Question for IT/WiFi gurus

[lendaddy]

Long story short is that the cable companies want $8k to run a line to my house. My brother has a connection next door (he paid $20k a couple years ago but needs it for his business). Anyway, I've been playing with a long range setup with directional high gain antennas from his place to mine with fairly good success but I lose connection to the amplifier on my end randomly. Let me try to explain:

On the source end I have a directional antenna attached to his router pointed at my house.

At my house I have a directional antenna pointed at his antenna. From the antenna on my end the signal goes to an amplifier then into a netgear AC2300 router.

Im seeing a solid 58-59dbi signal and speeds of 40Mps on my end (wireless 2.4ghz) from my router and even higher at 5ghz. The signal to noise spread is at out 25-30db as I get 58db on the signal and 92-95db of noise.

Anyway, everything is great most of the time but every now and then I lose the amplifier (can't even connect to it from the IP) but if I unplug it and plug it back in the thing works again every time. The router is always available through it's IP but in these instances will say no internet connection. This happens anywhere from 0-25 times a day (maybe 10 average).

Any ideas or leads are appreciated and here is the setup I have if it helps

https://www.simplewifi.com/products/wifi-repeater?variant=5638784516124#

and here is a recent SNR chart

[lendaddy]

Additional info:

When the amp drops out of the system the router at my brothers place is still has and is broadcasting an internet signal so it appears the amp is the culprit in some way. Or the router is booting it for some reason.

The odd thing to me is that I can't access the amp when this happens, it's like it's not there until I reset it. The indicators on it still show it's receiving signal per normal but it's just gone from my end.

[masraum]

If the amp has a way that it can be accessed, then it's a least a little smart. If it's smart, it has software. Is there an update/upgrade for the software that you could apply?

I've seen some smart devices that if too much data from too many sources was pushed through they'd choke, maybe a memory leak or something and basically crash until they were rebooted. It sounds like that's what's happening.

The first thing that I'd look for is an update for the Amp software if that exists.

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by masraum

If the amp has a way that it can be accessed, then it's a least a little smart. If it's smart, it has software. Is there an update/upgrade for the software that you could apply?

I've seen some smart devices that if too much data from too many sources was pushed through they'd choke, maybe a memory leak or something and basically crash until they were rebooted. It sounds like that's what's happening.

The first thing that I'd look for is an update for the Amp software if that exists.

Good idea and I did that last week. I updated to the latest firmware with no change.

I wonder if my noise floor is occasionally spiking and causing the router to boot the amp but I'm not sure if that's a legit concern.

I also wonder if it could be an IP conflict occasionally rearing its head. I tried making my router static rather than dynamic but I couldn't get anything to work from that. Weird

[VincentVega]

How far away is your brothers place?

[lendaddy]

Approx 500' access point to access point (it's on one of his buildings) and has a perfect line of sight with zero obstructions.

[Brando]

500'... Can you run a fiber line, building to building?

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by Brando

500'... Can you run a fiber line, building to building?

I will need to bore under a driveway but yes that's an option I've considered.

This setup works great other than these odd drops, no rhyme or reason I can find. It's been up since I posted this and the speeds are great.

[stealthn]

Pick up a couple of Ubiquity AP’s, you can do like 450Mbps up to 16 Km, for a couple hundred bucks. Are these indoor or out?

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by stealthn

Pick up a couple of Ubiquity AP’s, you can do like 450Mbps up to 16 Km, for a couple hundred bucks. Are these indoor or out?

Interesting I'll look into these.

My current antennas are outdoor but I could make bothe sides indoor.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Brando

500'... Can you run a fiber line, building to building?

Not saying this isn't ideal, but this almost "smells" like a dynamic routing, or other "handshake" getting hosed periodically. Can you "easily" move your antenna to your brother's location, and why didn't it work when you tried a static setup? Eliminate any "negotiatons" temporarily, and mebbe set up continuous pings from both directions to interface addresses on each side in order to eliminate unknowns and isolate.

T-Rex

.....or just run the dang fiber

[techman1]

Also wondering if the line of the transmission is free of powerful motors.
What I mean is are there any air handlers, compressors or other electrical equipment that is between the antennas, that cycle on and off? Had a client that had his wifi router placed near an old refrigerator. When it turned on, there was so much rfi the signal always dropped.

[Steve Viegas]

I do not know the output of the gear you are using, but with a 0 gain antenna, 100mW should get you over 300 feet line of sight at 2.4GHz.

With a higher gain antenna, your distance will increase. Each 6dBi of gain will double your distance.

An antenna allows your system to 'shout' as well as 'listen'. An amplifier only works for 'shouting'. An amp on one side is generally not a great solution.

You mention that the antenna is directional. I assume it is adding gain then, and likely 6 dBi per side at least. I would try it without the amplifier.

[Brando]

Originally Posted by stealthn

Pick up a couple of Ubiquity AP’s, you can do like 450Mbps up to 16 Km, for a couple hundred bucks. Are these indoor or out?

+1 for Ubiquiti products. I'm using a managed setup in my office, works great. Here are some options for site-to-site bridging. Works best with managed controllers to keep "your" traffic separate from your brother's.

Ubiquiti airFiber, Ubiquiti airMAX

[stealthn]

I usually just use a couple of AC Pro's to do the bridge between offices.