WiFi Beam - Recommendations?

[Mainstay]

We have a wireless setup that beams a cable internet connection from shore to an island that is a mere 200 m away.

We are currently using a setup like this:

internet >> cable modem >> Wireless Panel TEW-676APBO <<>> Wireless Panel[URL='http://www.trendnet.com/products/proddetail.asp?prod=155_TEW-676APBO'] TEW-676APBO >> router >> network.[/URL]

The Trendnet TEW's suck donkey balls. We've replaced them once and the current setup works great, until it just stops... so then we get a call out... from an angry guy who lives on an island.
If you had an open ended budget, how would you setup this wireless network?

One of the challenges is that I cannot monitor the connectivity of the Trendnet panels from the shore side (the POE injector only feeds data and electricity up the pole, I don't have a way of tapping into the interface for the panel).

So I have to get in a boat, zip across the water, and then check things from the receiving side (the island).

Yes, getting my assistant on-site with a pair of radios is in the works.

Ideally I'd be able to monitor the health of both panels from either shore or island...

Ubiquiti? Which panels?

Do I need to replace the router in the home as well? It is an Apple AEBS, which they love because it solved a lot of other connectivity / compatibility issues they were having with their Apple products.

 

[frostbyte5014]

The NanoBeam M should do the job but I would use the airfiber 5.

 

[Matthew Bradley]

Just 200 meters Los? Easy with ubiquiti gear. A power bridge on one end and a nanobeam on the other. Two nanobeams would work but can be difficult to aim without the right equipment. The power bridge solves that. Just make sure they are grounded well. No need to replace the router.

 

[Mainstay]

Line of Sight, correct. So an M10 firing to a NanoBeam M (NBE-M5-19)... they will act in bridge mode with the external WAN forwarding to the router, which then does all the DHCP work etc. ?

I have only worked with the Ubiquiti equipment sparingly... and this project has gone on so long with these crappy Trendnet panels that if I recommend something, I will be on the hook to make sure they work... =)

I wish I could sub this out to someone else... but I kid you not, EVERY AVAILABLE PERSON has taken a crack at this site and given up.

It is a cursed site.

The network doesn't work, the Audio / Video equipment has given up the ghost, the $6k fridge has packed it in, the $10k stove/oven had to be replaced, the deck work was a sham, the glass for the railings were all wrong... it is just madness.

I am thinking of taking 200 m of cat6 and sinking it with lead weights to get a signal across the bay.

The funny part. At low tide you can drive to the island.

 

[Matthew Bradley]

Line of Sight, correct. So an M10 firing to a NanoBeam M (NBE-M5-19)... they will act in bridge mode with the external WAN forwarding to the router, which then does all the DHCP work etc. ?

Correct. The Ubiquiti bridge is just an invisible point to point link, equivalent to having a long rj45 connection strung across from the cable modem to the router. If you need help setting them up, let me know.

 

[SpaceSquad]

I am thinking of taking 200 m of cat6 and sinking it with lead weights to get a signal across the bay.

I know this was a joke...but how hard/easy is it to get permission to bury a line? Seems like it wouldn't be tough at low tide. Fiber of course at 200m...

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Another vote for Ubiquiti...an AirMAX bridge. Heck for that small of a distance a pair of Nano Station M's would do it...we've done buildings farther apart than 200m with those.

 

[Mainstay]

I know this was a joke...but how hard/easy is it to get permission to bury a line? Seems like it wouldn't be tough at low tide. Fiber of course at 200m...

Oceans and Fisheries Canada would never allow it... This would be a midnight operation =)

 

[Markverhyden]

Oceans and Fisheries Canada would never allow it... This would be a midnight operation =)

LOL!!! The iPr0n over the wire might disturb the marine life. But on a serious note. The site is not receiving power from the shore? On a gen set? I agree with the Ubiquiti solution. Done work at several camp sites where the AP's had spacing in the range you mentioned.

 

[Mainstay]

There is power to the island, so there are already cables between shore and island... but adding another cable? Doubt they would get permission in this lifetime. Not sure how O&F would handle a broken hydro line... maybe then, but adding data lines might be an application nightmare.

One of those, "better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission" scenarios.

I even had the thought about running one of those powerline networks... not sure how that would work in such a setup... but it might be worth a shot.

 

[Markverhyden]

One of those, "better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission" scenarios.

A different way of saying that is "to ask permission is to seek denial"