Looking at this more, perhaps a short tower could be built on the hill next to your cabin (on the green side) with a GSM modem, a battery, and a solar panel, that will relay a wifi signal down.

As for needing service.... my job has me on call pretty much all of the time. I can't just go off grid, so I share Hsivany's fate. If I owned this cabin, I would have to do something as it would be the difference between enjoying myself, and wondering if work is trying to call and stuff going down in flames.

I suppose I could get a different job, but I like this one. Besides, it pays well and funds my aviation habit.

akschu wrote:I recommended the multitech rcell GSM modem on top of the pole. It keeps the antenna cable short, and will rebroadcast the signal as wifi. That will allow him to use signal, whatsapp, and if his phone supports volte, he can call/sms text.

Nice solution if someone does not wish to use the wifi that is already there. VoLTE can be pretty restricted by the carrier though.

I'm somewhat of a dingbat when it comes to cellular vs. WiFi, but I've learned a couple of things.

Yeah, you can run your modern cell phone off of WiFi (flip phones need not apply)--I do that at home, because we have good WiFi but marginal cell coverage. But WiFi doesn't have a whole lot of range--mine's good for the whole house, but not much more. If the cabin is mostly off-grid, i.e., no cable or DSL, the only way it can have WiFi is via Hughes Net satellite in order to have Internet, which is a pretty pricey way to go, just to have cell phone coverage.

I recently added a WeBoost system to my camper van. Cost was a little over $500. It works pretty well, and materially boosts any existing cell phone signal. Unlike VHF signals which are very much line of sight, there is some bouncing around of cell phone signals. As long as there's any signal at all, a booster will help. Obviously, it can't boost what isn't there. It uses an omni-directional antenna, and claims something like a 32 times signal boost--I don't think it's actually that much, though. They also offer a directional antenna, which claims a greater boost--not too practical on a vehicle, but very practical in a fixed location. As a result of my installation, I can get cell phone coverage sufficient to use it as a hot spot for Internet, in places that I previously could only text.

As an aside, all of the equipment I bought from WeBoost appears to be top notch quality--nothing flimsy about it.

Cary

This thread is very interesting to me. I enjoy wireless stuff because I know so little about it, everything is new and interesting.

When I bought my pickup 10years ago it came with a Wilson cell amp and antenna. I could figure out how to use the thing or if it would work with phone I had back then so I unscrewed the antenna and forgot about the rest of it. Now I’m wondering if I can make it work for...something.

I'm also watching this with curiosity. Our place in NM is off grid and cellular is the only option other than satellite. Since we already have accounts with the carrier that has the closest tower (17 miles away) it only made sense to get a cell signal booster to improve the marginal performance we have. Satellite internet was very pricey for the intermittent times we would need it. The WiFi backhaul is not a viable option. Thought about using a Roam satellite product for intermittent use.

https://www.skyroam.com/wifi-pricing

EDIT: I misunderstood this device for satellite when it is actually aggregating multiple cellular signals. Not what we needed. BTW, we ended up with a cell signal booster that although allows us to communicate effectively the bandwidth is slow and the data plans are restrictive. Would like to investigate the WiFi (Fixed Wireless Internet service providers) further but providers are few and far between in New Mexico. New Mexico seems to share a lot of dynamics experienced in Alaska.

DeltaRomeo wrote: Thought about using a Roam satellite product for intermittent use.

I didn't see the satellite product, just the 4g/LTE version. Where did you find that?

lesuther wrote:Nice solution if someone does not wish to use the wifi that is already there. VoLTE can be pretty restricted by the carrier though.

There is no wifi there, and Hsivany's carrier does support VoLTE. So getting cell signal to the tower, then wifi from the tower to the cabin isn't super hard.

Cary wrote:If the cabin is mostly off-grid, i.e., no cable or DSL, the only way it can have WiFi is via Hughes Net satellite in order to have Internet, which is a pretty pricey way to go, just to have cell phone coverage.

