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Help with PTP Internet connection

notloc
By notloc
in Networking
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Hi guys, I need a little networking help to try and figure out how to go about sharing my office's internet connection with my home. I'm going to be using Ubiquiti's Powerbeam M5 400 to send the signal, but the problem is that I'm going to need a relay to get over a ridge in the way (that's on my property). So the layout (network wise) as I imagine it will be: ISP Modem/router combo--Powerbeam at my office--Receiving powerbeam on relay--Router--Transmitting powerbeam on relay--Powerbeam at home--Home network. Now, I saw Linus setup a system where it was just internet to receiver, and that seems pretty straightforward, but what I'm not sure of is how to setup the relay. I honestly have no clue how to run the DNS and IP services through it. Just somewhere to start would be great. Thanks all

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Have you thought about laying line? If its not a great distance and you own the property it could be MUCH better for many reason. The issue here is the ridge, and most ptp needs a line of sight. I live in the mountains and I can vouch that a small ridge can kill signal. The first thought is a pole/tower/repeater on top of the ridge but that requires electric line to be laid.  

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I have considered a line, but it would be close to half a mile (100 acres of mountain land). The relay is what would make the whole ting line of sight. I have experience with RF, and I know well what ground does to signals. The current plan is actually just to power the relay with solar as the Powerbeams burn only 8 watts max each, and the router can't burn much more, not to mention all devices take DC by default.

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5 minutes ago, notloc said:

I have considered a line, but it would be close to half a mile (100 acres of mountain land). The relay is what would make the whole ting line of sight. I have experience with RF, and I know well what ground does to signals. The current plan is actually just to power the relay with solar as the Powerbeams burn only 8 watts max each, and the router can't burn much more, not to mention all devices take DC by default.

Depending on your budget and needs, a run of fiber may still be better as its more fail proof and future proof. 

Ah, thats a lower wattage than I expected. I don't think you actually need a router in this case, I'll look at the abilities the m5s but you should be able to get away with just a switch which is very low on power demand in which case youd basically just have two bridges set up over 1 network with an access point at the other end and the main router/modem will handle all the ip and dchp as with a normal set up. If i recall powerbeams have a web gui and lan config options so you could just configure them at your office and test it then plug and go out in the field.  

                     .
                   _/ V\
                  / /  /
                <<    |
                ,/    ]
              ,/      ]
            ,/        |
           /    \  \ /
          /      | | |
    ______|   __/_/| |
   /_______\______}\__}
Spoiler

[I5-12600k | 32gb DDR5 6000 | RTX5070 | 2x1tb M.2]

 

[Ryzen 5 1600 | 16gb DDR4 3200 | GTX1030 | 4x 8tb HDD] 

 

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Fiber, while more failproof and futureproof, would still just be a nightmare to put in, as it's half a mile of steep mountain land, and would just drive the cost way up. But what you're suggesting is just having a small switch on the relay to provide the connection between the Powerbeams, then (taking this further) have the powerbeam at my house go to my house's switch (then to all the devices)?

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Just configure the relay as an Ethernet bridge.  Or pair of Ethernet bridges.  And tie them together. 

 

Once its an Ethernet bridge, it should be completely transparent and oblivious to any DHCP/DNS issues. 

 

Basically:

 

Internet --> Transmitter ~~~~> Receiver --> Transmitter ~~~~~>  Receiver ---> your PCs/WAPs

 

Where ~~~ means an air connection, and ---- meaning Ethernet connections. 

 

You'll have to, of course, find some way of getting power to the "relay".  Solar panels and a battery perhaps?

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1 hour ago, notloc said:

Fiber, while more failproof and futureproof, would still just be a nightmare to put in, as it's half a mile of steep mountain land, and would just drive the cost way up. But what you're suggesting is just having a small switch on the relay to provide the connection between the Powerbeams, then (taking this further) have the powerbeam at my house go to my house's switch (then to all the devices)?

No "switch" should be required.  Just a stub of Ethernet cable, presuming you have two devices basically configured back to back.  A switch is an unnecessary power consumption load and point of failure.

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7 hours ago, Mark77 said:

Just configure the relay as an Ethernet bridge.  Or pair of Ethernet bridges.  And tie them together. 

 

Once its an Ethernet bridge, it should be completely transparent and oblivious to any DHCP/DNS issues. 

 

Basically:

 

Internet --> Transmitter ~~~~> Receiver --> Transmitter ~~~~~>  Receiver ---> your PCs/WAPs

 

Where ~~~ means an air connection, and ---- meaning Ethernet connections. 

 

You'll have to, of course, find some way of getting power to the "relay".  Solar panels and a battery perhaps?

Yup, I plan on using a couple of deep cell batteries in series since the powerbeams want 24v PoE. Charged with a 100W solar panel so that when we do get sun, the batteries charge fast. Also, another reason I wanted the switch is so I could have an Arduino on the relay hosting a super basic webpage that lets me monitor the batteries status. What are your thoughts on that?

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8 hours ago, notloc said:

Also, another reason I wanted the switch is so I could have an Arduino on the relay hosting a super basic webpage that lets me monitor the batteries status. What are your thoughts on that?

Hmmm...  The firmware hacker in me would tell you to rip those Ubiquiti units open and see if there's any GPIO pins or serial pins you could wire your battery monitor Arduino to.  And then code a small module to do the same and run it on the APs.  But that's a lot of work :o.

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Mark77 said:

Hmmm...  The firmware hacker in me would tell you to rip those Ubiquiti units open and see if there's any GPIO pins or serial pins you could wire your battery monitor Arduino to.  And then code a small module to do the same and run it on the APs.  But that's a lot of work :o.

 

 

 

Hmm, I never thought of that, and if the firmware was open source, I might try it; however, it seems like it would just be easier to use an arduino.

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