An Outdoor Networking Challenge

I'm trying to help my aunt set up a wireless network on her ranch in a
remote corner of New Mexico, and have run into a number of questions
about outdoor and long-range WiFi that I hope people can help me
answer.

The central office building has Internet access via DSL, to which we
would like to provide access from other locations around the ranch.
Digging two thousand feet of trenches and laying shielded fiber would
be prohibitively labor intensive and expensive, so wireless seems like
the logical answer.

Geography

Many of the buildings and outdoor spaces where we'd like to have access
are clustered within 150 feet of the main office. However, a few key
buildings are spaced further away, up to approximately 600 feet, and
one has quite a few trees between it and the main building.

In the map below, the main office is marked with a red border, while
the primary other buildings we'd like to provide access to are shown
with a blue border. The blue-marked building in the upper-right is
completely blocked off from the main office by an area of many trees,
but has near line-of-sight to the workshop, which is marked with a
green border.

http://matthew.cavalletto.org/wifi_outdoors.html

Other Constraints

There will only be a few simultaneous users, so I don't expect that
bandwidth contention will be an issue.

There are a fair number of trees on the property, which will attenuate
the signal.

On the upside, the nearest neighbors are quite distant, so there
shouldn't be any interference with other wireless devices.

All of the computers being used are Macs of various vintages, and
there's no on-site tech guru, so I'd prefer to use Apple's AirPort base
stations for simplicity, but we could live with third-party access
points if needed.

We don't have a fixed budget, but if it looks like the price is going
to be much over $1,000 they're likely to just settle for getting
another DSL line or satellite-based Internet access at one or two
additional locations.

Ideas and Questions

The first step would seem to be placing a WiFi access point in the main
office, connected to the DSL router, with an outdoor omni-directional
antenna on the roof to provide access to the main cluster of buildings.

- Which model of outdoor omni-directional antenna should we use on the
roof of the main office?
- Does it make sense to get an amplifier to increase the signal
strength?

For the building shown on the left side of the map, which is about 250
feet from the main office and has some intervening trees, I think we
may need a directional antenna pointed towards the main building.

- Instead of getting an outdoor antenna, can we just use an indoor
directional antenna and point it through a window, or does that
significantly attenuate the signal?

The building in the bottom-right corner of the map, is even further
away: about 6-700 feet.

- Is a directional antenna likely to be sufficient over this kind of
distance?

For the building on the upper-right corner of the map, I'm concerned
that even a directional antenna may not be able to punch through all of
trees that lie between it and the main building, so I've been thinking
of placing another access point at the workshop, which has
line-of-sight to both the main office and the remote building, and
using that to propagate the signal.

- Is a directional antenna on the remote building likely to be
sufficient, or do we need a directional antenna on each end of the
link?
- Is there a decent wireless-to-wireless bridge with two antenna ports,
so we can connect an omni-directional antenna to one to pick up the
local signal, and a directional antenna to the other to connect to the
far side of the property?

Suggestions Welcome!

I've spent a while Googling, which reinforced my initial impression
that it's difficult to predict the real-world performance of wireless
networks.

It may be that our only choice is to engage in a bit of
trial-and-error, starting by placing the initial base station and omni
antenna, then wondering around the property to see what level of signal
strength we get, and figuring out how to expand from there.

However, any suggestions or feedback people might have would be much
appreciated. Have you dealt with these kinds of issues in the past? Any
recommendations for specific equipment, general approaches, or avenues
of further research?

Thanks!

-- Simon

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>
> However, any suggestions or feedback people might have would be much
> appreciated. Have you dealt with these kinds of issues in the past?
> Any recommendations for specific equipment, general approaches, or
> avenues of further research?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -- Simon

Just out of curiosity, how do you get electrical power to all those areas?
Are there already powerlines run to them? If so, consider using powerline
networking as a bridge between multiple wap's on the same ssid..

Dealt with it in the past? yes, I have 15 acres in idaho with the buildings
very spread out and lots of vegetation, but there was already ac power to
the out buildings... While most older powerline networking was only 14-15
Mbps, the netgear ones below are up to 85 and 200 Mbps (way faster than
wireless)

The netgear XE103 (at
<http://www.netgear.com/Products/BridgesAccessPointsandExtenders/PowerlineWallPluggedExtenders/XE103.aspx?detail=Specifications>)
runs at 85 Mbps, and the HDBX101 at
<http://www.netgear.com/Products/BridgesAccessPointsandExtenders/PowerlineWallPluggedExtenders/HDXB101.aspx>
does up to 200 Mbps (powerline networking)...
If you absolutely have to have wireless, use the high speed powerline stuff
as a bridge and throw a wap on each end and bingo, instant high speed
wireless.

