Extend Wifi 300 Feet?

[npalen]

We installed a wifi ready lawn sprinkler controller over the weekend at my sister in law's home. It would be handy to have it setup on wifi so I could control it from our house but she doesn't have internet. The controller/timer in her garage is right at 300' from our house where we have wireless internet but can't pick it up over there. There are no structures between the two places, just a powerline.

I read a few searched threads here on TBN but am not up on some of the terminology, for example, difference between repeater and extender.
Wondering if you guys and gals could recommend equipment or method to achieve the above? TIA

 

[TractorGuy]

I connect to a wifi camera out 400 feet from my house with one of these. Make sure and get the model that comes with the external antennas.

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[Jchonline]

100 yards is going to be hard for any normal extender or repeater to reach. You can try one if you want, but keep the box nice so you can return it if it doesn't work.

The best option is Point to Point beam antennas, but you would need to buy 2 of them and mount them line of site. Unifi makes a bunch of these. Check out the nano beam, that is what I use. Maybe others will have extender/repeater suggestions.

 

[bmaverick]

We installed a wifi ready lawn sprinkler controller over the weekend at my sister in law's home. It would be handy to have it setup on wifi so I could control it from our house but she doesn't have internet. The controller/timer in her garage is right at 300' from our house where we have wireless internet but can't pick it up over there. There are no structures between the two places, just a powerline.

I read a few searched threads here on TBN but am not up on some of the terminology, for example, difference between repeater and extender.
Wondering if you guys and gals could recommend equipment or method to achieve the above? TIA

5G no way because it's limited on range, not speed though. If you can get 2.4G or lower, the range is greater.

With nothing in the way, over water I've seen demonstrations on YT over water out over 1-mile with a chimpsey repeater.

 

[jaydee325]

WiFi Mesh setup seems to be the solution here.

 

[bmaverick]

WiFi Mesh setup seems to be the solution here.

This must be a location thread too. I grew up as a kid in Adiar, MI aka Casco Township right next to I-94.

 

[npalen]

WiFi Mesh setup seems to be the solution here.

How far does Wifi Mesh typically "reach out" from the router?

 

[Tinhack]

How far does Wifi Mesh typically "reach out" from the router?

About 20-30'. I've only seen these used for room to room setups.

 

[plowhog]

We installed a wifi ready lawn sprinkler controller

Before you install wifi range extenders, are you positive it uses a wifi signal?

I ask because I bought one last year, advertised as wireless, only to find it used Bluetooth, not wifi.

 

[i7win7]

consider an outdoor modem, 1 watt of power, about 3x more than indoor units

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Amazon.com: WAVLINK AC1200 High Power Outdoor Weatherproof WiFi Range Extender/Wireless Access Point/Mesh with Passive POE, Dual Band 2.4GHz 300Mbps+5.8 GHz 867Mbps, 4x7dBi Detachable Omni Directional Antenna: Electronics

www.amazon.com

 

[Jchonline]

5G no way because it's limited on range, not speed though. If you can get 2.4G or lower, the range is greater.

With nothing in the way, over water I've seen demonstrations on YT over water out over 1-mile with a chimpsey repeater.

Clarification on the 5G thing....if we are talking wifi we use both 5Ghz and 2.4 GHz spectrum. They are both just fine for wifi range if you have appropriate power. My P2P antennas are 5G and they go like 10km.

 

[Jchonline]

WiFi Mesh setup seems to be the solution here.

Mesh is just a fancy term for connecting multiple wifi access points together so as a person walks out of range of 1 and into the other it will automatically switch. Not really helpful here. For a mesh setup you would need multiple access points between the current signal and the sprinkler....

 

[lman]

I used a couple of these to get service in my barn about 400 ft. away. One is set up to transmit and one receives. A wireless router is connected to the unit in the barn.

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[Ford850]

I just bought a Google Mesh WiFi kit with 3 pucks. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/google-wifi-mesh-router-ac1200-3-pack-white/6427176.p?skuId=6427176
I put the first puck in the center of my basement, plugged into my spectrum modem. That acts as the main base, and is the only one using an ethernet cord. Then I put a puck in both the far east and far west end of the main floor (35x75' single story). You can buy additional pucks if you want to add more to the mesh, and each one only needs a 120v plug, but the 3 in this set were plenty for me. It uses a phone app to install and takes only a few minutes to fully install and be in use. One of the remote pucks is within 1' from an exterior wall (4" plus 1/2" drywall and wood exterior siding), sitting on a shelf waist high. I just walked outside, directly away from that wall, and maintained connection to 360' and had about 1/3 my full speed if indoors. That's more than I expected, and maybe the damp humid air is helping today. Either way, this set up has been working great. We use WiFi for our cell calls when at home, and now we can walk anywhere in the house, basement, out to the barn, and around the yard without dropping a call. It's also very nice to have WiFi speed while online, relaxing outside. No more jumping from cell tower to WiFi, etc. All one meshed coverage is nice and the range is better than I hoped.
I had a service call from Spectrum last year. The technician recommended I drop the Spectrum WiFi service and get this Google Mesh. I've been putting it off, until last week I saw the price drop on it so I bought it finally.

