Is It Possible To Get Internet Across Your Ranch?

You may want internet access across the ranch for many reasons, such as getting live streams from security cameras, keeping an eye on your horses or livestock, getting online from your workshop, or ensuring your loved ones are safe while galloping across the land.

While some solutions claim to cover long distances, most are designed for office and suburban applications, i.e., indoors with predictable environmental conditions. If your property has variable terrains and tricky landscapes, these devices often don’t live up to their promises. NASA would suggest laser. But even laser can’t get signals over a hill or around a corner. 

We’ve got some tricks up our sleeves. Here are two options:

Femtocells from a wireless service provider

A femtocell is a small, low-power cellular base station for enhancing signal quality in areas with weak or no reception. It relays cellular signals to and from mobile and IoT devices, which are transmitted to the network infrastructure via the wireless service provider. 

Verizon doesn’t offer femtocell. AT&T makes the process difficult for the average customer to get one. T-Mobile loans it to post-paid customers in good standing, and you’ll have to send it back when you close your account. Getting a femtocell may require jumping through a few hoops and being on a more expensive plan.

We’ve played with a femtocell while we were a T-Mobile customer. With some nerdy dark art, we got one to connect with our Starlink and beam signals across our 20-acre lot, which typically doesn’t get any signal on a regular cellphone (we put it high enough, and there’s no obstruction).

However, femtocells are designed for indoor use (homes and offices) and have a limited range in areas with weak or non-existent cellular coverage. They are carrier- and mobile-device-specific and may result in compatibility issues with different providers. 

Moreover, they can only handle a limited number of active mobile users simultaneously. For example, those for residential homes typically support four to eight devices. Since the devices share bandwidth, their performance may slow down.

Wireless bridges and directional antenna extensions

Most folks in rural areas have used multiple internet providers to find the magic bullet before Starlink came along. As many have switched to Starlink, dishes from Viaset or Hughesnet are sitting around collecting dust. Some folks may also have dishes from satellite TV providers (e.g., DirectTV) lying around.

Some of these dishes can become useful again. We help our clients create wireless bridges using these dishes as parabolic reflectors to beam signals across their properties. We set them up to overcome varying terrain and send signals to a specific area to provide blanket coverage.

Let’s say, you want to beam WiFi from the main house to the barn, but a small hill blocks the line of sight (i.e., signal). Of course, you can get another Starlink dish for the barn, but the initial cost and monthly subscription will run into money.

Instead, we can install a wireless bridge at the top of the small hill to relay signals from the Starlink router in the house to the barn—beaming signals up the bump and down to where you need them. In this case, we’d use four parabolic dishes and a router with customized software at the relay point.

Here’s another example. A client wanted to beam signals from their house to their workshop. There’s a direct line of sight with no obstruction but the distance is too far for the home WiFi to cover. We set up a wireless bridge using parabolic dishes at both ends and established a WiFi access point at the workshop. 

These wireless bridges are ideal for a point-to-point setup to offer blanket/flood coverage at the endpoint. At the receiving end, the signal behaves like traditional WiFi. It’s fast, cost-effective, and provides good coverage within ~1,000 sq ft of the access point. Once it's set up, you don’t have to pay additional monthly fees. 

But what if you want to beam signals farther away in a specific direction? A directional antenna may serve the purpose. It’s simple to set up and can extend signals for up to a few hundred feet (without obstruction) but doesn’t allow for much freedom of movement at the receiving end. It’s best for security cameras and emergency communications.  

Wireless bridges and directional antennas have different properties to meet various requirements. You can combine them to get the coverage and characteristics you need. When we work with clients, we understand where they need coverage, for what purpose, where they spend most of their time, etc., to determine the best setup.

We also consider the elements in the mountains by choosing equipment and using protective enclosures to ensure the setup can withstand harsh sun, heat, and wind—the typical day in Caliente.

Ready to beam some signals where you need them? Get in touch!