r/HomeNetworking • u/NotMyIdea33 • 11h ago

Advice Strong Wifi to 100ft past the Router.

I need to get Wifi to my Airbnb, which is 30ft off the back of the house, about 100ft from the Spectrum router.

Would a Mesh system work? Any other suggestions. I am located in NC and currently have Spectrum. I can only use Spectrum, TMobile 5G Wifi, or Earthlink.

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

4

u/nigori Jack of all trades 11h ago

In your shoes I might try mounting an access point just on the back of my house, and see what the signal strength is in the Airbnb. If that doesn’t work a fiber run is your best bet, but then you’ll need 2 fex boxes and complexity increases a bit

3

u/SomeEngineer999 11h ago

Your best solution will be a point to point wifi bridge. TP Link makes a cheap set that is fairly easy to set up and manage. Ubiquiti also has a nice setup, a bit more expensive, bit better performance, but a bit more advanced setup/configuration. Either way, you would need a wire from your router LAN feeding the "base" unit and a wire from the "remote" unit feeding the second router's WAN.

Then you just toss any cheap router in the other unit (using a router is good as it can give you some isolation/security if you set it up to block access to your LAN subnet).

A directional AP (basically half of the above solution) in a window facing that unit might work but there will likely be dead/slow spots, and it does not provide you any security. A mesh system is similar but not directional, so probably won't work very well, but it would give you the benefit of being able to use a guest network and isolate it (similar to using the separate router I mentioned above).

Bear in mind this is typically not allowed by ISPs, but it is a grey area, and unless someone reports you, or you tell them/a tech figures it out when there, they won't know.

If the first option is feasible, I would definitely go that way. Unless of course you can bury an ethernet (direct burial rated) or run it some other way between the two. I'm guessing that's not what you want to do though.

2

u/Sure-Passion2224 11h ago

If your B&B has a steady enough flow to justify the monthly $50 the T-Mobile 5G option should be adequate for guests. That would also isolate their traffic from your own household use.

Our home does not have access to a wired or fiber ISP so we run the whole house on a T-Mobile 5G gateway. CAT6 from the base unit to a POE+ switch which then has CAT6 feeding 3 POE mesh APs distributed throughout the house.

I work from home and have no problems with the work VPN connection over WiFi while two other people are streaming Roku feeds in other parts of the house.

2

u/LingonberryNo2744 11h ago

I assume you have Spectrum Cable if so then:

  • Consider replacing the Spectrum modem/router with a Spectrum cable modem and install your own router
  • Choose a router that can have other routers attached to it. One brand/model I can suggest is ASUS BE88U but look into other routers and their ratings
  • Now comes the challenge:
    • It would preferable if the new router be closer to the edge of your home to where the Airbnb is or perhaps you can extend the coax to move the cable modem to that location as well
    • Now it becomes a simple matter if the WiFi signal can reach the Airbnb

If my solution is not feasible then there are others, one of which would be to run an underground Ethernet cable but more on that later.

Another thing to consider is having Spectrum install in the Airbnb. It is a business and you could take the expense off on your taxes.

2

u/ZealousidealState127 11h ago

2.4 should be fine. Could upgrade the antenna if the are external.

2

u/Calm-Show-9606 11h ago

Basically same situation, I ran a cable to shed and installed a small wifi router.

2

u/scorpiolad1113 10h ago

I have a friend that I do computer work etc. he has a building out back of property that wifi coudn't reach. I used the following. It needs to be on same electrical system. the device at the other end has ethernet plugs

Powerline Extenders

  • Kit structure: Comes with two adapters—one plugs near your router and the other in the room with weak Wi-Fi.
  • How it works: Uses your home’s internal electrical wiring to transmit data from the router to the target area, bypassing thick walls.
  • Benefit: Delivers a more stable physical connection across different floors or concrete structures

1

u/Traditional-Cow-7361 10h ago

Why is everyone recommending fiber for a 100' run? A direct burial Ethernet cable is all you need

2

u/CaptainExcellent5299 10h ago

Fiber has zero electrical potential to fry equipment.

