Workaround for Off Grid access to broadband

[mallory]

Hi, New to the forum. Trying to bring internet cable 1000 feet through woods to off grid house. I'm on 50 acres, can pick up a wireless wifi signal from a street side office/shed I own with subscription service. Would like to pick up a wifi signal (from atop a cliff) then route through 1000' of CAT5 in conduit with necessary solar powered amplifier /repeater to the house. Seeking specifics of amplifier type and power needs so I can size the solar array. Thanks so much

[RicheemxX]

Cat 5 is not capable of spanning 1000' the theoretical max is a little over 300' feet. So you'd need more than a single repeater setup in fact more than likely you'd need 2 or 3.

Does the house have line-of-site to the office/shed where as you could setup a long range wireless setup? Or would it be possible to setup a wireless repeater at the "from atop a cliff" location and then repeat via wireless from there?

[mallorybagwell]

Cat 5 is not capable of spanning 1000' the theoretical max is a little over 300' feet. So you'd need more than a single repeater setup in fact more than likely you'd need 2 or 3.

Does the house have line-of-site to the office/shed where as you could setup a long range wireless setup? Or would it be possible to setup a wireless repeater at the "from atop a cliff" location and then repeat via wireless from there?

Hi, Thanks for the input. Are repeaters the same as amplifiers? If so then I would follow the driveway with several line of sight setups and would need 3-4 as you say. Just thought if there were heavier cable to do the trick I could follow a more direct route through the woods.

[stroyal]

If you are using Cat5/6, a repeater is just a switch, or a hub, but you would need switches, as a hub only repeats once as I remember.Switches will repeat forever
328' is the max in the spec, but posters here have gone a little further.
1000' should only need 2 switches outside, if you max you runs to 328".
2 more inside on each end
That is only 16 feet over spec overall.
The absolute max you would need outside is 3 switches.
Use all solid cable also, as stranded won't go as far.


With the right antenna, and clear line of sight, WIFI can go as far as 5 miles.

I'm no expert, but Hak5, has demonstrated it several times.Revision3 > Hak5
here is one @ about 1700'.
Mountain Top WiFi Shootout, Plus Cisco, DHS, Facebook and the... - Hak5

Their latest show, concerns Packet Ham Radio, that can go thousands of miles.
He also mentions the 5mile max for WiFi in this show

But you need a Ham license, and 900 baud to 1900 baud is slower than slow.

[Rudek]

At my work we use solutions to get CCTV video to some odd locations where wired solutions are not an option.

The best solution is a router at each end with a directional antenna at either end. There are lots of different companies that sell directional antenna equipment, and the secret is making sure that you get a router that will connect to the router itself.

The most important thing is a consistent line of site. If you have to use poles or towers this solution becomes less appealing (i.e. more work). Also, trees and wind can also play havoc with the antenna and it is just one more thing to go wrong.

I have a buddy who used a solution like this to get wireless internet from his work (at home) and he says there's no noticeable slow down across the wireless connection.

[coolwifiguy21]

You can run Cat5 up to ~1000' if you use in-line PoE repeaters every 300'. Panoptic Technology, Network PoE Extenders

If I were you, I would use a VDSL solution instead between the cliff and the house since it will draw less power than PoE and will give you 100Mbps up to a mile through Cat3. Plus, Cat3 cable is a lot cheaper than Cat5.

Here's the VDSL modem that we use on our hotel properties: Panoptic Technology, Smart Room Network V2C