Extending internet to our outbuilding

Today's episode is a bit of a departure from being in construction mode inside the He Said - She Shed (our outbuilding) or doing gardening projects or other outdoor stuff. We needed a solution for extending our home network and internet service to the outbuilding so I thought I'd share what we came up with.
In case you're interested in the Ubiquiti Nanostation units we installed, here is a link direct to where I found them: amzn.to/3vzzKBN
Props to a fellow KZbinr "Crosstalk Solutions" where I found a ridiculously easy tutorial for setting up the gadgets I bought to create a wireless bridge. Here is the link to his video:
• NanoStation M5 Setup a...
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#DIY #newblog #homesteading #woodworking #garage #networking

[@deanwilliams7051]

Yes, David, this was worthwhile content. You won't be the only folks who need to spread wifi connectivity beyond the walls of their residence.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

I definitely appreciate the affirmation, Dean. Thanks for being a faithful watcher! Happy new year to you and yours!

[@LauraG313]

Ok, I am totally impressed with both of you! I have an IT/PM background and totally appreciate how well produced/edited these videos are! I can certainly see your technical writing and Renee’s PM skills being used here! ❤ I have loved all the variety of content! 👍🏻

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Thanks for the affirmation! We'll keep up the variety for sure. In a past life, my technical background was telecommunications related but I've forgotten much more of that than I retained at this point. I enjoy projects like this and putting that hat back on from time to time. Thanks for watching, Laura!

[@mymerrill8496]

Yes, content is appreciated

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Glad to hear it. We have a variety of projects in the queue so it's nice to have the affirmation that our audience is up for some variety as well. :-) Thanks for watching!!

[@terridiamond7862]

Project of the day. I like variety

[@jenniferolton1230]

I love the diversity! I like that you guys do videos together and separately.

[@lauragrandgenett]

David, that was extremely helpful. Our neighbor needs this information to connect his garage to his house because he installed a whole house Generac that automatically kicks on when power is lost. I have that also but mine is close enough to my house to see the wifi so it sends me texts and emails when it exercises each week, needs maintenance or if we experience power loss and it takes over. Since our neighbor actually lives in Chicago, he wants that communication and needs exactly this set up you describe. Also, we want wifi in our barn so we can install a camera to check on our chickens. Something periodically treats our place like KFC and starts dragging off our hens. We need to know who needs to be dealt with. Also interested in installing a way to open and close their door via wifi. So thank you SO much for this! Loved it!

[@kaylakitty3814]

This was very helpful and useful, especially the bit about the Power Over Ethernet device! I didn’t know something like that existed.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Glad it was helpful!

[@scrapretroetc6775]

Love this info☺

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Outstanding! Glad you found is to be of value. I've got a few other home networking and home automation sorts of projects in my queue. Y'all'z feedback here is helping me gauge whether I document those projects or not. Thanks for watching ScrapRetro Etc!

[@Theguyinthefez]

Very great content! You can tell this subject was really well researched and concisely presented.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@robbensonmslpc1349]

Exactly what I needed to hear, and I was even looking at how you framed out windows, so super helpful in different ways.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Great! Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!

[@yarning4asmile]

Hahaha, I feel this video so much! We have been working on figuring out how I can get super fast internet service out there and I have not even got the shed yet that I will be finishing out! We use Orbi system and have it all ready to go now!

[@boatchild1]

This was perfect, we are struggling to get our internet working at our shop too! Now I understand better why and where i might try some new options

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Fantastic! So glad people are finding this helpful.

[@buzzfrodge9936]

GREAT Video. What I am wondering is Did you lose any download speed by going through a wireless transition into your garage?

[@LisaB_at_Pine_Ridge]

Perfect timing! We are finally (after forever) finally getting fiber to the house and we’re wondering best way to get to barn. Love the content - thanks!

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Excellent! I'm super happy to learn that you (and others) are finding value in this info. The more feedback we get (either positive or negative) really helps us understand what ya'll might want to see more of. Thanks for watching, Lisa!

