK What speeds do you pay for?

 

My home internet connection is 50/50 Mbps.

[mrknowitall526]

My home internet connection is 50/50 Mbps.

Verizon FIOS? I think they sell a "range extender" that goes with the Actiontec routers.

[cdk]

Verizon FIOS? I think they sell a "range extender" that goes with the Actiontec routers.

 

Yes, and I will say it again, I was so happy when I got rid of Comcast for them....

 

I will look into that as an option, thanks.

[mrknowitall526]

Yes, and I will say it again, I was so happy when I got rid of Comcast for them....

 

I will look into that as an option, thanks.

https://teleproducts.verizon.com/fios/index.cfm/eh/DisplayDetails

[nmartine3]

Does Wi-Fi help with text messaging?

[mozamcrew]

Does Wi-Fi help with text messaging?

If you are using wifi calling on an android device, your text messages will also be sent over the wifi link. In fact, when in wifi calling, my phone completely disables the cellular radio, probably to save battery. This is not the case on iPhones however. I'm not sure why this is, but that seems to be the consensus. The iPhone implementation of wifi calling is different somehow.