Point to Point wireless internet link......
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Point to Point wireless internet link......
As a bit of a requirement for the bungahell project HERE I’ve realised that I need some form of security as the project moves on. If someone comes in, I need to know - I can be there in 10 minutes and family/friends in less.
I had a couple of choices here:
Phone line for an alarm and dialler
a. Downside is a 12 month contract
b. There is an installation fee of around 100 quid!!!!
c. Need to buy the alarm and dialler (don’t have spare stuff)
A broadband line for cameras/security/alerts using the internet
a. Expensive without a phone line (see above)
b. 12 month contract
c. Previous line wasn’t reliable – lots of service issues
3G/4G with a MiFi router
a. Don’t usually have Ethernet ports which I need
b. Ongoing costs of data regardless of if it’s used
c. Poor coverage of WiFi
The issue with all of the above is the contract length and cost. I’m hoping I won’t have the place for much longer than is needed, so don't want to end up paying exit fees for contracts I can't use. I needed a better alternative.
My parents’ house is within line of site, so I thought I'd look at a point to point (PtP) wireless link so I could use their broadband. Some requirements for me to do this were:
1. It had to be reliable kit – no homebrew stuff this time
2. It’s got to look discreet. My parents aren’t keen on having stuff bolted to their house
3. It needed to be PoE (Power over Ethernet), so the equipment didn’t need a power socket nearby – they were going to be on TV masts/Chimneys after all!
4. It had to be 5GHz stuff as there are lots of houses between and a quick walk show LOTS of already wireless networks (excluding other stuff sat on the 2.4 band) which MIGHT make the links less reliable.
5. It would be good if I could sell it after and recoup the cost of the PtP links
6. If the link is lost, I need to be told about it so I can sort it out.
I decided on these: http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/product ... com5kituk/ and these brackets for mounting (pole one side, gable end the other): http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/product ... ti-nbu001/
There are lots of models, so I done all the calcs to work out if the kit was up to the job. It was - and then some!!!
Ubiquity offer an online link calculator that projects signal and speed based on location, height and equipment. Plugged some details in and voila! If you want to try it, go to http://airlink.ubnt.com/ and click away!
You can see the two houses, the distance and projected speed. Don't forget the earth isn't flat - you may need to overcome large distance links with height. That's the fresnel part. One is on the gable end, one on a big TV mast over the house - no issues here.
Link is around 70-80 metres all in. Not a difficult link by any means.
I have the network cable, crimps, plugs, boxes, testing stuff – so that is all cost neutral.
Capable of upto a 150mb links and able to cover a distance of 15km, they pretty much ticked all of the boxes. Plus, if you’ve not used it before, Ubiquiti kit is lovely to work with.
I have to tip my hat to Broadbandbuyer too. I made a mistake with the order and forgot the second mount so I just stuck another order in and paid the extra postage. They rang me up to check what I’d done, realised it was a mistake and refunded the extra shipping and put it all on the same order. Top service.
Ordered Friday on 3 working day and looksee what arrived today………
Initial impression is good. I got them out the box, set them up, firmware updated them and configured them (more on that later). It was only in the house a, but I got the full speed links and everything working in under 20 minutes, fully configured, secured and done!
I won't get to install them until later in the week, which I'll document, along with setup, but here is a little look......
One of the Loco's. You can see it's not big or obtrusive, I'd say most people wouldn't have a clue what they were looking at.
The back of it. You can see it's got signal strength LED's so that setting up is easier if you don't have access to the laptop/tablet while configuring.
The bottom panel clips off to reveal the reset and Ethernet port. The single cable provides the data link AND power using PoE (Power Over Ethernet). That means that at the other end of the cable, power is injected down the line making installation MUCH easier as you don't need to worry about having to get power nearby.
Here you can see the PoE injector - quite simple:
1. Power cable - durrrr
2. POE - goes to the Nano via cat5/cat6
3. LAN - goes to your router/network switch/PC
In the box, you only get mounting straps - basically cable ties. They can be strapped to a pole or something, but offer little in the way of aiming/adjustment. The brackets I ordered can be pole mounted or wall mounted - I'll be using both installation methods.
Crack the box open - I hope you like jigsaws
A couple of bits slot together to lock onto the Nano quite easily.....
A couple of screws make it secure. I think it has a bit of movement in it that could be improved (and I will with some tape/packing). It won't make a difference, but I don't think it's as good as it could be). It also has brackets for the other Nanostation models, so don't get TOO confused
The other side is a ball joint that allows aiming. You can turn the bit around with bolts either way. That way is for wall mount, the other is pole mount (it becomes a clamp). Quite clever really.
The finished article, ready for mounting:
I'll go through setup later, but here is a quick squizz at the setup page - you can see the link info during testing on the bench. They offer LOTS of features you might never need/want - but it's good to have them! It's basically saying STOP SHOUTING AT ME!!!!!!
The important bits for us later are the signal and throughput. Anything upto 100mb on the link would be good for me. I don't need that much, but it's what the broadband connection is, so seems a good a target as any.