[@cherylcranford8908]

Thanks David ever suggestions help

[@darrellcook6940]

super helpful content. thanks

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Glad you think so! Thanks for watching!

[@crystallbell5545]

Thank you for sharing that information very interesting.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Great! Thanks for watching, Crystal!

[@Andrea-si2vs]

Our power had to be deeper, so we were able to get an Ethernet line to the outbuilding spaced higher up in the trench. That said, I may want to get WiFi to the hoop house this year, so this was helpful for thinking about options for that task. Thanks!

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Interesting to hear about your experiences to date. Glad to hear that my little documentary here is of use to someone. Thanks for watching!

[@scrapretroetc6775]

Keep the diversity.

[@asdlfk3]

Fortunately I dropped some direct bury CAT6 into the electrical trench from our house to our outbuilding. I ran coax as well but I’m yet to use that. Nice building by the way. I thought ours looked kinda big sitting 75’ from the house.

[@jensschroder8214]

If you take fiberglass you can put that in the trench with the AC Line. Fiberglass insulates and is ideal for connecting scattered buildings. Then you have no problem with different potentials.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Fiberglass? I'd never heard that before. Fascinating! So are you talking about fiberglass batting as used for insulating walls or fiberglass in some other form. Obviously its good at insulating from heat and cold but I've not heard it to be a good shield for electromagnetic interference (EMI).

[@richc.3100]

Dig your trench 3 feet wide. Lay power to one side, data and water on the other side.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

That's a good variation that no one has mentioned yet. Thanks for dropping by and joining the conversation!

[@Browningate]

Oh wow. These things (the 5AC; not the crummy 2.4Ghz ones) are actually back in stock now after 3 years.

[@danflaherty1132]

Great, easy to follow video! Do you need a PoE injector at both ends or just the barn?

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Ah, good question. I'm using a PoE injector to power both devices. The one in the house as well as the unit attached to the barn. These units don't have a separate, dedicated power input anyway.

[@ghostsintheforum]

This is actually becoming big business. As more rural and backwoods areas are getting hooked up with fibre and starlink, there has become a demand for expansion into outbuildings. Many try to do it with simple range extenders only to find out that such equipment is not sufficient. While hard wired backhaul (wired bridge) will always be best, a wireless bridge is the next best way to expand to outbuildings. After running aerial ethernet to my shed, my neighbor wanted their's ran to their greenhouse and then the guy down the road wanted it done and then...

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Thanks for the engagement on this topic, ghostintheforum. That's some very interesting datapoint from your locale. When you put it that way, it make a ton of sense that there is no shortage of people with this scenario in search of a decent solution. Thanks for watching!!

[@timothystockman7533]

You might have run a fiber pair for your ethernet. Fiber does care about being next to power lines.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Another vote for fiber optics! Thanks for adding to the conversation timmothystockman7533.

[@rayc6685]

Thanks for your video. Is the wifi network in your barn the same as in your house, or is it a different SSID (e.g., ssid_ext).

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Great question! I chose to make the barn have a separate SSID but you could definitely make them the same in your installation. Thanks for watching!

[@mspencerl87]

There exists an option of aerial cables for RJ45 and also I would say it would be safe to run the data cables with the power underground as long as you get some shielded cable rated for outdoor.. But you live and you learn. You could also done fiber and got a media converter to convert it back to RJ45 which would have probably worked well also.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Hey there! Thanks for adding your expertise to the conversation. I especially like the fiber idea!! Don't know why I didn't think of that. The cost would probably have been comparable. Thanks for watching!

[@CharlesLScofieldJr]

First off I though you did an excellent job of explaining your WiFi setup. This is something I may suggest to my sister since she recently switched over to fiber internet from cable. Her situation is that My Mom has an apartment that is separate from my sisters house. The two buildings are only separated by about 75 feet and they share the internet. I'm going to be visiting them in about a month or so I plan to see what sort of signal My Mom is getting since both building have brick veneer so that may effect the signal. The one question I have is did the PoE power sources come with the units or did you have to by those separately?

