[Solved] Device recommendation: Wireless bridge on 5GHz with one directional antenna through some walls

Hey there

I guess I'm basically looking for an OpenWrt supported device where I can screw on a single directional antenna to the 5GHz Wi-Fi, preferably around the 50 € mark, so I can get two for about 100 €.

Here's the reason:

My brother is currently building his house right next to mine. My driveway goes to the west, his driveway goes to the east. Our respective rear side windows are literally 10m apart.
Because of some dispute about who's going to dig the 200m trench from the street to his house through his driveway to run the fiber in (the local phone company claims they did that 20 years ago, and it's not their fault the empty pipe seams to be blocked somewhere at the halfway mark, hence they're not going to pay, although "digging right to the concrete wall of the basement" is part of their fiber offer), we're assuming his fiber connection will come at the of the year the earliest. He wants to move in a couple of weeks.

So I'm looking for a way to cover the distance between our houses.

Thing's I'm trying to achieve:

  • no digging of trenches between our house
  • no wires over the ground since the lawnmower will pick them up and destroy them
  • weather resistant for both, up to 40°C in the summer and -20°C in the winter
  • no electric wire at all to cover for different house potentials
  • hence, basically no wire
  • preferably 1GBit effective speed
  • at least 500MBit effective speed
  • preferably all indoor mounts to not having to drill holes through the outside walls of our houses
  • We can put our equipment within the houses at the walls facing the respective other house
  • We can put our equipment within the houses at the roof facing the respective other house, but both roofs have living space grade insulation and have proper European roof tiles

I'd really like to have all OpenWrt devices, but as for pricing, this needs to compete with something like this:

So my ideal was to find two routers

  • that are supported by OpenWrt
  • have 5GHz Wi-Fi,
  • have external 5GHz antennas,
  • support swapping the antennas to directional ones and
  • are not more than twice the price compared to the non-OpenWrt ones I just linked.

Here the antenna piece you need:

or

2 Likes

I think you meant to some walls, not through some walls.

What speed is the fibre connection?

No, I literally mean "through walls".

In intend for 5GHz Wi-Fi to travel through two exterior walls and a total amount of exactly 15 meters (50 feet) of entirely personally owned airspace. That alone is "almost" possible with any regular router I own, except the performance isn't the best.

My upstream internet connection is 500MBit, and I'm aiming for the Wi-Fi building-to-building link to at least match that, double that if possible.

That's why I thought about replacing omni-directional antennas with single-directional ones.

I'm not trying to cover a campground-size distance.

Halow ideally fits your scrnario, no openwrt or mainline support yet for any device.

Drill a hole for ethernet cable for poe supply for outdoor ap.

Or improve speed 10x with special antenna extender tool, comes at various dbm ratings colour coded

Are you drunk? Why do you keep recommending an up to 10MBit low power protocol for IoT devices designed for long distance connections with literally no relation to and no support by OpenWRT as a substitute to a GBit connection of a distance I can literally throw my router?

And as I made it clear I will not put any holes in any walls, posting images to drills and shovels isn't a proper response either. That's why this thread is called "wireless bridge on 5GHz".

Please both, sober up and refrain from comments towards the directions your previous comments here went so far.

You are not going to get effective 500-1000 MBit/s wireless throughput[*] through two exterior walls plus 15m, that is not going to happen.

Therefore the strong hints towards drills and shovels are spot on. Just to extend on this, using pre-confectioned fibre cables would make most sense, not because of the better speed, but to avoid all funny aspects of electrical potential differences, lightning or electric shock. Simply feed it through a garden hose (or better) and dig it below regional freezing depth and you're done, 15m through entirely privately owned property isn't an issue for two men with shovels (should be done in an afternoon) - even less for the heavier kind of equipment that tends to come with building a house.

--
[*] that is hard enough using wifi7 and MLO 5+6 GHz within a single room and direct/ unobstructed line of sight already

4 Likes

I would try a CPE pointed at the existing router in the other house (move it close to the wall / window). This may not reach 500 Mb but it will be quite fast. The Nanostation ac loco is decent for this, though the small RAM is becoming a problem, and there is a bug in version 24 for it, you must use version 23. Dish type CPEs like the TP Link CPE710 could also be used-- probably overkill for 50 meters and two walls-- also they are harder to physically mount up. If you try to go through a window make sure it is not metallic coated "low E" glass common in newer buildings.

You could also string fiber overhead. It needs to be supported with rope or wire or be the kind with an integral "messenger" support wire.

