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My startup just moved into our new office. We got a great deal on rent, but unfortunately the building isn't wired for anything but DSL :(.

Luckily, our city has a 1GB Fiber connection through an unnamed "Big Internet Company" and an apartment right across the street has it! We are going to pay the $70/mo for the 1GB fiber and put an antenna in the apartment window to beam the wifi to our office. Luckily as well, we have floor to ceiling windows in our office.

Their apartment is directly across the street (150 feet away), but is blocked by that tree. We're both on the second floor.

Right now, we're thinking about buying an ASUS RT-AC87R Wireless-AC2400 Dual Band Gigabit Router and seeing if that alone does the trick. If not, we're thinking about buying two directional, dual-band antennas (one for sending, one for receiving) to beam the signal to our office.

What can I do to get the maximum signal strength and down/up speeds in our office across the street?

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  • This is pretty broad since you don't have an actual solution in place, so you don't really have a problem to be solved (yet). It is also border-line just a product request (which are off-topic). You seem to know what you want to do, and have some ideas; so go implement them, and then come back with specific questions about specific problems.
    – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 19:45
  • @Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 I am going to have to disagree with you... I have a big problem, I need to get solid wifi from 150 feet away to an entirely different building. I am such a n00b when it comes to networking that I thought I'd ask for some answers to this problem before I go spend $400+ on equipment. Hopes that's ok.
    – novicePrgrmr
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 19:48
  • It's not really "OK", as product request are off-topic, and we don't like dealing with hypotheticals, as there's no way to confirm the answer(s) worked. You need good antennas and routers/WAPs, that's the answer to your question. If you want to do the job yourself find something that looks good, go get it, implement it (feel free to come back with specific implementation questions), and then accept responsibility. If you don't have the expertise, nor are you willing to risk being wrong for $400, then hire a professional. Regardless, it takes more than just my vote to close this. :)
    – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 19:53
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    BTW... this does violate the google fiber TOS.
    – Tyson
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 21:38
  • I don't know what you're talking about ;)
    – novicePrgrmr
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 21:47

2 Answers 2

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  • Honestly if your "devices" have a good enough strength, that router will almost certainly boost a 2.4ghz signal to the other location. I would be surprised if the 5ghz would make it very well though as the higher the frequency the worse a frequency is at going through objects. We have a netgear r7000 located in a brick office with big windows, and I can get full bars on 2.4ghz even 150ft away (It doesn't go through our steel shop well though).

  • If you get lots of packet loss with just a router though, I've had really good luck with Ubiquiti nanostations. I have a set of nanostation M5's http://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-US-FCC-NSLOCOM5-NanoStation-loco/dp/B004EHSV4W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1412192077&sr=8-2&keywords=nanostation giving me 195Mbps about 1/8th mile apart. A set of nanostation M2's would probably go through the tree better @ only 35Mbps (they also cost less) but I don't think either would be a problem. My only experience with 2.4Ghz bridges is a set of ubiquiti nanobridge M2's. I have these going about a mile with around a woods @ full strength, but they would be way overkill for 150ft.

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  • Awesome, we're going to try the ASUS router and see if it does the trick by ourselves. Thanks a ton. I might have some followup questions down the road.
    – novicePrgrmr
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 19:54
  • Sounds good. And if that router didn't work by itself I would buy it from somewhere you can take it back as that would be a crazy expensive/overkill router for just a single office/office use. It's probably overkill anyways but it's fun to have the biggest and best.
    – jAce
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 20:13
  • Set up the router today and we're getting 50mbps down and 10mbps up. It's not 1000mbps, but it's plenty for our needs. We're pumped, thanks for the answer!
    – novicePrgrmr
    Commented Oct 3, 2014 at 1:49
  • Ok, I'm wondering if there are any settings I should tweak to improve the signal. Here's a screenshot of what I have right now (default). take.ms/0UhID
    – novicePrgrmr
    Commented Oct 3, 2014 at 21:42
  • As far as I can tell those settings are going to be your best shot at a good signal at that distance. Remember signal is two way though so if a device recieving wifi is too weak for the distance it will have lots of packet loss. That's why even though hopefully a router will be "good enough" but a P2P link would be lots better. 1. there antennas are directional and 2. there "both" high powered. Speaking of this I'm sure they would make directional antennas for routers but idk if that would help things or not.
    – jAce
    Commented Oct 3, 2014 at 22:26
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After a quick google search, I came up with this antenna. It claims to do exactly what you're looking for.

http://www.radiolabs.com/products/antennas/2.4gig/non-line-of-sight-panel-wifi-antenna.php

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