Negative. This box will act like a wifi router with the uplink being the cell carrier:

https://www.multitech.com/brands/multic ... 100-series

He would just need an additional sim card which is usually around $10 a month if he already had a family plan.

A WeBoost would work if it was on a tower, but if the tower is on an adjacent hill, then not so much, and as far as I know, would only work for one phone.

If this was my property, I would put the rcell in a box with a battery and solar panel on a tree on the top of the hill, then use a point to point wifi radio to shoot the wifi down to the cabin where I would rebroadcast it. It would give wifi to anything line of site to the cabin, which on my carrier/phone would make everything work. If I had a neighbor on the lake I would ask them if they wanted to chip in and get wifi as well.

I know this stuff isn't for everybody, but ham radio is a form of exploring, and I enjoy it.

Wow! Thank you all so much. I have been scratching my head on this for a long time and now I think I have a viable solution...

Akchu.. special thanks for all the work you did. Your solution is perfect.. those point to point dishes can send WiFi like 5 miles if I am reading it right. I can put them on the hill, or on the other side of the lake (which has better line of sight) and beam the WiFi right to my front door. The links to the equipment are priceless.. it would have taken me so long to find this stuff..

Lesuther.. thanks for taking us towards the WiFi route.. I had contemplated that thru HughesNet, but the ongoing costs spool up quickly and I need a clear view to the south which I do not have...

Hammer.. you and I could be friends!! Cracked me up!!

PA1195... do those faraday bags come in hat size 7 1/8??

I’ll send a post from the cabin when i get this all up and running!

The solution might be difficult to set up, the mikrotik stuff isn't that user friendly, but it's powerful.

If you get the gear, you might consider swinging by my house and letting me help you configure it before you go mount it in the sticks. You know how to get ahold of me.

Back hauling WiFi: Is this extending the range by installing your own repeater network of A) Someone's WiFi hotspot or B) a Wireless Internet Service Provider's link? Just trying to figure out "who" is the host link...

Part of this my be that the world has decided to change the terminology of stuff that I have been away from for about 10 years.

PA1195 wrote:https://www.ui.com/airfiber/airfiber/ ??? Hammer get your head above water and help the rest of us avoid this crap. I should have quit when the string broke between the two empty soup cans we used as kids for coms between tree forts. Now I got $40K worth of amateur radio gear and no sunspot propagation.

Gary

First off, all the kool kids are propagating off of asteroid tails and spaceship exhaust...sunspots are SO has-been...

I think all the communication options are super interesting, and I love problem solving, but am I really that unique in thinking that it's ridiculous to be in 24-7 instant contact with the rest of the world?

There will no doubt be a day when it's impractical to function without at least being on the periphery of this telecommunications avalanche, but it doesn't excite me much. I'm just gobsmacked at how much time people spend looking at their phones. I get that I'm in the minority in that regard, and I don't think it makes me a better person, but I personally see a real downside to it.

Some years ago my wife's young nephew was in an accident and he wasn't expected to live. She flew across the country to see him, and when she got to the hospital she saw his father and grandfather sitting next to each other on a couch, each completely engrossed in their phones. She found that unbearably sad. Somewhere in the building their son and grandson was in a coma and dying, and rather than standing at his bedside or talking to each other about what was happening, they texted or tweeted or posted about it instead.

For 2000,000 years we've communicated by looking into each other's eyes, and twenty years after the invention of smart phones it's practically a lost art. Crazy.

Here is a drawing of the design:



A few notes:

1. Mikrotik config is here: https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Bridging ... s_with_SXT
2. Multitech is the MTR-LAT1-B07-US which has LTE and connects to AT&T

This setup should be reliable, but it's complex and will take time to configure.

If you can just use an in-reach for emergency communications then that is for sure easier. If you want to work remotely from the cabin, this should do the job.

Nice.. very cool.. I see what you mean about the complex configuration. I will definitely have to stare at those documents for a while to piece it together. Getting the gear on order..

I'd also erect a portable electric fence for bears around the sites. Anything that attracts them on an otherwise dull day will become toys and eventually scat. I seen it done many a time.

Gary