3g signal to house

johnytwentyten

Probably a very silly plan popped into my head and would like advice on whether it's silly or not,
My mother has no broadband or mobile coverage in her house, very rural area and black spot for phone coverage
I want to get internet to the house so kids can video call her as she's cocooning because of cov19,
There is a hill across the road from the house, when stood up there you get decent coverage, plan was to

1. Buy a router with SIM card slot, TP link set ( https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/powerline/tl-wpa4220t-kit/ ) with WiFi capability and 300 feet of cable
2. Stick double socket on one end of cable, plugging router and one of TP units in a waterproof box on hill, run cable into house and plug into a double socket there, if I plug the second TP unit into the same socket can I then receive the signal from the router? And then use the WiFi function to connect to my phone?

Feel free to tell me if this a stupid idea, just looking for options cos she's finding it hard being away from all her grandkids, cheers

imp1

Trying to look after parents should never be judged as being silly, not sure how safe it would be, but that is something else.
Does she have a gable, or chimney, or any high spot on the house, can you access that with your phone and see what signal strength is there? The com reg maps are pretty good at indicating coverage, as are most broadband suppliers. It may be that an external antenna would work, either on the house or fitted on a pole - not an ESB pole btw, wifi calling is great, not on all phones but seems to be on most recent Samsungs.
Where in the country are you, just generally.

drunkmonkey

Are you sure she's in a black spot for all network coverage, you'll need to try , Vodafone, 3 and Eir the rest are all just piggybacking off those 3...one of them should work....

johnytwentyten

In Donegal, all family members are with various companies but none give stable coverage,the house has a mountain directly behind it, you're lucky to get a Viber message through on your phone, but if you move in the other direction the coverage improves, (though not great) this is in all points of the house, I take it the antenna still has to have power of some kind?

imp1

Antenna would be cabled directly to the router, so not powered locally. Cable run down to wherever you want the router to sit, the antenna would be pointed at a mast, there may be more than one visible, as drunkmonkey indicates, it would be a surprise if she was in a complete blackspot, when you test externally. Does anyone get coverage outside, on any network?

banie01

One thing to be remembered in running any kind of Antenna setup, up a hill, to a height greater than the home is that it will be a lightning magnet.

How do you propose to protect the house electrics from any strike?
Be it carried back via power, coax, or both?

johnytwentyten

Brother just tested it with his phone (three network), got 15 mb/s across the road but says it can be patchy, what type of cable runs off the antenna?

To be honest I hadn't even thought of the dangers of mounting an antenna, thanks, is there a way to make it safe(r)?

imp1

If he is getting 15M that close, I would be surprised if you could not get that using the external antenna. 15M is pretty decent and plenty good enough for calls, skype/zoom etc.
Cable depends on what system you go for, either co-ax or external Cat V, either way round it is a small diameter cable, about the same diameter as a pencil.
Mounting an antenna on a pole on a hill might well be a lightning magnet, not possible to be definite about anything without seeing it, but is there a tv antenna or sky dish on the house?

listermint

Tbh id forget connecting it to the house, Id be putting the router in a weather proof box, id have a small solar station on it with small battery inside the box. And use wifi to connect it to the house. If the Wifi wasnt possible then id run the Cat6 to a smaller router inside but leave it all powered off the solar outside.

theres plenty of similar setups online or youtube.

johnytwentyten

Thanks, I need to have a look at some of these antennas and see what I need

drunkmonkey

If your brother is getting that off a phone you'll probably get way better from a dedicated router from the network in the house. His phone might not be capable of top speeds, it's a good indicator though, they've a 14 day money back on the router so I'd try that before spending any other money. If your anywhere near ballyshannon pm me.

McOptimist

Have you looked at ubiquiti products? They are reasonably cheap and amazingly impressive at transmitting a broadband signal over many kilometers if you have a clear line of sight.

alta stare

Have you looked at this option? Satellite Broadband. I know someone who had it and it worked away fine.

https://bigblu.ie/

https://digiweb.ie/tooway-surfer-satellite-broadband/

https://ruralwifi.ie/broadband/ruralwifi-satelite/

2011

^^^
Yes I know someone with this too. It works although costs a bit more. Sometimes there is no other viable option.

johnytwentyten

Few people near by have had issues with satellite broadband, signal was dropping to zero a lot of the time, had a look at this, was thinking of giving it a go after advice from the confusedbird forum, he seems to know his stuff,

https://www.irishwireless.net/metrolinq-60-outdoor-unit-60ghz-ptmp-18dbi-bracket-not-included-3533

Thoughts? Don't know if I'm savvy enough to get all the settings sorted but it seems like it could be the best option

drunkmonkey

A waste of money without trying the obvious option first.

johnytwentyten

drunkmonkey wrote: »

A waste of money without trying the obvious option first.

The obvious option being just trying a router in the house?

drunkmonkey

johnytwentyten wrote: »

The obvious option being just trying a router in the house?

Yea one of the new 3 ones if your brother was getting 15mb anywhere near the house on a phone...online only has the older ones up there for sale but you might be able to pick up the newer ones in a shop...