 

[npalen]

Before you install wifi range extenders, are you positive it uses a wifi signal?

I ask because I bought one last year, advertised as wireless, only to find it used Bluetooth, not wifi.

Yes, it is wifi. I have a similar controller at house that uses wifi.

 

[grsthegreat]

Extend ANY WiFi System to Shop, garage, barn - Connect kit | RadioLabs

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i put this in my shop, which is 400' from house, and the house wifi is in furthermost point away from shop. works flawlessly.

 

[thebmrust]

You don’t need Internet to use wifi. A router in her home can connect to the controller. An outsider can’t connect to the controller from the internet, because it won’t be connected TO the Internet. Think of it as an intranet.

A 2.4 gHz wifi signal can go miles with the right transmit and receive antennas. I’m sure 5gHz can to. Actually, search for “pringles cantenna”. Can also use old DirecTV sat dishes for point to point (using the pringles can as inspiration).

I’m guessing your sisters device doesn’t have the antenna in the perfect orientation and the router antenna needs to also be oriented perfectly to get the longest distances. We use to have lots of apps that helped done tune devices back in the days of PDA’s & wardriving w NetStumbler.

 

[npalen]

You don’t need Internet to use wifi. A router in her home can connect to the controller. An outsider can’t connect to the controller from the internet, because it won’t be connected TO the Internet. Think of it as an intranet.

A 2.4 gHz wifi signal can go miles with the right transmit and receive antennas. I’m sure 5gHz can to. Actually, search for “pringles cantenna”. Can also use old DirecTV sat dishes for point to point (using the pringles can as inspiration).

I’m guessing your sisters device doesn’t have the antenna in the perfect orientation and the router antenna needs to also be oriented perfectly to get the longest distances. We use to have lots of apps that helped done tune devices back in the days of PDA’s & wardriving w NetStumbler.

Interesting! So can you point me to exactly what I need to make this happen? I'm a bit dense when it comes to this type of equipment.

This is the wifi module that I will install in the controller if I can reach it from my house which is the 300' distance mentioned in post #1.

Rain Bird ESP TM2 and 4ME Wi-Fi Module | LNKWIFI

Rain Bird ESP TM2 and 4ME Wi-Fi Module | LNKWIFI | Sprinkler system parts and supplies. Shop online today or pick up in store.

www.sprinklerwarehouse.com

 

[TractorGuy]

You don’t need Internet to use wifi. A router in her home can connect to the controller. An outsider can’t connect to the controller from the internet, because it won’t be connected TO the Internet. Think of it as an intranet.

A 2.4 gHz wifi signal can go miles with the right transmit and receive antennas. I’m sure 5gHz can to. Actually, search for “pringles cantenna”. Can also use old DirecTV sat dishes for point to point (using the pringles can as inspiration).

I’m guessing your sisters device doesn’t have the antenna in the perfect orientation and the router antenna needs to also be oriented perfectly to get the longest distances. We use to have lots of apps that helped done tune devices back in the days of PDA’s & wardriving w NetStumbler.

That should be the way it works but not always true.

When my internet goes out I cannot connect to any of my wifi cameras even though my home network is okay. BUT I can access them from any other network or cell signal that has an internet connection as long as my home network has internet access. Don't ask me how that is possible but it works. I knew it worked over cellular data but just recently discovered my phone app could get to the cameras on my home network from a distant network.

npalen that little $32 travel router I linked to in post #2 should get you out 300' with no problem. I run my entire home network on one linked to a cellular wifi hotspot device. One of my cameras is 400'+ from the house. If you already have wifi or a wired router either one you can add this router and use it to access wifi devices. The only requirement will be the app has to connect through the same network the sprinkler is on. You can't connect your cell phone to a your regular home network and the sprinkler interface to another. You will have to connect your phone to the new router then connect the sprinkler interface to the new router. This MAY sound like it contradicts my above comments but this is just how it works. Once you get both devices set up at home you can probably access the sprinkler from anywhere with the phone app.

Hope that isn't too confusing. Trust me it is simple to set up.

 

[TractorTYMe]

Just add an outside access point, they easy provide 300 feet addtional connectivity.

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