Tinkering; Like Guntering for the Connected Generation.

emaherx

I've been tinkering with some LoRa modules over the past few weeks.

I've had mixed results with range. Sending simple packets with one way comunications between a transmitter and reciver is working between 1 to 1.5KM without Line of Sight.

I setup a Lora Gateway using Mysensors.org and this ESP32 based lora Module and LoRa Nodes based on this and this Arduino based Lora Module. Range with this setup range is about 800M with no Line of Sight, I think the reason for the shorter range is because the comunication is bi-directional and times out if acknowlagements are not recived on time. I've played with timeout setting and spreading factors to extend the range, inittially the range was much lower using default setting.
I've adapted my tank level sensors to use this as its range is much better than the 2.4Ghz radio that I was using.

I've also experimented with the https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/ using the ESP32 as a gateway but have not done any range testing as the ESP32 is a bit unstable and often reboots after receiving a packet from the node. Was working well enough to see how it would be implemented though.


A bit of research into the above devices suggests that they are shipped with very poorly tuned Antenna more suited for the 1-2 GHZ band.

Mf310

enricoh wrote: »

I fitted the overground Rams , dea I went for. You can buy on eBay a lot cheaper than Irish automation websites.
My sister got them installed by an automation crowd. I just bought the same kit online and took a few photos of the wiring on hers and copied it.
Was less hassle than I was expecting!
Underground you have hassle with drains etc

Want to fit an electric gate here as cant leave gate closed because milk man comes. Any of ye do much with electric gates? Guessing I could rig it up to a timer that it would open gate at 5 each morning for milk lorry and close at 6 automatically? There is Wifi on farm so the network is there just to link it all together

emaherx

Mf310 wrote: »

Want to fit an electric gate here as cant leave gate closed because milk man comes. Any of ye do much with electric gates? Guessing I could rig it up to a timer that it would open gate at 5 each morning for milk lorry and close at 6 automatically? There is Wifi on farm so the network is there just to link it all together

Should be straight forward enough. Most gate kits would have pins for connecting a push button, these can be easily connected to a simple smart switch like a sonoff, just choose one with inching. Some gate openers may have the capability built in.

keepalive213

Tryna help a mate out with something outside of my level of expertise.
He wants to remotely keep an eye on his garage inside while he's not there but not bothered about recording footage.
He's as tight as they come I should add.
Electric supply is straight from the house breakers which he could potentially use to route supply from router.
He has a set of Homeplugs / powerline adaptors... Non wifi just plug ins for ethernet cables....
Ip camera?
Using cat 5 from homeplug in garage straight to camera ?
P2P without him buying /using a dvr, nvr or similar ...?
Does such a miraculous device exist?
Did I mention hes a pure 4 x 2?
Any advice appreciated

emaherx

Yes,

There are any number of standalone IP cameras available, Amazon is full of cheap ones.

The Home plugs may work, they are hit and miss sometimes, it depends on the wiring of the house, but if he already has a pair its easy to plug them in and try. I find sometimes if they are not on the same ring main that they can be a little unstable.

Here is the first one I found looking on Amazon, I have no experience of it but its a cheap camera, with Ethernet as well as Wifi records to an SD card and supports P2P. https://www.amazon.co.uk/ieGeek-Security-Waterproof-Surveillance-Detection-black/dp/B073GQ8T2L/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=ip%2Bcamera&qid=1596007977&sr=8-6&th=1

Prices go up from there with more features available such as PTZ

keepalive213

emaherx wrote: »

Yes,

There are any number of standalone IP cameras available, Amazon is full of cheap ones.

The Home plugs may work, they are hit and miss sometimes, it depends on the wiring of the house, but if he already has a pair its easy to plug them in and try. I find sometimes if they are not on the same ring main that they can be a little unstable.

