RonD Loc: Topeka, KS

Has anyone had experience with boosting wifi signal? need to boost 500+ feet. straight line, flat terrain. which model, cost, reviews? thanks.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Do they make such a device that boosts signal 500 feet straight line?

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I believe so. Some type of device allows them to extend WiFi service to an entire neighborhood.

twosummers Loc: Melbourne Australia or Lincolnshire England

Technology has probably moved on but from my days in Hotel wifi installations I often used ethernet "home" plugs. If your target area in on same mains electricity circuit as your router you can effectively use your office or home electricity circuit as an ethernet wired network. Better than wifi as it's full duplex and no connections woes.

fjdarling Loc: Mesa, Arizona, USA

That's a long way for a Wi-Fi signal. But you could try directional antennas. Maybe even build a pair of "Pringles can" antennas - one for each end of the 500' stretch. That wouldn't cost you much and could be a huge pat on the back if they work and resolve your reach problem. Good luck.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

You could look up "pringle can" antenna diy ideas.
I had a coffee can version that got me a coffeeshop across the street from the office.

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

I just installed the Nighthawk mesh system with two satellites from NETGEAR. My house is sitting on a one-acre piece of land and now I have coverage everywhere.

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Yes, such is made.
I use Verizon.
Modem is in my man-cave in the basement at the front of our house. My wife's Lady's-Lounge is one floor above at the back of the house. Her lounge is a sun-room which once was a deck. For a number of years her connection was quite reliable and then it started to become unreliable. Over a period of 4-5 months the unreliability worsened. I thought the modem need replacement and ordered one. Had questions about installation of the new modem and when talking with the service rep she told me that I should have a booster not a new modem; booster quite a bit less in cost. Installed one and it resolved my wife's connection reliability problems. Returned the modem.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It's funny how this works. I have three of them in the house, and each one creates a separate Wi-Fi network, so it's not just a matter of boosting the signal. I think mine are called Wi-Fi extenders. I have two from Logitech (I think), and I also have a simple plug-in extender that works very well. Each one has its own network, though, so you have to specify that network if you want to use it. For example, I would have Network, Network_1, and Network_2 - or something like that.

Read reviews before you buy.

https://www.google.com/search?q=extender&rlz=1C1SQJL_enUS889US889&oq=extender&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3j69i65j69i61j69i60l2.2183j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

gmolony Loc: Louisiana

I use Ayrstone on my farm and it will reach 500' without a problem. It will allow the signal in surrounding buildings as long as they are not metal. Give them a call I've had great luck with their service for years.

https://ayrstone.com/www/

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I was considering another router but I would have to run a cat5 cable to it with the network. Just recently got a Google mesh network, 1 router and 2 nodes. It covers my 2 acres pretty well although video is spotty around the edges. Our cell phone coverage is maybe 1 bar so we depend on the wifi signal for the phones. Probably 300 ft to the furthest corner of the property from the network.

The Ayrstone system mentioned above appears to be a mesh network also. The website says the nodes could be pretty far apart but they have to be located high to get the range. A mesh network needs to be powered so the remote mesh elements would need either power or a battery/solar panel system. The website looks promising but I have never tried it. I could have used it on my farm, but I had a good cell signal everywhere there so I didn't need wifi.

Note that a lot of extender advertising will give you a square foot rating instead of a linear rating. 5000 square foot coverage is a circle with a 40 foot radius. I would guess that a single point range extender might well mitigate dead spots in your house, but wouldn't hack it for a 500 foot linear range reliably.

JBRIII

I purchased one of the plug in wifi boosters to boost the signal from a telescope, it works best placed next to the telescope. It definitely helps, but I do not believe it would do anything for 500 ft. The next clear night I will try it at maybe 150 ft, but do not expect much. There are some relatively cheap books on building inexpensive antennas out there.

317tman Loc: Indianapolis, In

Ubiquiti has systems/devices for doing that. I use their system in my house, but don’t need that range. Check their web site and y tube videos.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

Consider buying a usb wireless card with visible antennas. Routers also have different powers. Buy a high power one. I can see my neighbors WIFI. He is much farther than 500 feet

Hueg2015 Loc: Woodland, CA

Ubiquity Unifi offers many solutions for extending your wifi reach.
https://unifi-network.ui.com/