Wi-Fi and networks
Wi-Fi from the farmhouse to the far barn
Stone walls eat Wi-Fi. So does a hundred yards of yard. Daniel gets a signal into every room, every outbuilding and every corner you need it, with the right kit for the job and no more of it.
Sound familiar?
What goes wrong
It works in the kitchen and nowhere else.
A single router from the broadband company, doing its best through two feet of Cotswold stone. It was never going to reach the back bedroom, let alone the office.
The barn might as well be on the moon.
The parlour, the workshop and the grain store all need a connection now, for the milking software, the cameras and the sensors. A cable across the yard isn't always an option. A beam across it is.
Three boosters and it's worse than before.
Plug-in repeaters halve your speed every hop and fight each other for the same channel. Daniel takes them out and puts in a proper system that hands you from point to point without a blip.
The holiday let's guests keep complaining.
Guest Wi-Fi needs its own network, away from your office and your cameras, with a password you can print on the welcome card.
What Daniel does
What he does about it
A survey, with real numbers.
He walks the house and the yard with a meter, finds where the signal dies and why, and draws you a plan before anyone buys anything.
Mesh Wi-Fi through the house.
Two or three access points, placed where the survey says, wired together where possible. One network name everywhere, and your phone moves between them without noticing.
Beams to the outbuildings.
A pair of small dishes links the farmhouse to a barn two fields away, at speeds that make the cameras and the parlour PC happy. For the far buildings, a relay on the grain store.
Cables and outdoor kit that lasts.
Outdoor-rated cable, proper earthing, weatherproof access points for the yard, and everything labelled so the next person (or Daniel, in five years) knows what goes where.
Separate networks for separate jobs.
The office on one, the cameras on another, the guests on a third. If a guest's laptop has something nasty on it, your accounts don't catch it.
Under the bonnetFor whoever in the family checks these things.
The kit
- Ubiquiti UniFi access points and switches for the house and yard, managed from one screen Daniel can reach remotely when you ask him to
- Point-to-point wireless links in the 5 GHz and 60 GHz bands, chosen by distance, line of sight and what the link has to carry
- Cat6 outdoor-rated and shielded cable between buildings where a trench or a wall run is possible; fibre where the run is long or lightning is a worry
- Power over Ethernet throughout, so access points and cameras need no mains socket in the barn
How it’s done
- Every job starts with a site survey and a written plan with the kit listed and priced
- VLANs keep the office, the cameras, the farm systems and any guests apart from each other
- Wi-Fi 6 or 7 access points, sized to the building rather than the catalogue; a two-bedroom cottage does not need six
- Documentation left on site on the farm IT card, and a copy kept by Daniel
Said plainly
What he won't do
- Sell you kit you don't need. A bigger router rarely fixes a stone wall; a second access point does.
- Dig the trench. He'll tell you exactly where and how deep, and he'll pull the cable through the duct when it's in.
- Run new mains circuits in an outbuilding. Power over the network cable usually avoids it; when it can't, he works with a registered electrician.
Questions people ask
Before you ring
How far can a wireless link reach?
With clear line of sight, several kilometres, which covers most farms. Trees, a barn roof or the lie of the land can get in the way, so Daniel checks the actual path, not the brochure.
Will it work in a power cut?
Not without a battery. Daniel can fit a small battery backup that keeps the router, the link and the cameras running for a few hours, which also matters for the landline switch-off.
Can you keep my existing router?
Often, yes, as the box the broadband arrives through. The Wi-Fi it makes is usually the first thing to switch off.
What does it cost?
A survey is a fixed price, taken off the job if it goes ahead. A house of mesh Wi-Fi or a link to one outbuilding each has a fixed price on the prices page. Bigger yards are quoted after the survey.
Read first, if you like
Guides and tools that go with this
- How to get Wi-Fi to your barnThe three ways to get a signal from the farmhouse to an outbuilding, what each costs, how far each reaches, and which one suits a stone barn two fields away.
- Will a beam reach the barn? Link plannerEnter the distance to the barn and what's in the way. See the zone the signal needs, and whether a 60 GHz or 5 GHz beam, a taller pole or a cable will do it.
- Starlink on a farm: is it worth it?Speeds, where to put the dish, snow and power cuts, and whether Starlink beats 4G or waiting for fibre. An honest guide for rural Wiltshire and the Cotswolds.
Also
Jobs that often go together
Broadband and Starlink
The best connection your postcode can get, fibre, Starlink or 4G, with a backup that takes over when it drops.
Find out moreCCTV and security
Cameras that record properly, read number plates at the gate and send a clip to your phone at 3am.
Find out moreFarm systems
The IT around the parlour PC, the robot and the herd software, plus sensors for troughs, stores and tanks.
Find out more
Wi-Fi that reaches the far barn. The cows won't notice. You will.