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Wifi in obsy...


paul mc c

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Hi,

I use Devolo powerline adapters. My router is in the kitchen and is connected to a Devolo adapter by ethernet. The Devolo is plugged into a wall power socket. Then in the Observatory, which is about 30m away at the end of the garden, I have another Devolo adapter plugged into the wall socket. That gives me wifi in the observatory (and across the garden!) and I can plug my obsy laptop into the adapter by ethernet, allowing me to Wake-on-LAN. Brilliant!

Hope that helps and good luck with it!

Gav.

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Yes, I use power line adapters too.

The biggest mistake I made with the observatory, and indeed another outbuilding, was not to run Ethernet when the power cable was laid.  Won’t make that mistake again (although how many times would one need to do this?  Perhaps if I moved house.)

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1 minute ago, paul mc c said:

I have the 1200+ system: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Devolo-Powerline-Starter-Adapter-Extender/dp/B00OZDO8RE/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1516111810&sr=1-3&keywords=devolo

Bit more expensive, but has a higher speed rating. It is a bit of a weird system, that can be tempermental in terms of speed. I have pretty reliable connection in the obsy, but the speed can fluctuate massively. I don't know whether you would be fine with the 500 speed rating. Probably. Just be careful as there are LAN only kits and WiFi kits, so make sure you get the WiFi one if you want WiFi at the obsy end. If you go for the LAN only one, you will just have to connect your PC to the adapter with an ethernet cable. I guess you could also connect a WiFi router at the obsy end too, but that seems a bit of a long way round the problem!

I am certainly considering running ethernet out to the obsy, but my problem is the aesthetics of running cable in the house from the kitchen to the far end of the house where the conduit under the garden is! So, I've just stuck with the powerline solution for now.

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Mu Obsy is approx. 40 yards away ... I tried powerline adapters but they didn't work over the ring main that I have rigged up.

I did toy with the idea of WiFi a "line of sight" transmitter and receiver units ( and being careful to avoid some potential tree problems  ) and even put some cabling in from a possible receiver position near the Obsy.

However in the end, with quite a bit of effort as it wasn't a straightforward route, I managed to put a weather proof Cat5 Ethernet cable from the router next to my house computer down to the Laptop in the observatory. Works great :-))) No problems at all ..... provided I keep my eye on unwanted and unexpected Windows 10 updates coming out on the Laptop!!!!

Mike

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Agree with powerlines if you don't have or can't run a network cable. 

I used the Devolo 1200 series, which aren't cheap, but use the earth conductor so are able to provide full 1GB connection, and were faultless all the time I used them.  I used these for 6 months or so whilst I was building my obsy, to which I ran an external CAT5.  I now have an 8 port hub (4 x POE) with a D-Link wireless POE access point.

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3 minutes ago, SlimPaling said:

Mu Obsy is approx. 40 yards away ... I tried powerline adapters but they didn't work over the ring main that I have rigged up.

I did toy with the idea of WiFi a "line of sight" transmitter and receiver units ( and being careful to avoid some potential tree problems  ) and even put some cabling in from a possible receiver position near the Obsy.

However in the end, with quite a bit of effort as it wasn't a straightforward route, I managed to put a weather proof Cat5 Ethernet cable from the router next to my house computer down to the Laptop in the observatory. Works great :-))) No problems at all ..... provided I keep my eye on unwanted and unexpected Windows 10 updates coming out on the Laptop!!!!

Mike

I did forgot to say that I had to learn how to wire up the Ethernet connectors at both ends of the cable ... quite fiddly until you get used to it! It took quite a few test runs to get the technique right but I get there in the end. Also I did have to buy a special tester to see if I have wired up both ends of the cable correctly (cost £5 I think off Amazon or eBay) .... but the total cost of this fully working set-up was no more than £50 ... for the cable, connectors and tester, etc.

Mike

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Yes i cant really run a cable from the house so the Devolo seems the way to go.....more than i was hoping to pay as it is really only  for BYEOS,i can actually get a sigal on my tablet and phone in the obsy,although weak,im wondering if i can put the hub in the kitchen would the signal be strong enough.....

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3 minutes ago, paul mc c said:

Yes i cant really run a cable from the house so the Devolo seems the way to go.....more than i was hoping to pay as it is really only  for BYEOS,i can actually get a sigal on my tablet and phone in the obsy,although weak,im wondering if i can put the hub in the kitchen would the signal be strong enough.....

As you are pretty close to getting a signal you could just try a signal booster like this.  It won't be as fast as a LAN connection, but you could plug it in by a window and it works by capturing and relaying your wifi signal.

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I can get a Wi-Fi connection in my shed if I'm using the Mac/iPhone, but for a permanent setup, I'd use a LAN setup (cable).

Excepting the last 12 Months, all my Windows PCs  have been off-line ( Once you get a Mac, you wont go back? Some wise fellow told me?) and to get my LAN network running  upstairs, three extensions are in use, their either 30ft or 50ft as single units ( I just bought the longest cables - although I can fit my own plugs onto my CAT5 cabling). Never seemed to have any issues with the length of the cabling, each PC was as close to the speeds that were possible at the time. Infinity has improved the speed, but the cabling remains. At least one PC and all its hardware (FS!) will get setup up again, as a cabled LAN network will/should be faster that wireless!

 

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I'm another user of Develo Powerline adapters, the first generation type.  Not the fastest things in the world but enough bandwidth for general internet browsing and remote access using VNC.  Connection reliability has been fine.

 

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I couldn't get on with powerline adaptors when I had my portable set-up outside the house. When I installed my Obsy I ran Cat6 cable & optic cable to the Obsy and the house (around 45 metres) Although I use Cat6 for communication and the optic cable laid for future use. If you are to lay Cat cable use Cat6 and not Cat5. The transfer rates are significant.

Steve

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When you run Cat6 (or 5 if you didn't heed Steve's advice) cable to an observatory, what does it connect in to at the observatory end? Sorry, probably a dumb question, but I just don't know and this seems like a good place to ask!!

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If your only requirement for a connection is so that the free version of BYE will work, the cheapest and simplest solution would be to pay for a licensed version that doesn't need a connection to work. Or am I missing something here?

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I have BYEos, and as its software that controls the camera, and with suitable Ascom drivers, will control mount, focuser etc., it needs to have a local PC to run the software.

Therefore, for remote control, a network connection is required so that an in-house laptop\PC can drive everything...

For reliability of connection, I would still user a directly wired Cat6e cable, even if only mount PC to inside router\hub.

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