FWIW I have and use the XE103's and they work great with a wap/router on
each end (same ssid so I have a large hotspot at my house/garage/cabin out
back/etc), the 101's have
only been out for a few months and I haven't used the newer models so can't
say if there will be any probs with them (none so far with the 103's)

On 23 Aug 2006 13:31:40 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed) .com>:

>I'm trying to help my aunt set up a wireless network on her ranch in a
>remote corner of New Mexico, and have run into a number of questions
>about outdoor and long-range WiFi that I hope people can help me
>answer.
>
>The central office building has Internet access via DSL, to which we
>would like to provide access from other locations around the ranch.
>Digging two thousand feet of trenches and laying shielded fiber would
>be prohibitively labor intensive and expensive, so wireless seems like
>the logical answer.
>
>Geography
>
>Many of the buildings and outdoor spaces where we'd like to have access
>are clustered within 150 feet of the main office. However, a few key
>buildings are spaced further away, up to approximately 600 feet, and
>one has quite a few trees between it and the main building.

600 feet is doable (given enough height from the ground at both ends).
Quite a few trees probably not. Perhaps you can relay around the trees.

>In the map below, the main office is marked with a red border, while
>the primary other buildings we'd like to provide access to are shown
>with a blue border. The blue-marked building in the upper-right is
>completely blocked off from the main office by an area of many trees,
>but has near line-of-sight to the workshop, which is marked with a
>green border.
>
> http://matthew.cavalletto.org/wifi_outdoors.html

Near? You need actual line of sight.

>Other Constraints
>
>There will only be a few simultaneous users, so I don't expect that
>bandwidth contention will be an issue.
>
>There are a fair number of trees on the property, which will attenuate
>the signal.

Seriously. May not work.

>On the upside, the nearest neighbors are quite distant, so there
>shouldn't be any interference with other wireless devices.
>
>All of the computers being used are Macs of various vintages, and
>there's no on-site tech guru, so I'd prefer to use Apple's AirPort base
>stations for simplicity, but we could live with third-party access
>points if needed.

Airport is good. The real issue is needing good antennas, either indoor
with window view (and no window film), or external. I'm guessing you'll
need external, mounted high, with PoE (power over Ethernet). Which
would rule out Airport.

>We don't have a fixed budget, but if it looks like the price is going
>to be much over $1,000 they're likely to just settle for getting
>another DSL line or satellite-based Internet access at one or two
>additional locations.

That's a tight budget -- you may need as many as 8 end point devices
plus antennas.

>Ideas and Questions
>
>The first step would seem to be placing a WiFi access point in the main
>office, connected to the DSL router, with an outdoor omni-directional
>antenna on the roof to provide access to the main cluster of buildings.

An omni might not do the job even with good antennas on the other
buildings. The lower left blue building looks to be over 200' away.
You might have to go with multiple access points, each with a
directional antenna.

>- Which model of outdoor omni-directional antenna should we use on the
>roof of the main office?

There are a number of good ones. Be warned that you may lose a lot of
your antenna gain in the cable from the access point to the antenna if
you don't keep it very short.

>- Does it make sense to get an amplifier to increase the signal
>strength?

No.

>For the building shown on the left side of the map, which is about 250
>feet from the main office and has some intervening trees, I think we
>may need a directional antenna pointed towards the main building.

The trees may be a killer.

>- Instead of getting an outdoor antenna, can we just use an indoor
>directional antenna and point it through a window, or does that
>significantly attenuate the signal?

Plain glass is fine. Window film is a killer.

>The building in the bottom-right corner of the map, is even further
>away: about 6-700 feet.
>
>- Is a directional antenna likely to be sufficient over this kind of
>distance?

Yes *if* there are no obstructions and sufficient height at both ends.

>For the building on the upper-right corner of the map, I'm concerned
>that even a directional antenna may not be able to punch through all of
>trees that lie between it and the main building, so I've been thinking
>of placing another access point at the workshop, which has
>line-of-sight to both the main office and the remote building, and
>using that to propagate the signal.

Relay. Yes.

>- Is a directional antenna on the remote building likely to be
>sufficient, or do we need a directional antenna on each end of the
>link?

I think you're going to need directional antennas at both ends.

>- Is there a decent wireless-to-wireless bridge with two antenna ports,
>so we can connect an omni-directional antenna to one to pick up the
>local signal, and a directional antenna to the other to connect to the
>far side of the property?

Not that I know of (in your price range at least) -- use separate
devices.

>Suggestions Welcome!

Sacrifice small animals to the wireless gods. Seriously.

>I've spent a while Googling, which reinforced my initial impression
>that it's difficult to predict the real-world performance of wireless
>networks.

Especially with trees.

>It may be that our only choice is to engage in a bit of
>trial-and-error, starting by placing the initial base station and omni
>antenna, then wondering around the property to see what level of signal
>strength we get, and figuring out how to expand from there.

Yep. Called a Site Survey.

>However, any suggestions or feedback people might have would be much
>appreciated. Have you dealt with these kinds of issues in the past? Any
>recommendations for specific equipment, general approaches, or avenues
>of further research?

Unfortunately, the gear I'd normally recommend is out of your price
range.

The most affordable outdoor gear I know of is Senao.
<http://www.senao.com/>

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

look an

http://www.magicbox.pl/en/