3 Likes

Earthworks are to consider too, ask local cable installer, nowadays there are techniques to get short (100m) cable runs without digging trenches for weeks.

Next is putting 2x2 directional antenna outside, with a router with detachable antennas, depends on climate whats best.

Or whole AP, this really needs to consider climate like condensing humidity, long frost, long periods of tropical sun etc.

  • no digging of trenches between our house
  • no wires over the ground since the lawnmower will pick them up and destroy them
  • no electric wire at all to cover for different house potentials

No electric wires in or on the ground fro €100? Then go above the ground with fiber optic cabling :wink:

Also allows you to run 10G or 100G later (to share a NAS or whatever), if you take single mode now.

This setup is simple, safe, and cost-effective if you're careful with material sourcing.


:hammer_and_wrench: Materials Needed

  • Outdoor-rated fiber optic cable (20–25 meters) (~10–20 €)
  • Steel messenger wire (or fiber with built-in messenger) (~10–20 €)
  • Tensioners / Turnbuckles (~5–10 €)
  • Anchors or heavy-duty hooks (~5–10 €)
  • UV-resistant cable ties or lashings (~5 €)
  • Protective tubing or conduit (for building entry points) (~5–10 €)
  • Pre-terminated fiber cable (optional but preferred)

:hammer_and_wrench: Installation Steps

  1. Mount Strong Anchors
  • Install heavy-duty eye bolts, wall plates, or equivalent on each building.
  1. Stretch Messenger Wire
  • Run and tension a steel messenger wire between the two buildings.
  • Use turnbuckles to achieve a firm, slightly drooping line.
  1. Attach the Fiber Cable
  • Tie the fiber cable neatly along the messenger wire using UV-resistant zip ties.
  • Leave small service loops (~30 cm) at both ends to allow movement.
  1. Termination
  • Option 1: Use a pre-terminated fiber for a plug-and-play setup.
  • Option 2: Use a simple termination kit (riskier and might exceed budget).
  1. Protect Entry Points
  • Insert the cable into a small conduit where it enters the building to prevent wear or water ingress.

:chart_increasing: Cost Estimate

Item Estimated Cost
Outdoor Fiber Cable (20–25 m) ~15 €
Messenger Wire ~10 €
Turnbuckles & Anchors ~10 €
Cable Ties / Accessories ~5 €
Pre-terminated Cable Ends (optional) ~30–40 €

Total: ~70–90 €


:high_voltage: Tips

  • Wind and Sag: Allow for about 3–5% sag to handle wind and temperature changes.
  • Grounding: If you're in a lightning-prone area, ground the messenger wire.
  • Weatherproof: Only use outdoor-rated fiber and UV-stable materials.

Let me know if you want a simple diagram or if you have any questions! :writing_hand:

2 Likes

I think you’re better off with a dedicated wireless bridge. There will be some software to help with pointing and maximizing the signal strength.

I’ve had luck with Unifi equipment, even pointing through windows and jury-rigging with zip-ties. Not through walls though. But of course outdoor mounting on a wall or pole is much more likely to provide a good connection even in bad weather. And the cat won’t knock down the antenna.

Hey all. Sorry that it took me so long to respond, but things were a little busy the last week.

As I tried to explain, using cables is literally no option. If that was what it takes to do it sufficiently, we'd rather blow the whole thing off.

Luckily, a colleague of mine offered me to test out his pair of TP-Link CPE710 devices, which work "kind of nicely".

Putting one antenna in my house and the other one in my brothers' only gets me to 100 MBit. I'd call that "just enough" even though I'd hoped for more.

My brother has a cable tube from his basement to an old barn, where he intends to run a cable and add another access point to have good Wi-Fi coverage in his garden.

This way, we can:

  • Put a TP-Link 710 in my attic.
  • Put another TP-Link 710 in the attic of my brothers' barn (which means both antennas are inside).
  • Cover in total about 30m of Wi-Fi distance.
  • at least max out my 250MBit internet connection

To my surprise, the TP-Link 710 devices are supported by OpenWRT. That's exactly what I was looking for.

But to be honest, since the link from one 710 to the other is only considered a "cable through the air" and the management interface of the 710 devices can be bound to a VLAN, I'd not even do that but use those with factory firmwares.

Thank you all for pointing me in any direction. Even everyone telling me fibers would be the way to go was probably right if it was any kind of long-term installation. But since we're hoping of getting rid of the setup once my brother's WAN fiber gets connected (we're expecting between 3 and 6 months from now) we agreed upon not doing anything at all if it wasn't achievable with Wi-Fi.

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