Teach me about wireless bridge.

FORANE

FORANE

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FORANE
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I have a metal building with cable internet service. I have another metal building which I would like to have internet service about 250 feet from the other building. Initially I installed a Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO access point thinking it would reach the second building. The access point gives 2 bars on one side but zero bars inside the second building. Now, I am considering a wireless bridge.

Wireless bridges come in 2.4 and 5.8 frequency. Does it really matter which frequency I get? The receiving building will have a 2 frequency wifi router in bridge mode anyway so the bridge itself shouldn't matter, correct?
Should I just get one of the highest rated bridges on Amazon? What don't I know that I should know with regard to bridges?
 
When we set up a long range campground network we started with one Ubiquiti Rocket access point with an omni antenna... same thing, not enough range. We added two more Rocket APs, configured as repeaters talking to the main AP, at remote points. It worked quite well. It is important to use the same vendor's hardware at all points.

But if you're going to have a second AP in the receiving building you can wire it to a third router configured in wireless client mode (i.e. receiver), with ethernet cable to the local AP your devices will access.
 
I did the same you are planning, but used the $60 KuWfi bridge from Amazon. Easy set up ( good thing because the Chinglish manual is a hoot) and it's been working great for a number of years. Run the house station from a Lan port on a Ubiquiti router v8a the wireless bridge to the barn about 300 ft away and a TP link router up there.
 
The wired part being better is only half a joke. Any wireless bridge should work, as long as you mount them both outside and with line of sight between them. Use copper cable to connect them to the router or access points inside. Best plan would be copper from your cable box to the bridge for that building, rather than trying to go wireless to wireless to wireless in a daisy chain. 5.8 generally better than 2.4 because there's normally less channel congestion. A good factor of safety is that the vendors mislead you by a factor of at least 4 on range. So for 250', something rated for a mile should be good, line of site, and that's in a suburban or rural area.
 
5.8 has nominally a higher bandwidth. If the traffic goes from your barn is to the Internet, that doesn't matter as your speed is governed by the ISP connection.
 
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I've read 2.4 is better through wooded area between the sender and receiver. Is there truth to that?
 
weilke said:
5.8 has nominally a higher bandwidth. If the traffic from your barn is to the Internet, that doesn't matter as your speed is governed by the ISP connection.
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However, 5.8 is worse than 2.4 at punching through trees and such, if that's an issue. If there's a lot of vegetation, 900mhz is even better.
 
FORANE said:
I've read 2.4 is better through wooded area between the sender and receiver. Is there truth to that?
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Yes. 2.4 is also better through drywall. But building to building with a clear line of sight that should not matter.

If the OP lives in a place with 250ft between metal buildings, I would assume that 2.4 band congestion is not an issue (I live in a apartment complex where it is).
 
weilke said:
Yes. 2.4 is also better through drywall. But building to building with a clear line of sight that should not matter.

If the OP lives in a place with 250ft between metal buildings, I would assume that 2.4 band congestion is not an issue (I live in a apartment complex where it is).
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Yeah, no drywall within a mile. Trees, brush and terrain are all present.
 
FORANE said:
Yeah, no drywall within a mile. Trees, brush and terrain are all present.
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Prob better off with 2.4 if you have any shrubbery in the path. At times, those kind of setups work in the winter and get wonky once stuff greens up or needles get wet or covered with dew.

There are some bridge products that are on proprietary bands so they don't have a interference issue with 2.4 or 5.8. But unless you are in a super congested area, 2.4 should have no issues with frequency congestion.
 
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I bought one of these:
The EZ-Bridge-Lite EZBR-0214+ High Power Outdoor Wireless Point to Point System https://a.co/d/9Y8ipVy

Hooked it up in the house just to test functionality. It immediately worked without any settings adjustment as if it were a wired connection. Was able to stream without buffering. We'll see how it does once installed in place with trees and brush blocking signal.
 
FORANE said:
I have a metal building with cable internet service. I have another metal building which I would like to have internet service about 250 feet from the other building. Initially I installed a Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO access point thinking it would reach the second building. The access point gives 2 bars on one side but zero bars inside the second building. Now, I am considering a wireless bridge.

Wireless bridges come in 2.4 and 5.8 frequency. Does it really matter which frequency I get? The receiving building will have a 2 frequency wifi router in bridge mode anyway so the bridge itself shouldn't matter, correct?
Should I just get one of the highest rated bridges on Amazon? What don't I know that I should know with regard to bridges?
Click to expand...
Generally speaking, these rules apply;

Wired will be faster than wireless.
Wired will be more stable than wireless.
Wired will be more secure than wireless.
The higher the wireless Ghz, the faster the speed will be.
The lower the wireless Ghz, the better it will push through obstacles.
The lower the wireless Ghz, the farther/stronger the signal will be.
 
Be advised, 1-year old original post.

I found this thread b/c I need to supply wifi to a spare home 300’ from my Starlink device.
(Full disclosure: the SL already has a TP-link cpe210 wireless bridge beaming the other way, to my business.)

1. The CPE210 was not easy to install (software) so I’d rather not get another.
2. I would like something as close to plug and play as possible.
3. I was told just buy a wifi extender, but they se to broadcast a sphere, of limited range. I don’t expect the results to be any good on something that says “2200sf range”.

