[kaldridgewv2211]

Underwater cables. If not youd probably need satellite or microwave.

[kaldridgewv2211]

what’s the wireless covereage like?  T-Mobile I think just came out with a 5G kit for homes. 
 
We’ve run a thing on the mobile trucks also.  Some switches support inserting a verizon access point via USB.  You can connect to your base station then ride the internet via a wireless carrier.

[cferrier73]

Take a t mobile cell phone out there to check the internet speeds. I have calyx institute. They are a non profit that provide true unlimited (no restricted data speeds) 4g and 5g internet off the at&t / t mobile towers for a $400 or $500 dollar yearly donation. Plus you can take the hotspot anywhere in the USA/ Puerto Rico as long as you have service. They also provide a free VPN.
 
I use the 4g and get 20 to 30 mbps at my rural home but I also live on a hill which helps.
 
Starlink is also an option but it seems like there is still a good sized waiting list for it.

[ruszja]

As in:
A. getting internet to the island ?
B. getting wifi coverage for the different buildings once you have a connection on the island ?

For A:
– Talk to your local Telco. If you are within 2-4 miles of a tower, you may be able to get a directed wifi link. They would probably want a 3 year contract and as you are only using this a few months a year probably cost prohibitive.
– SpaceX Starlink sat based (may not cover that far north) 160mbit
– HughesNet 25mbit sat based high latency, 1990s technology
– A cell phone based system mounted high enough on a antenna tower that it can connect to the network.
 
If you use something like a cell based system or hughesnet, your data is going to be capped. You would need to set up a firewall that can allocate quotas do individual users or devices so your teenage niece doesn’t blow through your 10GB data limit in a day by streaming 4k videos on her cellphone.

For B:
– structured wiring to a few strategic spots on the island. A PoE router. 3-5 Ubiquity outdoor rated WAPs.
– If you dont want to string wires but you have power in the cottages: A MESH based wifi system (where the different WAPs talk to each other on a channel separate from the normal wifi to ‘backhaul’ the data)

I volunteer to set it all up. It’ll take me about 10 days in peak season. I’ll bring two ‘helpers’ and a cook 😉

[btomba_77]

I’m talking about B –
 
And yeah …. looking like hard wiring going to be the answer (ugh)

[kaldridgewv2211]

animals live to chew on some wiring insulation.

[ruszja]

Quote from dergon

I’m talking about B –

And yeah …. looking like hard wiring going to be the answer (ugh)

For 5 acres, 2-3 well placed outdoor Wireless Access Points (WAPs) should give you enough coverage. They need to be close enough to the edge to ‘see’ the cabins. I assume that your cabins are wood construction and not reinforced concrete, so the signal from a 2.4GHz outdoor WAP should be sufficient to get signal inside. May require some testing for the best location. Just nail a board to a tree and use that as base for the WAP. Good quality Cat6 cable should give you a max length of 100m between the network cabinet and the WAP. Use strands of the steel cable used for cattle fencing and associated hardware to string support wires between trees. Ground the support wire using solid copper wiring and a long ground stake hammered into mineral soil. Then attach the Cat6 cable loosely with zip-ties.

Unify AP Outdoor+ is the 2.4Ghz unit from Ubiquity you are looking for. It states 183m range, but that is direct line of sight, not Accounting for vegetation or a cabin.
You also need a network switch that provides ‘power over ethernet’ (PoE) to the access point on the tree. Further you need a router/firewall that manages the network, assigns internal IP addresses (DHCP) and directs the network traffic. You also want a good sine-wave UPS to cprovide clean power for all of the equipment while the generator is off. I use Eaton.

Are lightning storms a consideration that far north ? If yes, install the network equipment in a enclosure outside of the main house. If the overhead wire gets struck it would just vaporize $800 worth of network hardware, not light the house on fire. A professional lighting protected install would be cost prohibitive.

How do you cover ‘A’ ? Your current connection to the mainland may prove to be inadequate once all your nieces start streaming TikTok videos.

[btomba_77]

 

How do you cover ‘A’ ? Your current connection to the mainland may prove to be inadequate once all your nieces start streaming TikTok videos.

 
Current coverage is a crappy little local ISP called Ontera …. we’re too far from the First Nation reserve to get the “high speed” (10 Mbps) so we get 5 mbps .. that’s the max available.
 
Higher speed coming soon as part of a Canadian rural internet program, but a couple of years away.
 
There is Xplornet, satellite based service that could get us 10 Mbps.
 
And, the most expensive option, Starlink. That’s Elon Musk’s low-orbit higher speed sat service.
 
 

[ruszja]

Quote from dergon

 

How do you cover ‘A’ ? Your current connection to the mainland may prove to be inadequate once all your nieces start streaming TikTok videos.

Current coverage is a crappy little local ISP called Ontera …. we’re too far from the First Nation reserve to get the “high speed” (10 Mbps) so we get 5 mbps .. that’s the max available.

Higher speed coming soon as part of a Canadian rural internet program, but a couple of years away.

There is Xplornet, satellite based service that could get us 10 Mbps.

And, the most expensive option, Starlink. That’s Elon Musk’s low-orbit higher speed sat service.

With 5 you are going to need a ‘no streaming’ policy if you allow multiple people on the network. With something like a sonicwall TZ series firewall you could force everyone on a guest network, set quotas and block certain groups of services like video streaming and online games.

[kaldridgewv2211]

Quote from dergon

 

How do you cover ‘A’ ? Your current connection to the mainland may prove to be inadequate once all your nieces start streaming TikTok videos.

Current coverage is a crappy little local ISP called Ontera …. we’re too far from the First Nation reserve to get the “high speed” (10 Mbps) so we get 5 mbps .. that’s the max available.

Higher speed coming soon as part of a Canadian rural internet program, but a couple of years away.

There is Xplornet, satellite based service that could get us 10 Mbps.

And, the most expensive option, Starlink. That’s Elon Musk’s low-orbit higher speed sat service.

Starlink 78mbps which is not as fast as Elon claims.
 
[link=https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/starlink-has-shipped-100000-satellite-internet-terminals-musk-says/]https://www.cnet.com/home…t-terminals-musk-says/[/link]

[kaldridgewv2211]

depending on what kind of connection you could in theory bind them into an aggregate.  SO like 2 x 10mbps bound into 20.

[btomba_77]

Had a long chat with a family friend who lives on the lake yesterday.
 
He is full off grid (his part of the lake has no option for hydro… what the Canadians call electric service) … Solar, wind and a propane Generac system as a back-up.
 
 
He just got Starlink as have a couple of neighbors …. getting near 100mpbs.  (That compares to his earlier satellite internet Xplornet which is advertised at ten but averages more like 4-5)
 
I think we are going to bite the bullet and do it.

[kaldridgewv2211]

100 is decent service.

[btomba_77]

Hi all – been a while but thought I would update

we just opened up this week here in Canada

trenched a few hundred feet of cat6 over to another building and mrs_dergon is using extra old Wifi routers

looks like well have our own little network

service with Ontera is still slow and will likely switch to Starlink soon