A Wifi Brain Pickle

[MrQuinn]

Hello folks. Hopefully, I make this clear, but I am at my wit's end with it all.
I have tried asking different places but seemed to get little to no response.

Been having a real issue for a long time now with WiFi down to the cattle shed. The shed is about 100 meters from the house.

On the old internet, it worked. Plugged in a range extender to the WiFi router. Put the booster pack down in the shed. (Devolo brand) was able to connect and watch the cameras.

Something changed and it stopped working so had to buy a Wavlink outdoor range extender. Again this worked great for a time until the new internet was installed.

New router is WiFi 6 or mesh system. Or so I have been told. Using eero boosters and routers. Got the SSID changed on the Wavlink. But the single is now trash. Dropping out or never connecting and running half the time now.

Running lorex and reolink cameras. Both sometimes work but then the connection drops out. Or doesn't work at all. Bought a 75 meter cable to move the Wavlink booster closer to the house (about half way) and connected another booster via lan to the adapter. I get strong signal in the shed but the cameras do not stay connected.

My father is now sceptical to spend any more money on the system or set up as anything I have tried is failing to work.

I am stumped why this isn't working, when it clearly worked before, despite the internet company saying it shouldn't. It's very frustrating and I have no clue what I am doing. I have photos of my devices etc if that helps.

Running a cable underground is not an option.

Thank you.

 

[aVdub]

How about running a cable overground.

 

[dlockers]

Yeah in all fairness it does seem odd a full fat farmer is averse to running a wire and doing it properly. Have you swapped the cable out?

 

[radderfire]

Is the Wavlink outdoor range extender also using the Wi-Fi 6 protocol? If not, it could be a Wi-Fi protocol issue.

 

[delta0]

Done the obvious and checked for channel clashes?

 

[visibleman]

What's the exact Wavlink product you've got (post model number if possible)?
It's possible worth looking to see if you're able to separate your WiFi bands, into 2.4/5GHz etc, or creating a separate 2.4GHz SSID/WiFi network, and getting your cameras to connect to that. My folks Reolink camera didn't like being on 5GHz and became stable when it connected to a 2.4GHz (only) WiFi network.

Arguably, if you have line of sight then a better solution would be to deploy a Point-to-Point (PtP) wireless bridge, something like 'Mikrotik Wireless Wire', connected to your router and then run a wireless access point (from the PtP) within the cowshed for WiFi devices.

NB - This might be better off in the 'Networks & Internet Connectivity' sub-forum.

 

[BowdonUK]

I've had problems with ip clashes in the past, and mine is entirely wired.

Maybe have the main camera unit (the box that records) forget the booster unit, or cameras if their ips are listed, and let it re-find them.

 

[ColdAsIce]

If the setup is essential, do it right and run a cable. Surely less expensive anyway than all these WiFi solutions?

 

[Tuppy_Glossop]

You could check whether it connects when the barn kit is in the same room as the router. This will tell you whether it is range or something else. Our installer guys use Ubiquiti Nanostation M2s for line of sight air-bridging between barns.

 

[godinman]

I install CCTV for a living, in this case we would use a point to point wireless link, you need line of sight but you'll get a solid connection. As your cameras are WiFi you'd need a WiFi access point inside the shed.

So it would be a cable from router to outside the house, connected to the house end of the radio link, then in the shed a cable from the radio link to an internal WiFi point, obviously requiring a mains power supply.

Only thing I would say is WiFi cameras are generally quite crap, do the cameras have an ethernet socket? If so, install a network switch at the shed and wire them into it, along with the radio link.

Hit me up any questions.

 

[dlockers]

Smash and bang post, excellent. I think we are feeding the algorithm

 

[Yaayuh!]

Yeah in all fairness it does seem odd a full fat farmer is averse to running a wire and doing it properly. Have you swapped the cable out?

LOL

and Double LOL @ "Full fat farmer"

 

[ChrisD.]

Is this actually Kaleb, and your 'old man' is Clarkson?

 

[Demon]

Just use a proper wireless point to point bridge kit..

These start at £60, so not expensive.. They effectively create a wireless 'cable' between two points to join networks, and come in preconfigured kits of 2..
So wire one to your router, mount it outdoors, point at shed, then mount the other on the outside of the shed pointed at the other one, wire that to a cheap wireless access point and all your problems will disappear.

 

[MrQuinn]

What's the exact Wavlink product you've got (post model number if possible)?
It's possible worth looking to see if you're able to separate your WiFi bands, into 2.4/5GHz etc, or creating a separate 2.4GHz SSID/WiFi network, and getting your cameras to connect to that. My folks Reolink camera didn't like being on 5GHz and became stable when it connected to a 2.4GHz (only) WiFi network.

Arguably, if you have line of sight then a better solution would be to deploy a Point-to-Point (PtP) wireless bridge, something like 'Mikrotik Wireless Wire', connected to your router and then run a wireless access point (from the PtP) within the cowshed for WiFi devices.

NB - This might be better off in the 'Networks & Internet Connectivity' sub-forum.

