Internet Options for my Mom

EddieWalker · Dec 25, 2024

On Monday, Spectrum ran fiber optic to my house. Yesterday, they installed it. Since then, my mind has exploded in how fast it is!!! I've never been able to upload a video without waiting several minutes for it to happen, and half an hour wasn't unusual. So far, I've uploaded two videos, and they where instant!!! My second day of this and I'm still amazed.

My Mom is still struggling with Skynet, it's an over the air antenna for internet. It's what I've had for the last 8 years. I have there fastest service, Mom has the one just below that. When it works, it's OK. The biggest issue that we've had with it is in how often it drops out or is offline. Some days it's flawless, other days, it happens every couple of minutes, or a few times an hour.

Mom has a tablet that she keeps up with friends on Facebook. That's all she does with it. She has no other need or use of the internet.

Her house is 100 feet from my house. I built it right behind my house so my wife and I could take care of the as they aged, which has worked out great.

From what I understand, I have two options. I can have Spectrum run another fiber optic line from the road to her house, and they can install it in there for her tablet. I would prefer that she didn't have another bill, and I don't really want another bill either, but my wife says that we should pay for it to make her life easier.

Option two is why I'm posting this. Is there a way to get her tablet, which is about 200 feet from my modem, to pick up my wifi signal? How do people with barns do it? I can run a cable to her house is that works, but I would prefer to not have to dig through 100 feet of compacted gravel between our houses.

If there is something that you have used that works for something like this, and what brand and model is it?

Thank you,
Eddie

ponytug · Dec 25, 2024

EddieWalker said:
On Monday, Spectrum ran fiber optic to my house. Yesterday, they installed it. Since then, my mind has exploded in how fast it is!!! I've never been able to upload a video without waiting several minutes for it to happen, and half an hour wasn't unusual. So far, I've uploaded two videos, and they where instant!!! My second day of this and I'm still amazed.

My Mom is still struggling with Skynet, it's an over the air antenna for internet. It's what I've had for the last 8 years. I have there fastest service, Mom has the one just below that. When it works, it's OK. The biggest issue that we've had with it is in how often it drops out or is offline. Some days it's flawless, other days, it happens every couple of minutes, or a few times an hour.

Mom has a tablet that she keeps up with friends on Facebook. That's all she does with it. She has no other need or use of the internet.

Her house is 100 feet from my house. I built it right behind my house so my wife and I could take care of the as they aged, which has worked out great.

From what I understand, I have two options. I can have Spectrum run another fiber optic line from the road to her house, and they can install it in there for her tablet. I would prefer that she didn't have another bill, and I don't really want another bill either, but my wife says that we should pay for it to make her life easier.

Option two is why I'm posting this. Is there a way to get her tablet, which is about 200 feet from my modem, to pick up my wifi signal? How do people with barns do it? I can run a cable to her house is that works, but I would prefer to not have to dig through 100 feet of compacted gravel between our houses.

If there is something that you have used that works for something like this, and what brand and model is it?

Thank you,
Eddie

I wouldn't run a second fiber. I would try either a WiFi extender pointed at your mom's house, or an actual point to point wireless set. E.g. Ubiquiti nanobeam.

However, as both expose your home network to the open air and whatever your mom does on Facebook, I would highly recommend that you set up a virtual LAN for just your mom's place, that can only see the outside world, and perhaps even bolting that down to just being allowed to see Facebook, and ensuring that your mom's WiFi can't talk to or see anything inside your house. (That would also help keep your mom bubble wrapped from some of the crud out on the internet.)

For a single tablet, I would not bother with a cable, as the bandwidth is so low.

Yes, this may mean that you need to upgrade your home router, but that is a good thing. VLAN's are your friends to keep your printer or dishwasher from hacking the rest of the house and keeping guest electronic devices out of everything in the house. I would not buy a low end router to do this due to security concerns, e.g. not TP-link (under consideration to be banned for sale in the US), or its price competitors.

All the best,

Peter

civilian · Dec 25, 2024

Just a question. You say mom's place is about 200 feet away. In relation to ponytug's info, how far are your houses from other houses, streets etc. My house is 1/4 mile from the street, neighbors maybe a little less. So I don't see any other wifi's when I search and I doubt they can see mine. Also are both your houses on the same electrical meter? Supposedly there are some internet sharing that way. Someone else will have to pop in with that info. Just some thoughts. Jon

EddieWalker · Dec 25, 2024

I'm sort of in the middle of nowhere. My house is 700 feet from the street. The closest house to me is right at a mile away. Then there are more homes after that, which are spread out along the road going farther away.

EddieWalker · Dec 25, 2024

Yes, both houses are on the same electrical meter. I have a 1,200 amp panel with one meter, and six 200 amp breakers inside the panel.

EarPlug · Dec 25, 2024

I use 2 - TP-Link CPE-210 to go from house to metal barn for my cameras. They are good for about 4 miles!

How to build a Wireless Network between home and farm using tp-link products

Amazon.com

Another option that might work is Ethernet over Powerline. This will depend on how the power is run from your house to Mom's. Plug one unit in at your house/router then the other at Mom's house/router. Will only work well if both houses are on the same phase of the electrical. I used this before I switched to the CPE-210. The reason I switched was it didn't have the bandwith for all of the camera to run at full speed.

Amazon.com

ponytug · Dec 25, 2024

civilian said:
Just a question. You say mom's place is about 200 feet away. In relation to ponytug's info, how far are your houses from other houses, streets etc. My house is 1/4 mile from the street, neighbors maybe a little less. So I don't see any other wifi's when I search and I doubt they can see mine. Also are both your houses on the same electrical meter? Supposedly there are some internet sharing that way. Someone else will have to pop in with that info. Just some thoughts. Jon

While you can do a certain amount of sharing over a power line, it is rather low speed. I'm afraid it has gone out of style as devices have gotten more greedy for bandwidth.

The concern is more that anyone with a half decent antenna can pickup a WiFi from over a mile away, more if you are trying to beam the WiFi in a particular direction.

@EddieWalker welcome to the fiber world by the way. It does make a world of difference, doesn't it?

All the best,

Peter