Outdoor Solutions
I often do my work outside in my yard, so I want a good Wi-Fi signal out there. And these days, with people social distancing inside a home, outdoor work can be a welcome relief from cabin fever.
Furthermore, I have very little cell phone coverage at my house, so I rely on my Verizon cell phone’s Wi-Fi calling feature to keep me connected. I want it to work whether I am indoors or out.
With warm weather arriving you might plan to be outdoors more. If your signal is weak outside your house, there are solutions. I tried all the solutions below and found one I really like. A variety of these might work well for you.
Keep in mind that there are both expensive and inexpensive ways to do this, depending on how far your signal needs to travel, and what type of coverage you need. Most of the solutions below are inexpensive ones and simple enough to be self-installed. And it’s good you can self-install most of these, because LCWA won’t help you do this; any of these solutions are beyond the scope of our volunteer work.
Three Solutions
TP-Link has a $38 (Amazon price) weather-proof outdoor access point that, if you can run an Ethernet wire from it through a wall to your router, can get you a signal almost 800 feet away (assuming clear line of sight). You mount it on the edge of your roof and point it toward the area you typically are active outside (it’s got a 65-degree wide coverage area). I tested it and it definitely works.
However, this unit requires some initial configuration that can be difficult for many to do: During setup, you will have to set a temporary static IP address on your laptop and then plug it into the unit with an Ethernet wire to do the configurations. That’s not horribly hard if you’ve done similar before, but it’s not super easy either, so this is not for everyone.
Beyond this TP-Link unit, Ubiquiti has solutions that travel much further and broadcast wider, reaching a mile or more in some cases (for example this one). They cost a bit more but are top-grade. LCWA has been recommending models like this for years to members who are willing to pay for custom work. Note they are not good for a simple self-install; rather it is likely you’ll need help configuring them. We can recommend contractors who know how to use these units with the LCWA network; they can design and install a solution for you. Reply to this email to get their contact info.
In either of these solutions, to avoid drilling a hole through your external wall, you might be able to point the unit out a window. But some glass panes have an invisible metallic coating to limit sunlight. That coating will block a Wi-Fi signal, so you might have to test this first
The Disadvantage of Multiple Network Names
Both of the above units, however, in their simple deployments, set up a separate Wi-Fi network name (SSID). The problem with that is that as you travel inside and out of your house, the cutover from the indoor to outdoor network, and back, might not be automatic—you might have to open the Wi-Fi selection screens on your phone to switch. For example, my neighbor has one of the Ubiquiti ones pointed out to her large horse field where she works much of the day. It works great out there, reaching nearly a mile. However, when she comes back in the house, the now weaker outdoor network is locked on her phone and she gets a bit less performance than on her indoor Wi-Fi. She has to remember to switch it back. So definitely a disadvantage.
Mesh in-the-Window Solution
For me, I am usually in or near my yard and so a closer solution is what I wanted. But my normal Wi-Fi router signal didn’t reach there. So, what I did is something not many people talk about, and I found it works great.
I bought one of the inexpensive 3-unit TP-Link mesh systems (along with an airCube). The TP-Link Deco M5 system is the one mesh unit that we have been recommending for self-installation (see our writeup of it at this link).
The key thing I did with this is that I located all three mesh nodes just inside key windows on three sides of the house—I simply placed them on the indoor windowsills at those windows.
From those three distributed positions, the units have plenty of power to cover the entire inside of the house. But remarkably, I can also get a signal up to 500 feet from my house outside, through the glass.
Now, the signal is not super strong at 500 feet, but good enough to read email or open a webpage. And if I am sitting closer, like in my front yard or back, it’s almost the same as sitting indoors—a full-strength signal. As a result, I can do computer work and take cell calls out there all the time now.
And the best part is it’s a mesh, which means it presents a single Wi-Fi network name (SSID) both indoors and out, and the transfer to the optimum access point is done automatically when I come back inside the house. This is something normal Wi-Fi extenders can’t do.
Final Thoughts on Mesh
One caution with my in-window-pane approach: as mentioned above, some glass panes have an invisible metallic coating to limit sunlight. That coating will block a Wi-Fi signal, so you might have to test this first.
And by the way don’t buy just any mesh. There is a reason the TP-Link Deco M5 is the only mesh system we recommend for self-install. It’s mainly because it is the only mesh system we know of where the homeowner, during self-install, can easily turn off the 5Ghz radio channel (see this article for more info on the problems with 5Ghz). In general, setting up the TP-Link Deco M5 (using your smartphone) is easy for a homeowner. We have videos on how to do that at this link.
Works with a Separate Casita?
Will any of these solutions described above work if you have a separate nearby casita and want access inside it? Probably not. The walls will likely block the access. But you can give it a try.
Usually, however, separate buildings need a special wired or radio-link campus solution, one custom installed by one of our approved contractors. We can give you contact info for contractors that know our system and can do this work.
So, consider one of the above solutions if you need an outdoor Wi-Fi access that you want to self-install. And for indoor extensions that are safe for the LCWA network, see this article.