WiFi and Beast.

OK. Mostly WiFi.

Networking out to the new shed/shack has been an expensive wireless exercise fraught with frustration. 

At home, I run a Unifi network - gear that is close to enterprise class but easier to use. It's just as well, given that my network is by "home" standards, stupidly complex. There are "virtual" networks within the network - there are effectively firewalls between certain networks that impose different restrictions depending on what that particular virtual network is used for. 

For example - my security cameras are isolated on their own network. I can, from other parts of the network, enter into that network to maintain and view them. From that network however you cannot simply get into the rest of my network. 

Likewise, IoT - Internet of Things - devices - being the security nightmares that they are, are kept on an isolated network with similar traits to the security camera network - I can get to them, but they can't get out. Most have some kind of "cloud" connectivity requirement that requires them to talk to the Internet, and in some cases, with each other. And of course, these devices are typically wireless, so one of my wireless networks is designed solely for these devices. 

I realised recently that our WiFi in the back yard was pretty weak as we get close to the back fence. No major surprises given where the nearest access point is, so I put in an "outdoor" access point that needs some weather protection (currently sealed in a container until it can be installed properly at some future date). 

My network allows me to install new Unifi gear easily. Plug in a new device, the controller finds it, updates it and configures it for me. It integrates easily - and that's really important on my network. It's quite simply too difficult to manually configure the shear amount of networking required to do everything I need. 

The upside to having added this access point is that I now have acceptable wireless in the shed. 

Until.. I got silly. 

I started searching for WiFi cameras that run on 12v, and inadvertently wound up with a cabled camera (TPLink C300HP-6). Don't ask me how. Dumb moment. 

This lead me down the path of putting an inordinate amount of time into configuring a wireless bridge using old WDS tech with a 7 year old wireless router I had floating around. Eventually it worked, and I could get data from it across to my network reasonably well. Especially anything connected to it via wireless. Anything connected via cable though was problematic - it would report to my network controller with the same MAC address as the router. 

I decided to ignore that as a problem and worry about the camera. It seemed to work OK sometimes, but would cut out. It also wouldn't sync up as expected. To avoid a long story - there are some other quirks with that camera that simply make it unsuitable for my needs, and will land it on eBay in due course. 

I threw up an old camera - on that uses normal protocols. It works. Mostly. It's slow and tends to be intermittent but it works. 

I don't like the lack of reliability and I do need to add at least one more camera. This whole MAC address problem is also not ideal. That impacts how the network controller identifies it. 

I decided today to buy another access point - one that will go on the outside of the shed, in direct line of sight to the other, and I'll run it in "mesh" mode. That will effectively create a bridge. The ethernet port on them can be connected to a network switch and used to allow the switched devices to access the network. 

The only annoying issue with doing this is that the access point uses 24v POE and I need to run it off 12v. It turns out that they do have an inverter for the job. It costs 2/3rds of the price of the access point, but it does it apparently. 

The access point stock is due in early next month, so hopefully I'll have more to tell then. 

The close and direct proximity between them without the shed wall in between should allow a solid - and fast interconnect, will give me full network integration, and because it will act as another access point, will improve the wireless speeds further. 

Expensive solution, but it should work. If I had to pay a cabler to put in exterior suitable network cable, had the earthing done at both ends and what not, it would probably still have cost more than creating a mesh network.

It does also mean that I'm not limited to either cheap garbage Chinese cameras nor stupidly expensive wireless cameras. That's certainly a plus. I just need to keep the 12v up to them, which doesn't seem to be a drama. 

Everything else shed-wise is going along OK. A lot of time spent outside painting the area that I keep the smoker and trying to get it looking good. The XYL has now decided that the kids cubby house in the opposite corner now needs to be the same colour and a section of lawn in between needs a tree moved and gravel put down. That should keep me busy (and broke) for quite some time. I always figured that there was going to be some hidden cost to building myself a shed.