Posted: 7/30/2014 4:44:32 PM EDT
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I am trying to get a wifi camera out towards a field. Issue is the wifi. Looking on Google Earth, I would like to get anywhere from 200 ft to 350 ft from the current location of the router. Is it possible on a cheap budget? I plan on mounting on a tree. I have no problem running a wire to the end of the house and mounting it externally if needed. Or right inside the gable vent. There are a few trees between the house and the proposed locations. I am only trying to get to the one camera so a directional antenna is not a problem.
I currently have a couple of Asus wifi routers. One is a rt-n12. THe other one i don't remember at this time. I am using it as an access point. The rt-n12 already has 9dbi antennas so they can be reused if needed. |
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I was thinking something like this yagi antenna.
Yagi from Amazon |
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http://www.ayrstone.com/wp/ used this on a few farms with great results. |
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I've got two 18 dBi dishes running on a 1.6 mi link using two Netgear 802.11G APs. I know a few guys who have gone 40+ miles on similar antennas using Linksys WRT54G's.
Most 2.4 GHz radios operate at around 250 mW (24 dBm). I'd recommend putting a yagi on the camera AP's side and using the 9 dBi on the home router. Doing that should give you the penetration you need to get into and out of the house. Actual path loss (free space) for that combo is something like 6 miles…so 350 feet through some light brush and a wall or two should be doable. |
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That looks great except for the price. This is going to be a semi temporary solution |
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Quoted:
I've got two 18 dBi dishes running on a 1.6 mi link using two Netgear 802.11G APs. I know a few guys who have gone 40+ miles on similar antennas using Linksys WRT54G's. Most 2.4 GHz radios operate at around 250 mW (24 dBm). I'd recommend putting a yagi on the camera AP's side and using the 9 dBi on the home router. Doing that should give you the penetration you need to get into and out of the house. Actual path loss (free space) for that combo is something like 6 miles…so 350 feet through some light brush and a wall or two should be doable. The little research I did last night, that is what I am leaning towards. Yagi mounted to the tree along with the camera and my equipment to power it. 350 feet is the ideal location that I would want it. From what I have read, that should be no problem. now i just have to figure out if the 20watt solar panel I already have is going to be good enough. |
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Quoted:
The little research I did last night, that is what I am leaning towards. Yagi mounted to the tree along with the camera and my equipment to power it. 350 feet is the ideal location that I would want it. From what I have read, that should be no problem. now i just have to figure out if the 20watt solar panel I already have is going to be good enough. Quoted:
Quoted:
I've got two 18 dBi dishes running on a 1.6 mi link using two Netgear 802.11G APs. I know a few guys who have gone 40+ miles on similar antennas using Linksys WRT54G's. Most 2.4 GHz radios operate at around 250 mW (24 dBm). I'd recommend putting a yagi on the camera AP's side and using the 9 dBi on the home router. Doing that should give you the penetration you need to get into and out of the house. Actual path loss (free space) for that combo is something like 6 miles…so 350 feet through some light brush and a wall or two should be doable. The little research I did last night, that is what I am leaning towards. Yagi mounted to the tree along with the camera and my equipment to power it. 350 feet is the ideal location that I would want it. From what I have read, that should be no problem. now i just have to figure out if the 20watt solar panel I already have is going to be good enough. Most of the APs run 12V @ 1A...12 W in other words. Most locations average between 6 and 8 hours of sunlight a day. So a battery will also be needed, most likely. |
| The camera is 5 volts. Not sure the amp but the current wall charger is 2amp max. I have 2 batteries which are 12v and either 7ah or 12ah each. I don't remember off the top of my head. Not sure if I am going to get a charge controller. Only other variable is the dc to dc converter to get down to 5v. Not sure how efficient it is. I might just plug everything in and see how long it last before mounting it |
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Quoted:
The camera is 5 volts. Not sure the amp but the current wall charger is 2amp max. I have 2 batteries which are 12v and either 7ah or 12ah each. I don't remember off the top of my head. Not sure if I am going to get a charge controller. Only other variable is the dc to dc converter to get down to 5v. Not sure how efficient it is. I might just plug everything in and see how long it last before mounting it Easy solution, if you don't mind hacking apart a car phone charger…those are generally 12V down to 5V 1A (should pull around 5A) and can generally be found for around $5 or less. The charge controller is one of the best $10-$15 that can be spent and prolonging the life of the batteries (and in some cases will keep the system from discharging unnecessarily at night). |