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Thanks for the affirmation CharlesLScofieldJr. Sounds like you've got a good project on your hands and I'm glad our video offered a bit of direction. The PoE adapter does indeed come in the box with the NanoStation M5.

[@skyacefox5690]

can you take the cord from the power of either that goes in to the wifi thing and just plug it in to a PC ?

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Hmm. I've not actually tried that but in theory it would work. There are likely some specific settings in the Ubiquiti device but unfortunately, I don't have the exact details for that application.

[@scooterjes]

I know this is a little late but for future projects is you really need/want more speed next time you could run a fiber connection between the buildings and you wouldn't have to worry about interference. I know fiber sounds scary but it isn't. BTW fiber can go for MILES with the right equipment.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Thanks scooterjes. Miles indeed! Don't know why I didn't think of that. Fiber has been a popular suggestion in this thread. Thanks for watching and joining the conversation!

[@mscroggi]

I would tweak your process a little. I had to extend my wifi to a back building like your scenario. I could not run a cable. I had a TPLink CPE device in the outbuilding pointed at the main house and it was able to connect to the household WIFI and extend the WIFI to my outbuilding with its own local WIFI broadcast. This worked fine for about a year or so, until recently the antenna died. I needed to replace the TPLink so I decided to go with Ubiquiti, and bought the loco and also the WIFI cube to use for WIFI in the outbuilding. For some reason the loco had issues getting an IP from the house network.. I worked and worked but finally gave up and decided to change my tactic. Instead of using the loco as a sensitive receiving antenna, I moved it to the house and set it up as a WIFI access point blaster aimed at the outbuilding. This is working just fine. I did NOT install another loco at the outbuilding. I simply use one at the house. I would recommend anyone attempting to set up this kind of connectivity, to buy only one loco and see if it delivers what you need at the remote location. You can always get a second loco and install it at the outbuilding later if needed. Evidently powerline technology has come a long way too.. I used powerline extension many years ago.. and it mostly worked.. but it was unreliable.. Reading about current powerline adapters.. they seem to be pretty solid. I wish I had a current powerline combo to test it. It might have been a good alternative.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

This is REALLY good info. I'm so glad you've added your experience to the conversation here. I was wondering if it could work that way. I'm curious whether your outbuilding is metal or something else. I tried something resembling what you've described before I shot this video- I had one of the Ubiquiti devices (at the house) aimed at the black AP device which was in the barn on the downstairs window sill (window facing the house). It was long ago enough now that I don't recall the details of why I couldn't get it to work like a bridge but I surrendered to springing for the second Loco M5 in the end. I don't recall whether I tested the Loco M5 in AP mode as well as bridge mode though. Thanks for watching!

[@mscroggi]

​@@hesaid-sheshed The outbuilding is a wooden structure with a metal roof. It is finished out with insulation and sheetrock etc. Its about 100 from my house. So far the WIFI signal has been plenty for the building.. There is a streaming device out there and video playback works fine. The signal strength is listed as "good" on the inside device.. So far it has been rock solid and that was the main thing. If it had signal strength issues I was prepared to the next steps in testing: 1 Mount the Loco outside of my house.. This would surely give plenty of signal to the outbuilding, but I wanted to see if it is needed. I actually have the Loco sitting on a top shelf at the back of the house pointed towards the outbuilding. I bought an $8 desktop microphone stand from Amazon. The mic holder makes a perfect tubular mount for the Loco. A couple of zip ties and you have an adjustable tabletop stand for the Loco. Its perfect. 2 If mounting outside didn't work I would go for the second for the outbuilding.. Of course that would require an access point too. I did like the Ubiquiti WIFI cube but I returned it when I decided to go with a WIFI blaster method. I couldn't help myself and I bought a powerline kit to try.. I was unsuccessful in getting the remote device to be recognized in the outbuilding.. I tested everything.. but it was a no-go so I returned it.. I could get it to work within the house.. but going to the outbuilding.. it was unsuccessful. Hope this helps!