Here is the first one I found looking on Amazon, I have no experience of it but its a cheap camera, with Ethernet as well as Wifi records to an SD card and supports P2P. https://www.amazon.co.uk/ieGeek-Security-Waterproof-Surveillance-Detection-black/dp/B073GQ8T2L/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=ip%2Bcamera&qid=1596007977&sr=8-6&th=1

Prices go up from there with more features available such as PTZ

Looks perfect cheers

keepalive213

Id like to extend my wifi network to the back of the house as my router signal can be spotty because of the stone dividing walls.
I have tried wifi network adaptors which do work, but give me like an 80% reduction in speed compared to being connected to the router regardless of where I plug it in. Also I would prefer one wifi network as opposed to having 2.
I have an old cat5 cable running from my router to the back of the house which im sure is good.

My existing router is a generic one, local line of sight provider, getting 40mbps on a good day. Im not sure if its security is set to default but I can probably get details if I had to.

Im wondering if I can buy another router, connect it to the first via the cat5, configure and have a seamless network back and front?

Might this do?

https://www.freetv.ie/wifi-access-points/

emaherx

keepalive213 wrote: »

Id like to extend my wifi network to the back of the house as my router signal can be spotty because of the stone dividing walls.
I have tried wifi network adaptors which do work, but give me like an 80% reduction in speed compared to being connected to the router regardless of where I plug it in. Also I would prefer one wifi network as opposed to having 2.
I have an old cat5 cable running from my router to the back of the house which im sure is good.

My existing router is a generic one, local line of sight provider, getting 40mbps on a good day. Im not sure if its security is set to default but I can probably get details if I had to.

Im wondering if I can buy another router, connect it to the first via the cat5, configure and have a seamless network back and front?

Might this do?

https://www.freetv.ie/wifi-access-points/

That should do it, as the cheapest option.

But a decent mesh system with Ethernet backhaul would work best for seamless network.

_Brian

Ok whippersnappers who do all this tinkering.

I’ve no broadband on the farm, for the moment.

But I want to have WiFi switches for lights.

Does anyone know if I use a regular router will I be able to have WiFi switches operated from my phone without being internet connected ?

I could temporarily hotspot of my phone to do the setup but it would need to work with no internet afterwards.

emaherx

_Brian wrote: »

Ok whippersnappers who do all this tinkering.

I’ve no broadband on the farm, for the moment.

But I want to have WiFi switches for lights.

Does anyone know if I use a regular router will I be able to have WiFi switches operated from my phone without being internet connected ?

I could temporarily hotspot of my phone to do the setup but it would need to work with no internet afterwards.

Yes absolutely.
I'd recommend Shelly switches for this. https://shelly.cloud/

You wouldn't even need the router as the switch can act as its own access point (unless you need to extend the range using a router)

_Brian

emaherx wrote: »

Yes absolutely.
I'd recommend Shelly switches for this. https://shelly.cloud/

You wouldn't even need the router as the switch can act as its own access point (unless you need to extend the range using a router)

Have ordered these.
Seems a perfect solution to my idea.

emaherx

_Brian wrote: »

Have ordered these.
Seems a perfect solution to my idea.

I've a few here, along with some of the competition like Sonoff and Tuya. The Shelly's are the easiest to setup no need for complicated button presses and messing with Apps. Out of the box they just show up as an access point and have their own webserver.

You can configure them and use them with any device with a web browser, so you don't even need to install an App.

Good luck with your automation plans, it starts with lights, but before you know it you start seeing other things that might be more useful with automation.

_Brian

emaherx wrote: »

I've a few here, along with some of the competition like Sonoff and Tuya. The Shelly's are the easiest to setup no need for complicated button presses and messing with Apps. Out of the box they just show up as an access point and have their own webserver.

You can configure them and use them with any device with a web browser, so you don't even need to install an App.

Good luck with your automation plans, it starts with lights, but before you know it you start seeing other things that might be more useful with automation.

Thanks.
First thing is lights as the kids are using the yard more, for some unknown reason back on the 70’s switches were put 7 ft off the ground 🙄

Then mains fencer but I’ll need internet for that to work.

emaherx

_Brian wrote: »

Then mains fencer but I’ll need internet for that to work.