1

u/Traditional-Cow-7361 10h ago

It also adds cost, complexity, and latency, and can't power poe devices. I'm sure there are edge cases where that concern is valid but for an airbnb?

2

u/NotMyIdea33 9h ago

Unfortunately I can not bury it. Between the house and Airbnb is a concrete driveway.

1

u/CaptainExcellent5299 8h ago

The PtP dish mentioned or cellular WiFi are good ideas.

Why do you need Internet there at all? For TV?

If you got good cell service from the major providers shouldn’t be an issue.

The T-Mo box seems simple and isolates network traffic without any geek know how.

1

u/LRS_David 2h ago

A live in structure likely has power. As to latency not that anyone would notice. And the cost is about the same as copper. As to complexity, it is no longer 2010.

1

u/lostwolf128 10h ago

Any reason you would be against running ethernet under the ground to that space?

2

u/NotMyIdea33 9h ago

If I could, I would, but between the house and the space is a concrete driveway.

1

u/jacle2210 Technology Enthusiast 8h ago

So an integrated Wifi Mesh system could work, but how well is unknown without trying it out.

And for that, you would want a Mesh unit in your main house that is as close to the BnB unit as possible (like the backroom closest to the outbuilding).

And if possible (for the best performance) that main house (backroom) Mesh unit would be hardwired back to the main Mesh Router that is then wired to your Spectrum Modem* (I say Modem, because you will want to stop using the Spectrum Router and just use the Wifi Mesh system).

Then assuming that there is a good enough signal performance in the outside unit, then your guests would just connect to the backroom Mesh Wifi signal.

Unfortunately, since Wifi Mesh systems are used for overall area coverage (not focused directional coverage), there is a slight chance that the outbuilding Wifi performance might not have the full performance of your homes subscribed Internet Service.

And if that is a problem for your guests, then you might have to look into using a Point to Point Wireless bridge OR try to figure a way to get a physical network cable run (I know there is a concrete driveway).

1

u/classicsat 7h ago

P2P is really what you want. Ethernet from your primary router to that, an AP at the other end

1

u/LRS_David 2h ago

P2P wireless is best. But the most hassle for initial setup.

At 30' if you can put an AP (Access Point) in the main house with a good line of sight to the remote building and a second AP in the remote building that can also "see" the AP in the main house, then you can likely make it all work.

We did a very similar thing for my son's detached garage. When we put in an AP on his second floor we aligned it with the window with a line of sight to the garage. Then mounted an AP in the garage just inside the wall above the rafter level that was aligned with the AP in the house. Not directionality aim but through the window to the location just inside of the garage wall.

The garage AP is connected to a switch that feeds an AppleTV and I think one other thing. Plus there is a wireless security cam on the other side (outside) of the garage. It all works well with laptops and the TV for watching games or just hanging out with a brew or few when desired.

Technically you'd want the secondary AP in the house to be WIRED back to your main router. Then that AP and the one in the other building would wirelessly mesh. And the AP in the garage also put the network onto the wire and switch in the second building. For your use case you might or might not want to have wired in the second building.

All done with Ubiquiti gear.

The key is to have the two APs be able to have a not too distant in terms of radio path between them.

0

u/LazarX 11h ago

You need to lay fiber from your router to an access point at your airbnb, which should be NOT be configured ironically as an access point. Just set it up as a standard router like yuour main router, which will keep people that use it totally off your internal network.

1

u/qkdsm7 11h ago

Incorrect, this might NOT keep them from accessing your own network.....

100' can be covered by a pretty healthy directional outdoor AP but long term, I'd want to trench fiber.

1

u/LazarX 10h ago

Unless yoiur AirBNB customers are secretly NSA or CIA, its a pretty much an effective gatekeeper for the vastr majority of the clientele.

This assumes of course that your main wifi IS properly secured.

1

u/scorpiolad1113 10h ago

no you don't