Wireless Network Configuration
In a previous post, I said that I would detail the setup at my parents house for our local network.
Since the locations were separated more than 100-300 feet, I decided it would be best to do it wireless instead of setting up any cat5 cabling.
While cat5 would have provided more bandwidth, I didn’t think it was necessary at this point in time since the wireless network can provide 65-150megabits. To do Ethernet cabling, it would have required digging or hanging wires. I’d rather not do either of those.
I decided to go with 65megabits so that the network use less wireless bandwidth, and according to research that I’ve done, slower links tend to be more resilient.
There isn’t a lot of interference in the area, so I decided to not use the TDMA/AirMax protocol that the radios support.
Since my Internet provider installed their network at my parents house, I decided to use my mom’s house as the base AP. The network at her house consists of:
1) Motorola Canopy for the WISP that provides me service
2) TP-Link TL-WR1043ND as the PPPoE client for the WISP and the router for the network. This was reflashed to use DD-WRT.
3) Bullet M2-HB (by Ubiquiti)
4) Alfa 12db antenna connected to the Bullet.
The TPLink provides the connectivity to the WISP and provides wifi for my mom’s place. While there is an AP at her place mounted outside, it’s above a tin/aluminum roof, so the signal doesn’t penetrate the building. You can see the network, but not maintain a connection to it.
At my sister’s house:
1) Nanostation LOCO M2 Outdoor MIMO 2x2 802.11g/n (by Ubiquiti) mounted inside my nephew’s room pointing outside the window toward the AP. I’ve recommended that they mount it externally.
2) Buffalo WHR-HP-G300N running stock DD-WRT running in router mode so that they have a separate network.
At my room/the barn:
1) Nanostation LOCO M2 Outdoor MIMO 2x2 802.11g/n (by Ubiquiti) mounted externally.
2) Going to put a TP-Link AP there. This will make my devices on the same network as my parents’. This means no samba/cifs shares for my devices. However, since I’m going to only be there a couple times a week, I’m still leaving my main desktop at my BF’s house.
Here is an image for reference. The red circle is the approximate location of the AP. The two yellow diamonds show the bridges.
Thank you, Google, for the image.
Out of all of this, I’ve learned some things. Even though there’s distance, if you have line of sight, you can get a good network setup. I also learned how to crimp cable.
The devices were easy to configure once you read the manual. A bridged network is super easy since the AP acts like an AP instead of a router, and the other devices act as bridges. So, if I wanted everyone on the same network, it would be transparent when or if it happened. I’m considering putting everyone on the same network for fileshare and printing purposes. That matter is still up for debate.
Since it’s cheaper, I’m getting an AP for my room instead of a router. Also, I don’t mind being on the same network for now. If I’m there more often and have a file server, I’ll get a router. I’ll decide which one I’m doing later today when I’m at the store. Both devices I’m considering will be flashed with DD-WRT, so even the AP could probably be a “router” if needed to separate the network. Otherwise, I can try to figure out VLANs.
When working on a ladder, you should wear shoes or boots that have hard sole, otherwise, your feet can get fatigued by the pressure being in two or three points of each foot.