You may be surprised how far you could get WiFi to work outdoors

Timmaay

Talking about WiFi, anyone got any suggestions for me here. No mobile signal or fixed line broadband here anywhere around the yard/house. I can get a reasonable 4g based Internet in my pumphouse which is about 300m from the yard, with a row of trees in the way. At the minute I have a ubiquiti nanostation sending the Internet on the pumphouse back towards the yard, with some branches taken out of the way, and then 2 more nanostations, one in the yard and one the house, with some sort of AP router to let me get wifi. My problem is that I get 30mb download at the pumphouse router, however I can only get 5mb in the yard or house. I've wasted hours playing around with the nanostations to try and improve this, but no joy. By now I'm thinking of totally scrapping the nanostations and buying afew TP-Link CPE210s, which do the same job, but supposedly alot easier to setup, alongside that I could get afew cheap tp-link access points. The longer term aim would be to have half a dozen APs around the yard as a wifi mesh, and the TP link solution could work out the likes of 100e for each AP/bridge. I've been also trying to get a quote for a professional installation, but I can't even get them to come out and quote me haha, and I'd imagine there won't be any change from like 1000e by time they are finished here ha.

_Brian

Timmaay wrote: »

Talking about WiFi, anyone got any suggestions for me here. No mobile signal or fixed line broadband here anywhere around the yard/house. I can get a reasonable 4g based Internet in my pumphouse which is about 300m from the yard, with a row of trees in the way. At the minute I have a ubiquiti nanostation sending the Internet on the pumphouse back towards the yard, with some branches taken out of the way, and then 2 more nanostations, one in the yard and one the house, with some sort of AP router to let me get wifi. My problem is that I get 30mb download at the pumphouse router, however I can only get 5mb in the yard or house. I've wasted hours playing around with the nanostations to try and improve this, but no joy. By now I'm thinking of totally scrapping the nanostations and buying afew TP-Link CPE210s, which do the same job, but supposedly alot easier to setup, alongside that I could get afew cheap tp-link access points. The longer term aim would be to have half a dozen APs around the yard as a wifi mesh, and the TP link solution could work out the likes of 100e for each AP/bridge. I've been also trying to get a quote for a professional installation, but I can't even get them to come out and quote me haha, and I'd imagine there won't be any change from like 1000e by time they are finished here ha.

Stupid suggestion I’m sure but how about the extenders that use the AC power lines to carry the WiFi?

emaherx

_Brian wrote: »

Stupid suggestion I’m sure but how about the extenders that use the AC power lines to carry the WiFi?

No comment.....

emaherx

Timmaay wrote: »

Talking about WiFi, anyone got any suggestions for me here. No mobile signal or fixed line broadband here anywhere around the yard/house. I can get a reasonable 4g based Internet in my pumphouse which is about 300m from the yard, with a row of trees in the way. At the minute I have a ubiquiti nanostation sending the Internet on the pumphouse back towards the yard, with some branches taken out of the way, and then 2 more nanostations, one in the yard and one the house, with some sort of AP router to let me get wifi. My problem is that I get 30mb download at the pumphouse router, however I can only get 5mb in the yard or house. I've wasted hours playing around with the nanostations to try and improve this, but no joy. By now I'm thinking of totally scrapping the nanostations and buying afew TP-Link CPE210s, which do the same job, but supposedly alot easier to setup, alongside that I could get afew cheap tp-link access points. The longer term aim would be to have half a dozen APs around the yard as a wifi mesh, and the TP link solution could work out the likes of 100e for each AP/bridge. I've been also trying to get a quote for a professional installation, but I can't even get them to come out and quote me haha, and I'd imagine there won't be any change from like 1000e by time they are finished here ha.

That amount of wireless bridges is going to have a negative effect over that sort of distance. A mesh network might be slightly better but you will never get the full speed.

Is there no option to place the 4G router nearer to your house? Even on a pole?

Is laying cable an option? 300 meters is too far for a single Ethernet run, so fiber would be preferable but Ethernet could be achieved with 2 repeaters.

vincenzolorenzo

emaherx wrote: »

No comment.....

Are they a waste of time?

emaherx

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

Are they a waste of time?

In a house, no they are very quick and easy to use. They are not ideal compared to Ethernet. But Timmaay is trying to setup a network between 2 buildings at least 300 Meters apart, in this case they would certainly be a waste of time especially since he already has a better solution in place.