​

Wavlink AC600 Wireless Outdoor (linked)​

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WAVLINK-Wireless-Outdoor-Repeater-Dual-Band/dp/B07SBMKHHJ/ref=sr_1_3_pp?crid=3BOY6F86NOVEB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.axhBT6geBgGd3zt7g0R1Z4UI-7X3oR-xv89sA1874JLvnzMSqIR9U_obmu-2yEb4MVovh4xsNuRzOvDEzMFUyHfTmg3w48XDSYmPiBLNC1OIQmxrlYlhYAOeeh4-lqIwK2BMBvY1k_rmMmLn2_By5JVzI3XPgiprySbISzy6zZUSa1VUw9rajvhz4Jvd2xdgX4guXI7OTmck9d-aK1l1rhidBPoZI4R6uU4dFvR1oJc.KM30hpr3PuERfu8H94JSdXpiI8-coFCtDDAblq-2qY8&dib_tag=se&keywords=wavlink+outdoor+wifi+extender&qid=1714659764&sprefix=wavlink%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-3

 

[MrQuinn]

Is this actually Kaleb, and your 'old man' is Clarkson?

You've got me...

 

[MrQuinn]

I install CCTV for a living, in this case we would use a point to point wireless link, you need line of sight but you'll get a solid connection. As your cameras are WiFi you'd need a WiFi access point inside the shed.

So it would be a cable from router to outside the house, connected to the house end of the radio link, then in the shed a cable from the radio link to an internal WiFi point, obviously requiring a mains power supply.

Only thing I would say is WiFi cameras are generally quite crap, do the cameras have an ethernet socket? If so, install a network switch at the shed and wire them into it, along with the radio link.

Hit me up any questions.

Ok, so I need another device then essentially? Even if the Wavlink can be put into repeater, AP?

No I dont think they do have eth ports. I can double check.
The cameras are for quick access to check on cows coming up to the calf.

 

[godinman]

Ok, so I need another device then essentially? Even if the Wavlink can be put into repeater, AP?

No I dont think they do have eth ports. I can double check.
The cameras are for quick access to check on cows coming up to the calf.

So if it was me I'd get a preconfigured pair of Ubiquiti Loco5ac units, then plug the far shed one into the WiFi point you've got, that way you've got a really solid connection going into the back of the WiFi point, rather than relying on range extender modes, which tend to be garbage.

1st I'd double check that the cameras work well when your range extender is plugged straight into your router in access point mode, else the above will not help.

See below for a comprehensive system diagram, I do this for a living so hopefully it isn't too complex.

 

[visibleman]

Spoiler

Wavlink AC600 Wireless Outdoor (linked)​

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WAVLINK-Wireless-Outdoor-Repeater-Dual-Band/dp/B07SBMKHHJ/ref=sr_1_3_pp?crid=3BOY6F86NOVEB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.axhBT6geBgGd3zt7g0R1Z4UI-7X3oR-xv89sA1874JLvnzMSqIR9U_obmu-2yEb4MVovh4xsNuRzOvDEzMFUyHfTmg3w48XDSYmPiBLNC1OIQmxrlYlhYAOeeh4-lqIwK2BMBvY1k_rmMmLn2_By5JVzI3XPgiprySbISzy6zZUSa1VUw9rajvhz4Jvd2xdgX4guXI7OTmck9d-aK1l1rhidBPoZI4R6uU4dFvR1oJc.KM30hpr3PuERfu8H94JSdXpiI8-coFCtDDAblq-2qY8&dib_tag=se&keywords=wavlink+outdoor+wifi+extender&qid=1714659764&sprefix=wavlink%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-3

If you have got line of sight to the cow shed then as a few of us have mentioned, a Point-to-point link would be the best solution given it would give you a decent and solid wireless link (think of it as a wireless cable rather than WiFi) to the cowshed that you can then do whatever you want with, ie - connect to a switch for Ethernet ports or to an Access Point/AP (like your WavLink can be setup to be) for WiFi.
This obviously does involve being able to get an ethernet run from your router to the outside wall which can be an issue in itself ,although potentially powerline adapters could be a solution here.

However, given the kit you've already got and to try salvage something from it, it might be worth testing and trialing a few options.
One would be to try and set the Wavlink to repeat (home wireless is 'FarmersRUS', it would repeat 'FarmersRUS'), a 2.4GHz* only SSID/wireless network and then test one of your cameras and see if it will connect to that network.
Second would be see if the WavLink has the option to 'repeat' a WiFi network but on a separate/new SSID (i've got a few that will do this), so if your home/router WiFi is 'FarmersRUS', new wireless network is 'FarmersRUSCowShed'. Again try a 2.4GHz* only network.
Lastly and if you can get a long ethernet cable run outside (purely for testing; drape through the house type setup) from the router, then it's worth resetting and running the WavLink as an Access Point/AP creating it's own separate 2.4GHz* network (different SSID to the routers/home WiFi) and again seeing if you're able to get a camera to connect to it.

* Most cameras will happily work on 2.4GHz. Using 5GHz or combining bands to a SSID/wireless network can cause additional issues and headaches, plus some cameras might not work on 5GHz at all - worth reading camera models specs/manuals on this one.

 

[Sin_Chase]

Echoing the comments about trying to get the cameras on a 2.4Ghz band.

5Ghz has more bandwidth but less penetration and range.

Running a cable is the surefire reliable solution but if you want wireless then the point to point LOS options are your next best bet.