can i use a buffalo air station modem n300 instead of my hub one?

[#1]

Hi'
I have a narrow but very long garden about 300ft long and i have Dogs, The garden is fully secure, but i do have 3 cctv wireless ip cameras so i can see them if they are at the very end.
The trouble is the signal keeps breaking up about 200ft i do have a netgear extender that helps get it around 300ft but still cutting out, So i looked at some youtube vids and they say the buffalo is very good at range, So can i use a buffalo air station modem n300 instead of my hub one?

TIA

[#2]

In a word no. The buffalo is a router so you will also need a modem. The Hub One is a combined router and modem. You may be able to configure the buffalo as  a Wireless Access Point (WAP) connected to your router via an Ethernet cable, you would need to read the manual. 

Have you got electricity down your garden? If so then you could install a WAP down the garden. Given the choice I would run an Ethernet cable down to it but you could also try Powerline network units or even wireless repeaters.

If you want reliable wireless 300 feet from your house.then you are really pushing the limits.

[Baldrick1]

Thanks for the Reply Baldrick1 .
Its a buffalo with router modem a combo it has a DSL port, 4 Lan ports, 1 USB port.
ive set the router to factory default and then put in my username and password from the hub one, but i can't get any internet connection so im guessing i need to do more to get it to connect. my exchange is "SDLWRBD"

[#4]

there is power in the shed at the end if that's a better option

[#5]

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): This thread is now in the appropriate board.

[#6]

What I've been doing for a few months now is just using my Netgear router upstairs on the end of an ethernet cable, and downstairs resides the modem-router (previously just a HG612 VDSL modem, which the Netgear operated from upstairs), this way the Netgear gets me wifi down the other end of the garden (about 140ft in old money), and the downstairs router does all the "administration" side of things...

Of course, 300 feet, that's quite a push for wifi, even with access points along the way, so the two best options would be an ethernet cable along the garden from the house to a suitable power point, or, it may be possible to use powerline adaptors to send networking down the cable to the shed to a powerline wifi access point, but this may not be as reliable as actual ethernet...

[twocvbloke]

Thanks for this info twocvbloke, I'm learning more everyday

at the moment i'm using the hub one at the front of the house on the main socket and 20ft away from that in the back bedroom is the wifi extender. then 280ft away up the garden is the shed, i can pick up the cameras at the end of the garden 300ft, but they keep cutting out and back again because they are on the limits of range i guess, So i was maybe being ignorant, But i was hoping i could just replace the "hub one" with the "buffalo" as its got aerials and im told they are good for range, So it might make for a more stable signal.
Its a shame not to use the buffalo as i now bought it thinking it was the answer to my problems.

[#8]

From your description I would expect that it is the extender that is being received the bottom of your garden, not the Hub One. I have looked for the manual for your Buffalo on line but am not finding a modem/router with external aerials from your description - what is the model number?

The reason I ask is that it may be possible to set the Buffalo up as a Wireless Access Point (WAP) and use that in the back bedroom (presumably on the window cill to give it the best chance) in place of the extender. Therefore using it with the Hub One, not instead of it as if it is located in the front of the house I doubt if it would help. This might do the trick.

Edit. This might help: http://www.buffalotech.com/knowledge-base/adding-the-airstation-to-an-existing-wireless-network

[#9]

That url has a lot of info, even tho its not for my model i think i can do something with that.
I don't need the cams to be online, only on the local network, so ya if i put the buffalo in the back bedroom like you say then connect that to the nvr video box that puts cam image on a monitor i can then change the network wireless name of the buffalo to the same as the hub one and rename the hub one to something else and that way i can keep the cams as they are without changing anything.

I think i have this under control now thanks to you guys
i will play around in the week and see what happens.

[#10]

Don't know if you've solved this but a couple of other suggestions on top of what other people have suggested:

You could try a different router that works with PN. I've recently installed a BT Smarthub 6 (Business edition) to replace my less than effective Sagecom 2704N. Works well with my IP camera (although the range is less than 100 feet) but the HH6 is meant to have a decent range.

Don't forget that your IP cameras transmit back to your router and not the other way around. It depends which one is struggling to cover the distance. A `better` router/extender may not mean a better signal.

Plan B is what others have said. Try a Powerline Wifi extender. Plug one socket in by your router and connect with ethernet cable. Plug the other (wifi) socket in the shed. It could/should give you a wifi access point in the shed, right by your cameras, which should make a huge difference. (see disclaimer)

Plan C is follow Plan B, and if you do get internet via the Powerline, add a network switch and hard wire all of your cameras to the wifi extender in the shed (most have one or up to 3 ethernet connections on then). That way you hardwire the cameras to your router and don't even use the wifi (same result as running an ethernet cable down the garden with maybe some loss of signal but would be much better than wifi). Don't know your camera set-up and if hard wire is an option. My IP camera is so much better hard wired. 

Even if Plan C is not viable, then plan B get's wifi to the shed rather than the house. Your IP camera's only have to transmit a matter of feet to get on the network (see disclaimer)

*DISCLAIMER* - Apparently - for Powerline to work properly, the sockets all need to be on the same ring main. Your shed probably won't be (unless it's a spur or something). Having said that, I've also read that as long as the neutral wires are all connected via your consumer unit (fuse box), then it should all work. Depends on how your shed is connected to the power. You may need to check this.

For me - if it was hard wired it's just so much better, quicker and no drop outs. Wifi in the shed is next best with new router in house (if that does in fact make any difference).

Most (if not all) IP camera's operate on 2.4ghz, so if you get a dual band router you can separate the channels to help with your internet traffic as well. Might be irrelevant in your situation.

PS - We use our IP camera as a stable cam and watching hedgehogs. It's just closer to the house than yours.

[#11]

Hi Billy'
Thanks for this info and i did the "plan b" and its made a massive difference i get all the cameras working now with the odd drop out here and there but 90% improvement on what i had before.
i'm using two TP-Link 2000mbps one by the phone line and hub one LAN connected to it and the other TP-Link is in the shed with the buffalo wifi router connected to it and the same SSID on both PN an Buffalo routers.

Thanks again to everyone for the help.

[#12]

Really pleased you've seen an improvement.