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Using a Directional WiFi Access Point - the TP-Link CP210

I have two buildings on my property, and I wanted to bring Internet to my garage without pulling a wire. Previously I was using the barely-adequate reach of my house's WiFi, but it was just a little too far and it would drop frequently enough to be painful.

My solution is a WiFi Directional access point - the TP-Link CP210.

I chose the CP-210 because it was inexpensive. It only supports the 2.4 GHz band, but my goal was quality over performance. In all, it does this job perfectly.

I mounted the CP-210 in my attic because it was easier to install that way. If I really wanted to I could mount it on the outside, but that means drilling holes and climbing a ladder and other things that I don't want to do. After all, it works great from inside - an outside mount isn't going to give me anything more except more work.

I simply pointed the CP-210's antenna to my garage and that was it. Easy and effective. The CP-210 has a bunch of useful configuration options - it isn't just an access point, instead it is a fairly capable device that can be used as a router, extender, or WISP node.

The CP-210 gets its power over ethernet, which is very convenient because I don't have AC power available in my attic. The PoE feature of the CP-210 is not standards-based, and so I had to use the included "passive" PoE injector despite the fact that my main home switch supports standard 802.3af/at PoE. I do wish that all vendors would support standards-based PoE - it is far nicer in many ways.


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