[@misteraon]

Instead of ethernet in the trench, you should have just ran a conduit while the ground was open. You could have run a fiber cable through it which is impervious to EMI from the electrical. The. You could put ethernet to fiber converters on both ends. And probably for the same or less than the radios.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Love this idea! Wish I had thought of fiber at the time. I’ll bet you’re right about the cost with the converters. Thanks for joining the conversation!

[@misteraon]

@@hesaid-sheshed hopefully it gives the next person inspiration.

[@misteraon]

Conduit is also fairly cheap comparatively. It never hurts to run one or two spares for future use.

[@fishingfrenzytv1555]

Does this support dual band WiFi? I’d like 5GHz for phones and stuff, but need 2.4 for my security cameras. Thanks

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Hey there! Apologies for the laggy reply. According to the specs found at the link below, it shows the the device to be 802.11n based. I believe that means it can will support both 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz WiFi. However, that just dictates what is used for the wireless bridge between the two Nanostation M5 devices. What's important is the capability of the access point you choose to connect downstream of the Nanostation in the remote building. You'll want to ensure THAT device supports both 2.4 and 5Ghz WiFi if indeed that's a requirement for your application. Since you bought up phones though, I'll throw in one more thing here just for good measure. You're likely familiar with this I'll just mention that 5Ghz WiFi is a very different animal than "5G" cellular. Thanks for watching!! www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-LOCOM5-NanoStation-loco/dp/B004EHSV4W/ref=psdc_1194486_t3_B00HXT8FFI

[@fishingfrenzytv1555]

@@hesaid-sheshed awesome, thank you for that detailed reply! I’m going to give your set up a try!

[@One-Eyed-Willly]

wouldn't fiber work along the power cable?

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Fiber is definitely a good play. I would have worked fine and I seriously wish I would have thought of it at the time. That's been a great suggestion from you and several others who have joined the conversation here. Thanks for watching!

[@ncironhorse8367]

holy crap, just tell what you did in the first in two minutes. I don't need a dissertation on the subject

[@demos113]

Shielded CAT6 ethernet cable is a thing.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Greetings demos113! Indeed, shielded cable is commonplace but it's not necessarily as bulletproof as you might think. It's effective with stray RF garbage in the airwaves but it will be outmatched when running parallel to AC lines. It's definitely a best practice to make other arrangements in commercial situations but if you have a residential scenario thats less demanding, the diminished bandwidth from the AC interference might not be a deal breaker. It'll definitely still work, but just hamstrung a bit. At the end of the day, the performance might still be on part with the wireless bridge we put up -- but I'm not certain as I've done no such side-by-side testing. Your scenario may have other variables to consider too so the solution we landed on may or may not be your best option. YMMV. Thanks so much for watching and joining the conversation!

[@gerrymcerlean8432]

Your power cable needed to be 2 feet deep but not the ethernet cable. Surely you could have buried your power cable 2 ft. 6 deep and the ethernet cable 6 inches deep.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

Thanks for joining the conversation, gerrymcerlean8432! You have a point there, I suppose I could have buried it shallow as there wouldn't necessarily have been an electrical inspection involved at that point. The sub panel in the barn had to be inspected though and those guys are pretty sharp eyed. They likely would have seen some low voltage stuff poking into the building at that same location and questioned it. I'm noodling on your input here just a bit and it does make me wonder where the 2' rule comes from for buried wire. My best guess about that standard is that it's considered the minimum safe depth to hedge agains it actually being dug up and thus that utility getting damaged/taken out of service. As I recall, even when Comcast drew coaxial cable up to the house, it was a pretty respectable trench too. I didn't pay enough attention to measure it but I'm betting they are bound to the same sorts of rules for burying any sort of utility. Thanks for watching!

[@mskmsk7174]

Not if you use fiber along side power.

[@hesaid-sheshed]

That's been the popular alternative that several have suggested. Dunno why I didn't think of it at the time. Thanks for joining the conversation!