_Brian

emaherx wrote: »

In a house, no they are very quick and easy to use. They are not ideal compared to Ethernet. But Timmaay is trying to setup a network between 2 buildings at least 300 Meters apart, in this case they would certainly be a waste of time especially since he already has a better solution in place.

Thanks.

emaherx

_Brian wrote: »

Thanks.

Is your yard far from the house _Brian?
If only a few hundred meters Timmaay's nano stations would be perfect for you.

Timmaay

emaherx wrote: »

That amount of wireless bridges is going to have a negative effect over that sort of distance. A mesh network might be slightly better but you will never get the full speed.

Is there no option to place the 4G router nearer to your house? Even on a pole?

Is laying cable an option? 300 meters is too far for a single Ethernet run, so fiber would be preferable but Ethernet could be achieved with 2 repeaters.

As in each bridge will interfere with each other? It's more so a thick row of trees about half a km blocking the 4g signal, on the edge of a hill. I get a perfect line of slight at the pump house, but almost nothing them 300m in the yard. Maybe if I went 100ft in the air with a pole ha. A cable the whole way would be equally messy, has to pass across a lane way that I don't own, and the farm laneway. Knowing my luck also just when I do all this eir would finally rock up with fibre to the door lol. Or more likely spacex will bring their new starlink broadband to Ireland ha.

emaherx

Timmaay wrote: »

As in each bridge will interfere with each other? It's more so a thick row of trees about half a km blocking the 4g signal, on the edge of a hill. I get a perfect line of slight at the pump house, but almost nothing them 300m in the yard. Maybe if I went 100ft in the air with a pole ha. A cable the whole way would be equally messy, has to pass across a lane way that I don't own, and the farm laneway. Knowing my luck also just when I do all this eir would finally rock up with fibre to the door lol. Or more likely spacex will bring their new starlink broadband to Ireland ha.

Not interfere with each other, just each one will add loss of bandwidth and latency. The less hops the better.

You could try a hybrid with you have run cables as far as possible/practical and then create one wireless bridge as short a distance as you can. Nano stations could be powered off of the Ethernet cables and mounted on 2 poles.

Timmaay

300m should be nothing for the nano though, it has a range of several km if clear sign of light. I think my problem is in setting it up, that or the access points I'm using in the house/yard.

emaherx

300 hundred meters should be fine but you have 4 wireless hops from your 4G router to your end device.

The issue with wireless transmissions is you will always loose some speed but when you have so many wireless bridges it's sort of like photocopying a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy. When you do a speed test what is the Jitter like at each point?

Timmaay

I replaced one nanostation, and moved it up higher so better line of site through the trees, and now getting a solid 40mb/s in the house here now, woohoo. Took a good few more hours of messing around trying to setup a static ip address on the laptop and hard resetting the nano twice. On hindsight I'd happily of just paid an expert previously to come in and of done it right from day1.

SuperTortoise

Lads and ladies, i want to upgrade the lights in the slatted shed, currently 4ft fluorescent which went in 20 odd years ago when the shed was built, i seen these ones on screwfix https://www.screwfix.ie/p/lap-twin-4ft-led-batten-white-43w-4400lm/6481v

They seem cheap? am i missing anything? if these are no good can anyone in the know recommend a particular brand or website where i can order them.
Currently have 4 double 4ft fluorescents in a staggered formation, lighting a 4 bay single with creep at the back.

Thanks.

endainoz

I have decided to change from ethernet cable to a nano station device. Have had a lot of problems with the cable recently even though it's supposed to be an outdoor cable.

It may be overkill to buy something with such large range but I don't mind spending 100e+ if there will be no issues with it once it's installed.

I have a question as which product to get though, there are quite a few variations out there!

emaherx

endainoz wrote: »

I have decided to change from ethernet cable to a nano station device. Have had a lot of problems with the cable recently even though it's supposed to be an outdoor cable.

It may be overkill to buy something with such large range but I don't mind spending 100e+ if there will be no issues with it once it's installed.

I have a question as which product to get though, there are quite a few variations out there!

What are the issues you have with the cable?

If less than 100m in length the cable connection should be much more reliable than any wireless setup.