~50m connection distance to AP gear - what is preferred?

Amaranthus (Barry) · #1 20-11-2014, 02:43 PM

I'm looking to set up my mount and imaging gear outside at about 50 metres distance from my warm, comfortable living room. At the setup location, I can get a strong wi-fi signal from the house. I currently plug 3 devices (mount, imaging camera, gamepad) into a powered USB 2.0 hub, and a guide camera (ASI120MM-S) into a separate USB 3.0 SS port on my laptop.

What do people do over such distances? It seems this is too long for even active USB cables (I think). So is the best (only) solution to get a cheapy Notebook computer (that still has a USB 3.0 SS port), and log in to that remotely? Or are there other options, such as a USB hub that can connect to a wi-fi network (searching, I couldn't seem to find anything like this...)?

Maybe a router with both a USB 2.0 and USB 3.0SS port, like this one: http://www.asus.com/au/Networking/RTAC56U/ ?

I'd be interested to know how others solve this problem

Merlin66 (Ken) · #2 20-11-2014, 03:07 PM

Barry,
I have an ol' XP laptop at the scope and a USB powered hub.
Everything goes to this laptop - CdC/ EQmod/Astroart - three cameras, NEQ6 mount etc.
A std. network cable connects back to the office where I use a win7 laptop and Teamviewer to access and control everything.
Been working well for me for the past five/six years.

rmuhlack (Richard) · #3 20-11-2014, 03:23 PM

I have desktop pc permanently setup in each of my observatory sheds (which are about 30m from my home office). Each PC has an Ethernet-over-Power connection to my router. I then use Remote Desktop to connect to both PCs (via EoP) from inside the house.

Roger273 (Roger) · #4 20-11-2014, 05:00 PM

I'll go along with Richard on this, ethernet through the power and Windows Remote Desktop. Mine is about 170m from the house and works brilliantly with a line speed of 115meg. Both ends need to be on the same power circuit for this to work.
Roger

Amaranthus (Barry) · #5 20-11-2014, 05:29 PM

So how does the EoP setup work? I'm trying to visualise this.

I have my mount/cameras plugged into a powerboard, which is fed by an extension lead back to the house. But how to connect the USB hub to this?

Roger273 (Roger) · #6 20-11-2014, 09:01 PM

It's a device about the size of a 12v power adapter that plugs into the power and has a RJ45 socket for an ethernet cable from your laptop. The one I'm using is TP-Link TL-PA211KIT, I think it was about $70 for the pair. See http://www.tp-link.com/lk/products/d...model=TL-PA211
Roger

rmuhlack (Richard) · #7 21-11-2014, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amaranthus

So how does the EoP setup work? I'm trying to visualise this.

I have my mount/cameras plugged into a powerboard, which is fed by an extension lead back to the house. But how to connect the USB hub to this?

This setup still relies on having a PC/laptop out at your scope. I went with this (EoP) option as my home wifi range does not extend reliably out to the obs.

The EoP hardware I use (Netgear XAV2001) looks like a wall wart with a 240V plug on one side, and an ethernet socket on the other. I use three of these for my setup - one inside the house which is connected via ethernet cable to my router, and the other two outside at each of the two obs computers.

I then have my two mount/cameras/obs_computer/XAV2001 plugged into two powerboards (one for each mount) fed by a common extension lead to the house. A short ethernet cable runs from each XAV2001 to the obs pc. In short it basically gives a wired ethernet connection from the obs computers to the home router, so I can I remotely control the obs computers from the house via Microsoft Remote Desktop.

Amaranthus (Barry) · #8 21-11-2014, 12:12 PM

Okay, thanks Richard. I can get a good signal at my outside site with wi-fi, so no need for a wired solution. What I'm ideally trying to do is avoid having a laptop at the scope. Hence my thought about plugging into a WAP instead (via its USB ports) and then controlling the USB devices over the WAN. But I'm not sure if it will work. I guess I'll need to test it with my current router!

SpaceNoob (Chris) · #9 24-11-2014, 04:03 PM

I just had power / data lines run to mine (~40m). Cat6 for data, another line for integration with our house security system, both in one conduit. Followed by a second conduit providing an isolated power circuit (separated from the main house circuit). The cost was negligible and connectivity will not be a limiting factor.

While EoP is a good solution, you'll still be impacted by drop-outs / packet loss, depending where they sit on your internal power circuit. The medium can get fairly noisy if you run certain equipment within your house, i.e clothes dryer etc.

If EoP fails, your sensitive devices could be exposed.... i.e directly through an ethernet port as opposed to through a somewhat more "conditioned" / fused PSU. I'd rather keep my data / power separated.

Amaranthus (Barry) · #10 24-11-2014, 10:25 PM

Thanks for the feedback Chris.

To clarify, my issue is not an internet connection - my wif-fi signal at the scope is really good. The issue is whether I can remotely connect to the AP gear without having a laptop in the field, i.e. via a wireless router acting as an access point and making use of its USB ports, or and active (long) USB cable, or...?

Maybe there is no choice than a laptop outside, but I'd like to explore the other possibilities.