I presume the SL can accommodate another device, is it an rj45 port?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Be advised, 1-year old original post.

I found this thread b/c I need to supply wifi to a spare home 300’ from my Starlink device.
(Full disclosure: the SL already has a TP-link cpe210 wireless bridge beaming the other way, to my business.)

1. The CPE210 was not easy to install (software) so I’d rather not get another.
2. I would like something as close to plug and play as possible.
3. I was told just buy a wifi extender, but they se to broadcast a sphere, of limited range. I don’t expect the results to be any good on something that says “2200sf range”.

I presume the SL can accommodate another device, is it an rj45 port?
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As an update on the hardware I installed referenced in a post upthread, it wouldn't provide signal through the brush and such that had grown between devices.

An ethernet cable is good for 300+ feet and likely your most reliable solution if that is an option. Barring running a cable the whole way, what about part way? I have installed multiple ubiquiti unifi LR access points; they work well but 300 ft is too far despite the spec of 600 ft from ubiquiti. Barring obstructions, you should be able to get 150 ft pretty reliably on one. At 300 ft you would likely be able to get 1-2 bars outside the second home with no obstructions between you and the access point.

Or, do you have power between the homes? If you have power between the points, you could simply install a mesh network.

I don't know anything about starlink.
 
Thanks
I have a clear shot, no brush etc
so going with another bridge (& a switch)
 
No idea at all if this would work, this is 2 minutes of searching on Amazon, but it sounds like what you want:


Says it has a half a mile range, so it should be fine at 300', my "they lie by a factor of 4 rule". And it looks like they'll sync up and give you a bridge between two gig ethernet lines. So one plugs into your router, and on the other size you plug in a wireless access point.

Again, no idea if this will work but it sounds like the kinda thing you want, a point to point bridge. I've used things like this before, but a long time ago when the speeds were slower and the equipment much more expensive.
 
FORANE said:
I bought one of these:
The EZ-Bridge-Lite EZBR-0214+ High Power Outdoor Wireless Point to Point System https://a.co/d/9Y8ipVy

Hooked it up in the house just to test functionality. It immediately worked without any settings adjustment as if it were a wired connection. Was able to stream without buffering. We'll see how it does once installed in place with trees and brush blocking signal.
Click to expand...
will standby for your comments (hangar is 260 yards from my office....)!
B
 
You don't want a bridge, you want to route. A little more complicated, but since you have two separate locations it will make planning and growth easier.

Also you want directional antenna's. Omni antenna's have horrific gain esp if you need to 'burn through' obstacles.
 
pfarber said:
You don't want a bridge, you want to route. A little more complicated, but since you have two separate locations it will make planning and growth easier.

Also you want directional antenna's. Omni antenna's have horrific gain esp if you need to 'burn through' obstacles.
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Maybe if the goal was to setup a branch office and it was being done by a network guy. But a residence hung off a switch port on an Internet router, a bridge works just as well. No need to add a layer 3 device in line if layer 2 switching handles it just as fast and simpler.
 
pfarber said:
You don't want a bridge, you want to route. A little more complicated, but since you have two separate locations it will make planning and growth easier.
Click to expand...

Never easier.

You need to know quite a bit about IP, DHCP, . . . to do that. I have many years experience in IP routing and I doubt I would bother for myself given my impression of the requirements.

Now if you want isolation between networks, or other security features then that is a different matter.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I presume the SL can accommodate another device, is it an rj45 port?
Click to expand...

Your bridging device may have extra switched ports or if not just get a 4 port switch. If you get a gigabit switch it will auto fixup connections without the need for crossover cables. Auto-MDIX. Some non-gigabit kit has Auto-MDIX or indeed manual MDIX.

If you get a switch/bridge without auto-MDIX you may need crossover cable(s).
 
I’m a fan of the Eero mesh system. I’m running from one cable router internet source to three structures across our property including my house, my office with a rental above it on the next lot over, and a friend’s part time seasonal cabin that’s a lot and a half the other way through the woods to the other side of us. I have maybe 6 of the Eero units carefully placed to minimize the gaps in the mesh, but I bet it’s still at least 150’ jumps. Plenty fast and reliable for my work including synching terabytes of photo and video files through a synology NAS. And supporting our Airbnb guests’ Netflix watching without any complaints. I could stream a movie in the boat at the end of the dock using WiFi.

Every once in a while our friends with the cabin - if they haven’t been up for a while they’ll have to bring their Eero over to get it rejoined. Other than that it’s been reliable going on probably five years.
 
Spring Ford said:
Never easier.

You need to know quite a bit about IP, DHCP, . . . to do that. I have many years experience in IP routing and I doubt I would bother for myself given my impression of the requirements.

Now if you want isolation between networks, or other security features then that is a different matter.
Click to expand...
Routing give you options that a bridge does not.

If all you want is to slap up 2 $35 netgear devices then you get what you get. It works for most people.

Most new devices try to hide routing with 'mesh' or AI Mesh (lol AI).
 
Tired of crap internet. Dad is my neighbor. 260' of oak trees in between, no line of site. I also have a metal roof. Going starlink and fiber. Stretching the capability of Ethernet.
 
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