# Getting wifi reception to outbuilding?



## fireweed farm

I’ve just finished a suite out in the barn for staff accommodation. Staff that will be living there could be there for weeks to months or more. I would prefer to just give them internet access with my home wifi as it isn’t worth them setting up internet for short periods. 
The suite is about 200’ from my modem (is that what it’s called?)The guy out there now is having sporadic service, and no bars for 2 days now. Unless he goes outside. It sits in my window facing the suite with few obstructions. 
Kids these days need internet. I had another guy moving in today who has just bailed as he needed good service. 
My neighbour gave me something you plug in that extends signal somewhat, which has done nothing. My two youngish tenants spent time trying to get it to work and had no luck. Too far they figure. 

I called my internet provider who suggested I call my cell phone company for help- which didn’t make sense to me.

Any other ideas? Ideally cheap! I could be vacant for half of every year. Thanks.


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## Rodeo's Bud

Do you have cell service where you are?

If so, I would buy a cheap used jetpack and then a prepaid jetpack service.

We use Verizon. In our example as long as you have Verizon cell service available, you can just pay 70 bucks a month and they will have a separate internet service. When you are vacant, just don't pay.

If this is an option, the important part is it must be prepaid Unlimited with the bring your own jetpack plan. We bought one on Ebay. It rarely throttles and we stream 2 tvs in HD, game and Skype at the same time no problem.

Don't do the jetpack unlimited on a standard cell plan.

I believe ATT has something similar.


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## Alice In TX/MO

Mobile hotspot.


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## HDRider

I use a 
*NETGEAR WiFi Range Extender*


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## GTX63

We use a Linksys wifi extender. It does ok. If I have say, one bar of signal strength in my garage, plugging the extender into a wall outlet there will spread the one bar further out. It doesn't increase the signal it receives, only stretches it, so to speak.
I think it may have been about $40. It also has a port to run a dedicated ethernet cable to a user.


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## Nevada

fireweed farm said:


> The suite is about 200’ from my modem (is that what it’s called?)The guy out there now is having sporadic service, and no bars for 2 days now. Unless he goes outside. It sits in my window facing the suite with few obstructions.


200 feet shouldn't be a problem for wireless N routers. They have a nominal range of 300 meters. What model wifi router are you using?


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## Robotron

These guys have directional antennas, some are good to 15 miles. I use there amplifiers here in the house and will get a set of directional antennas for the barn, it’s about 350 feet away. 

https://unifi-network.ui.com/


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## Gary in ohio

I have an outside Accesspoint that covers my entire 5 acre property. I use a loc2 https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Nan...&keywords=Ubiquiti+loco&qid=1586989246&sr=8-2

Its mounted up on my chimney and points out to the property. Only takes 1 cat 6 cable back to your main router or modem.


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## backwoodsman7

fireweed farm said:


> The suite is about 200’ from my modem ... It sits in my window facing the suite with few obstructions.


200' is nothing for even an old, cheap router, obstructions permitting, of course. But if the window has low-E glass, remember that those coatings are metallic, so they block most of the signal. It'll do a lot better going through a wall, unless the wall has metal siding. Or try it next to the window frame instead of the glass; a lot more signal can sneak through the frame than will go through low-E glass. Either of those might get a usable signal where it's needed.

And, be sure that whatever it is you're moving around actually is the wireless router. It might be built into the modem, or it might be a separate box connected to the modem with an ethernet cable.


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## Fishindude

We are on some goofy internet system where we have a dish in the field west of the house that shoots at a tower a mile away to get internet. The dish is hard wired to an outdoor router that shoots signal up to the house as well as the entire yard and outbuildings. It works great.


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## dyrne

200' is not much distance at all especially if you have line of sight. My setup is as follows:

1 google nest router on 1st floor plugged into modem
1 google nest router in attic window
1 google nest router in barn window 400+ feet from house

These are "mesh" routers meaning they all talk to one another forming only a single wireless network and you only need to deal with a single access point name. So for example if you have one in the house and one in the outbuilding, you still have one network to connect to and as you walk between them the routers handle for you handing off your connection.

A wifi extender might be a cheaper solution but as mentioned above if you situate your router by a window on the outbuilding side nothing else may be needed at all.


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## TroyT

If the skin of the building is metal, most signals will not penetrate the skin. Metal skin buildings require either a hard wire, or the use of a bridge router on the house and on the out building. You then put a hole in the skin of the building and put an access point inside the out building if you are using wifi or a switch or hub for hard wire.


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## backwoodsman7

TroyT said:


> If the skin of the building is metal, most signals will not penetrate the skin. Metal skin buildings require either a hard wire, or the use of a bridge router on the house and on the out building. You then put a hole in the skin of the building and put an access point inside the out building if you are using wifi or a switch or hub for hard wire.


You don't need to do that for short ranges like a few hundred feet. Enough signal can get out through the frame of an ordinary vinyl window. I can connect to a wireless router sitting by the window frame of a metal building 200 yards away, using a USB wifi adapter hanging just outside my window.


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## TroyT

backwoodsman7 said:


> You don't need to do that for short ranges like a few hundred feet. Enough signal can get out through the frame of an ordinary vinyl window. I can connect to a wireless router sitting by the window frame of a metal building 200 yards away, using a USB wifi adapter hanging just outside my window.


Cool, our barn doesn't have windows, just sliding metal doors. AM/FM radio don't work in there either. I suppose that you may get enough signal through the vinyl to make it work, but it would seem to me that it would be very location dependent inside the barn.


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## NRA_guy

I added a d-link wifi extender model 1530 in my garage on one end of my house because my phone was not consistently detecting my wifi router when I was in the side yard about 40 feet from the wifi router.

https://www.dlink.com/en/products/dap-1530-ac750-plus-wi-fi-range-extender

My wifi router is on the floor in the middle of my single story ranch style house.

The extender is basically useless. The signal in my side yard is close to the same db strength via the router and the d-link extender.


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