Outdoor Repeater Setup Advice

[Iceman]

Hi, I'm trying to help someone setup an outdoor repeater and I have a good idea of what to do, I think, to achieve desirable results, but I wanted some input.

Here's the setup.. Currently, there is an pole antenna mounted on the outside wall of a condo that is connected by cable through the wall and eventually plugs into the external antenna port of a wireless router. They did this to get wireless access for their guests who stay in the resort condos. They have guests in neighboring condos and the ones across the street.

They just opened up condos down the block (very short block), perpendicular the way the presently internet accessible condos are. It's too far for a normal repeater to pick up the signal well enough coming from the pole antenna that I'm assuming is omni-directional, although I'm not sure.

What I wanted to do was install a similar antenna, whether it be omni, directional, or whatever on the condo down the street that is in view of the main antenna so that it can pick it up much better than standard repeater antenna and therefore be able to deliver internet to that condo and one next door.

I figure I'll need a repeater with at least 2 external antenna ports so that the wall mounted antenna can pick up the main antenna and the standard issue antenna(s) leftover on repeater can send signals throughout condos. Based on the main antenna, I don't expect wall mounted antenna to provide much coverage for condos it's attached to, so I'll rely on other ones on repeater.

Materials are the antenna, mount, coaxial antenna cable, repeater with more than 1 antenna port, and that's basically it.

Does this sound like it would work okay? Any suggestions on equipment, specifically antenna?

Thanks.

 

[thiggins]

Use a pair of outdoor bridges designed for this purpose. EnGenius makes a bunch. Here is one.

 

[azazel1024]

Do. Not. Do. That.

Use a bridge on each end and then use an access point/router at the head ends to then broadcast the wireless network.

First off, you probably can't do that. At least not as an actual wireless bridge. You'd have to operate that "bridge" in repeater mode, which especially with the kludge is going to devestate any kind of wireless through put.

As Thiggins pointed you to, use a pair of dedicated bridges on a seperate channel and then connect the wireless bridges up to a router or access point to then broadcast a wireless network in the other condos.

Really that is what you should be doing with the current setup to instead of some big omni antenna (and it should really be a directional to another bridge and then an access point/router where you want coverage).

Think of a bridge as the wire between access points with a physical connection scheme. You do not want to use one of the antennas on a router/ap to wirelessly connect to another one, unless using as a repeater (which is NOT a viable option with long distance links. Long distance being more than 100-200ft when talking about wireless repeaters and also a terrible idea in a potential high user count situation ALWAYS). You can use a regular access point or router as a bridge, in bridge mode with directional antennas attached. You don't have to buy a dedicated bridge, but dedicated bridges are relatively cheap, outdoor housing, no purchase of seperate antennas, higher power radios, etc, etc.

Honestly if I had to do any kind of wireless bridging I'd just buy a dedicated bridge unless I HAD to have a very high speed link and then I'd repurpose a router/access point and slap on some directional antennas and feed them outside. However, I'd only do that because at least right now, 802.11ac bridges are extremely expensive and/or non-existant. However, plenty of N300 high powered outdoor bridges for $50-60 a pop, which isn't much more than you'd spend on an N300 router/access point, a couple of modest directional antennas and pigtails to extend the antennas outdoors.

 

[Iceman]

Thanks for the quick responses. I figured I should probably add more details so you know more about it.

Their current setup is utilizing the one built-in antenna on the router in the first condo on the end to service it, one next door as well. The antenna cable goes from other port to outside where it is mounted and it provides reception only to the entryway of each condo on both sides of street. Normal, mostly Netgear repeaters are just inside the windows, sitting atop of the fridges, which get just enough signal to work relatively good, dishing out the rest of the signal inside their respective condos, with most repeaters actually providing signal to 2 condos.

With that in mind, does that change anything about your recommendations?

Thanks.

 

[Iceman]

Also worth noting, I don't have anything against changing any of the setup, rather than just adding to it. That was just the way it was setup originally.

 

[fistv]

Any chance of running wire between these condo's ? either above or below ground ?

 

[azazel1024]

No, it doesn't change anything. Don't use repeaters. Use actual wireless bridges or access points/routers set in wireless bridge mode and then hook them up to a second access point/router to broadcast the actual WLAN that the users in the condo will connect to.

There are plenty of N300 routers and access points below $30 in price point that can do wireless bridging if you need to go super cheap, and for the addition for a few dollars for pigtails to run the antennas outside for better reception, that combined with a second one inside. Each location can be done for under $75 and you'll have much better over all WLAN performance everywhere.

 

[stevech]

No, it doesn't change anything. Don't use repeaters. Use actual wireless bridges or access points/routers set in wireless bridge mode and then hook them up to a second access point/router to broadcast the actual WLAN that the users in the condo will connect to.

There are plenty of N300 routers and access points below $30 in price point that can do wireless bridging if you need to go super cheap, and for the addition for a few dollars for pigtails to run the antennas outside for better reception, that combined with a second one inside. Each location can be done for under $75 and you'll have much better over all WLAN performance everywhere.

2nd that. Repeaters (WDS) bad, problemmatic. No standards.

Engenius brand (see Newegg.com) is one I've used. Work well. Outdoor enclosure, built-in antenna is the key.

 

[Iceman]

Thanks for all the help. This has helped very much.

Running wire is definitely not possible.

So my plan of attack is to use 2 EnGenius ENH202 Outdoor Bridges wall mounted outside, then some access point, perhaps a Ubiquiti Unifi AP inside the backend condo to service it and the one attached to it.

 

[stevech]

Thanks for all the help. This has helped very much.

Running wire is definitely not possible.

So my plan of attack is to use 2 EnGenius ENH202 Outdoor Bridges wall mounted outside, then some access point, perhaps a Ubiquiti Unifi AP inside the backend condo to service it and the one attached to it.

Some client bridges, EnGenius included as I recall, can be setup as a simultaneous client bridge and Access point.

 

[Iceman]

Some client bridges, EnGenius included as I recall, can be setup as a simultaneous client bridge and Access point.

Interesting. Although in this situation, with the signal need to go from outdoors to indoor in the opposite direction, wouldn't that not work?

It sounds like that wouldn't work in much of any situation with a directional antenna bridge. Is this correct?

 

[azazel1024]

Some of them have seperate omni antennas in addition to the directional antennas used for a bridge. Those bridges/APs generally have seperate radios for the access point. Not a common thing though.

In this case, those Engenius bridges with a seperate access point inside the condo are probably the best way to go. Just make sure the AP is on a seperate Wifi channel from the bridges and also that the bridge has a seperate SSID from the condo AP.