Happy for any questions so far.....I'll do some more on setup later. So far, I'm very happy with my choice. It's more a ramble at this point.
BG
I had a couple of choices here:
Phone line for an alarm and dialler
a. Downside is a 12 month contract
b. There is an installation fee of around 100 quid!!!!
c. Need to buy the alarm and dialler (don’t have spare stuff)
A broadband line for cameras/security/alerts using the internet
a. Expensive without a phone line (see above)
b. 12 month contract
c. Previous line wasn’t reliable – lots of service issues
3G/4G with a MiFi router
a. Don’t usually have Ethernet ports which I need
b. Ongoing costs of data regardless of if it’s used
c. Poor coverage of WiFi
The issue with all of the above is the contract length and cost. I’m hoping I won’t have the place for much longer than is needed, so don't want to end up paying exit fees for contracts I can't use. I needed a better alternative.
My parents’ house is within line of site, so I thought I'd look at a point to point (PtP) wireless link so I could use their broadband. Some requirements for me to do this were:
1. It had to be reliable kit – no homebrew stuff this time
2. It’s got to look discreet. My parents aren’t keen on having stuff bolted to their house
3. It needed to be PoE (Power over Ethernet), so the equipment didn’t need a power socket nearby – they were going to be on TV masts/Chimneys after all!
4. It had to be 5GHz stuff as there are lots of houses between and a quick walk show LOTS of already wireless networks (excluding other stuff sat on the 2.4 band) which MIGHT make the links less reliable.
5. It would be good if I could sell it after and recoup the cost of the PtP links
6. If the link is lost, I need to be told about it so I can sort it out.
I decided on these: http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/product ... com5kituk/ and these brackets for mounting (pole one side, gable end the other): http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/product ... ti-nbu001/
There are lots of models, so I done all the calcs to work out if the kit was up to the job. It was - and then some!!!
Ubiquity offer an online link calculator that projects signal and speed based on location, height and equipment. Plugged some details in and voila! If you want to try it, go to http://airlink.ubnt.com/ and click away!
You can see the two houses, the distance and projected speed. Don't forget the earth isn't flat - you may need to overcome large distance links with height. That's the fresnel part. One is on the gable end, one on a big TV mast over the house - no issues here.
Link is around 70-80 metres all in. Not a difficult link by any means.
I have the network cable, crimps, plugs, boxes, testing stuff – so that is all cost neutral.
Capable of upto a 150mb links and able to cover a distance of 15km, they pretty much ticked all of the boxes. Plus, if you’ve not used it before, Ubiquiti kit is lovely to work with.
I have to tip my hat to Broadbandbuyer too. I made a mistake with the order and forgot the second mount so I just stuck another order in and paid the extra postage. They rang me up to check what I’d done, realised it was a mistake and refunded the extra shipping and put it all on the same order. Top service.
Ordered Friday on 3 working day and looksee what arrived today………
Initial impression is good. I got them out the box, set them up, firmware updated them and configured them (more on that later). It was only in the house a, but I got the full speed links and everything working in under 20 minutes, fully configured, secured and done!
I won't get to install them until later in the week, which I'll document, along with setup, but here is a little look......
One of the Loco's. You can see it's not big or obtrusive, I'd say most people wouldn't have a clue what they were looking at.
The back of it. You can see it's got signal strength LED's so that setting up is easier if you don't have access to the laptop/tablet while configuring.
The bottom panel clips off to reveal the reset and Ethernet port. The single cable provides the data link AND power using PoE (Power Over Ethernet). That means that at the other end of the cable, power is injected down the line making installation MUCH easier as you don't need to worry about having to get power nearby.
Here you can see the PoE injector - quite simple:
1. Power cable - durrrr
2. POE - goes to the Nano via cat5/cat6
3. LAN - goes to your router/network switch/PC
In the box, you only get mounting straps - basically cable ties. They can be strapped to a pole or something, but offer little in the way of aiming/adjustment. The brackets I ordered can be pole mounted or wall mounted - I'll be using both installation methods.
Crack the box open - I hope you like jigsaws
A couple of bits slot together to lock onto the Nano quite easily.....
A couple of screws make it secure. I think it has a bit of movement in it that could be improved (and I will with some tape/packing). It won't make a difference, but I don't think it's as good as it could be). It also has brackets for the other Nanostation models, so don't get TOO confused
The other side is a ball joint that allows aiming. You can turn the bit around with bolts either way. That way is for wall mount, the other is pole mount (it becomes a clamp). Quite clever really.
The finished article, ready for mounting:
I'll go through setup later, but here is a quick squizz at the setup page - you can see the link info during testing on the bench. They offer LOTS of features you might never need/want - but it's good to have them! It's basically saying STOP SHOUTING AT ME!!!!!!
The important bits for us later are the signal and throughput. Anything upto 100mb on the link would be good for me. I don't need that much, but it's what the broadband connection is, so seems a good a target as any.
Happy for any questions so far.....I'll do some more on setup later. So far, I'm very happy with my choice. It's more a ramble at this point.
BG
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