Monitoring from 80 meters away when don't have WiFi / broadband

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dazzyk42 asked Feb 19, '24

Monitoring from 80 meters away when don't have WiFi / broadband

We live off grid in a very rural location in the UK and have just upgraded our system with inverter / controllers etc plugged into cerbo gx. Our system is located in our barn and our house is 70-80 meters away. We don't have broadband because it is soooo slow (remember dial up!?) So we can't have a router in the barn. Instead we use our phones as WiFi hotspots when we need WiFi for the laptop etc and this works well. What is my best solution for monitoring from the house? I would ideally like to have vrm as it's handy for when we are away to keep an eye on things. Thanks!

monitoring

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Answer 1 · 2024-02-19T07:28:26Z

h8mecz answered · Feb 19 at 07:28 AM

I would use some Wifi AP in barn to connect CERBO GX to it via RJ45 and in case there will be no sufficient signal from home network then upgrade this Wifi AP with some directional anntena to connect to home wifi network. This would be the cleanest solution IMHO.

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Answer 2 · 2024-02-19T07:53:10Z

djsmiley answered · Feb 19 at 07:53 AM

If you have decent internet in the house and have line-of-sight you can use a wireless point to point system like a Mikrotik Wireless Wire to setup a link between the 2 buildings.

If there is a power wire (mains) you can use a pair of Powerline adaptors to use that.

With none of that you can use a mobile router with a sim card, assuming there is coverage.
If its only for the Cerbo there is no need for a big data allowance. If you want to use it for general internet its better to get a bigger data limit.

For just the cerbo, a 1p mobile 4Gb package is sufficient (7,50gbp), for full internet including laptop/phones you can opt for a 200Gb (20 gbp/month).
1pmobile uses the EE network so pretty decent speeds/coverage in more rural areas (especially compared to other networks imho)

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Answer 3 · 2024-02-19T15:00:02Z

Michelle Konzack answered · Feb 19 at 03:00 PM

You can also put an Outdoor Ethernet Cable in the ground, but do not forget, the maximum length can not exceed 100m

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Michelle Konzack commented · Feb 25 at 08:12 PM

Since I get a GRID access in 580m distance to my GX Device,

I bought a a GBit Switch (8x Eth, 2x Fiber) for 14€ and a Media Converter (11€) on AliExpress.

One Fiber goes 60m to my house (A bigger Ethernet/Fiber OEM Switch which cam without housing super cheap), the other Fiber use a 600m Fiber cable to access the EnergyMeter at the Transformator from my GridProvider. Has to be this way, because I will install a 30-50kWp PV system there the the PV has to be connected BETWEEN the EnergyMeter and my PowerStation.

The 600m Fiber Cable you can get from Fiber Switch

There can be bad weather, a forest or whatever in the way and it just works...

P.S.: The Distance can be up to 20.000m.

Have Fun!

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Answer 4 · 2024-02-23T19:53:59Z

dazzyk42 answered · Feb 23 at 07:53 PM

Thanks for those ideas - big help! There is no WiFi / router in the house as the broadband is so slow using BT's cable (it's never been upgraded on our road). So we just use our phones as hotspots. I think the best solution will be the mobile router with SIM card in the barn just for the cerbo - will check out prices....

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kevgermany ♦♦ commented · Feb 24 at 06:43 AM

The little pocket sized Huawei units are good, not that expensive. The Netgear M1 suffers from push in external aerial connections which constantly drop out.

Also consider using an old phone instead of a mobile router. The routers are expensive and often require a data SIM, not a phone SIM. I haven't tried it and you'll need to check if the hot spot remains on or not.

There's also the Victron LTE 540 that may work for you.

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Answer 5 · 2024-02-24T08:28:27Z

dazzyk42 answered · Feb 24 at 08:28 AM

Good point. Can I just plug the cerbo gx into a computer / tablet via ethernet cable and monitor that way? I am running cable from my barn to house for power so can run a long cat5 at the same time...

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kevgermany ♦♦ commented · Feb 24 at 09:21 PM

As @Michelle Konzack said...

https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Cerbo_GX/en/accessing-the-gx-device.html

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