Point to Point Connections • Regional Tech Hub - EU-Vietnam Business Network (EVBN)

We are indebted to John Kitchener for his advice and support when creating this article.

We will use point-to-point , or PtP, on this page, to refer to this connection setup.

The connection can also be called a wireless access point (WAP), Wi-Fi bridge, or wireless bridge.

The connection can be used to receive and rebroadcast any computer network from one location to another – including an internet connection – for up to 50km from the original point.

They use a combination of small, powerful, highly-directional aerials, routers, and cables to set up the connection.

Point-to-Point (PtP) wireless connections are used to connect two locations together using directional antennas with LoS (Line of Sight).

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Why use a Point-to-Point Wireless connection?

This setup is incredibly useful in rural, regional and remote areas.

It essentially acts as a long, long ethernet cable, connecting two locations together (an internet connection is a network).

What is an ethernet cable?

An ethernet cable has a plastic plug on either end, rather like that on a phone, but larger and longer. The cable itself is quite chunky. They’re designed to plug computers into each other. The eSafety Commissioner has an excellent overview of home network cabling.

Point to Point Connection

It can help get around local geography and bring internet and internal home/business network services into dead zones or black spots that can’t be fixed with a Wi-Fi extender, or otherwise can’t connect directly to a service.

For example:

Your dairy has all its records stored on an on-site computer. You can access that computer from your house 2km away using a PtP connection.
The barn on top of the hill has good access to the Optus mobile network, while your house 500m away has no reception at all. You can use PtP to bring Optus mobile broadband into your house.
You have a schoolroom set up in a shed on the other side of the orchard. The orchard will interfere with a Mesh router connection, but PtP on 2m poles will give the schoolroom the family internet connection.

A PtP connection can theoretically span up to 50km with direct line of sight. However, depending on the power of your equipment and other factors, the link speed will start dropping around the 2.5km mark, losing up to 98% of its starting speed by 25km.

We therefore suggest that you plan for links no longer than 20-25km in a rural, regional or remote setup.

Note that your internet or network connection can only run as fast as the link speed allows. If the link speed drops below that of your internet connection, your internet speed will also drop to that of the link speed.

PtP antenna on a pole-mount holding a fixed wireless antenna.

What is the cost and effort?

There is some work involved.

Planning the setup.
Buying and configuring the equipment. Note that your supplier may be able to pre-configure your equipment.
Installing poles, masts or towers. It’s not unusual to use 12 metre poles or masts to clear interference, and these come with structural requirements such as guys and stays. You need to know how to safely and securely install these.
Install equipment. This includes placing antennas at the top of the mast/pole, running the cables, setting up and plugging in the computer harder, and getting everything running.

Costs can be variable.

Expect to pay at least $300 per location for the technical equipment alone. Assume your equipment will be going in at least two locations – the starting point, and the finish point.
Poles, masts or towers start at around $600 and go through to over $5,000. They will need the appropriate brackets and stays for your location (roof, free-standing, or any other setup).
Installation and cabling costs will depend on the other equipment.
This is on top of any internet or network setup costs.

We’ve provided the main planning steps below, with links to useful tools to help with your planning.

Four examples of common PtP connections

The following diagrams show typical setups for connecting, extending, or sharing a connection or network over a PtP link.

Example 1: extending internet or network connection to the main location

For example: dairy records accessed from the house, or internet connection received on a shed that doesn’t need internet access, and sent back to the main house.

Location 1: a powered shed, building, dwelling, or other structure with independent power. This location will house the computer, network and/or internet connection that you want to access from Location 2.

Location 2: the location where network and/or internet connectivity is required. Must have Line of Sight to Location 1, and must be within the appropriate range for the proposed equipment to be used.

Extending network connection

The internet or network connection is set up as required as Location 1.
The point-to-point (PtP) equipment is plugged into the internet connection box, computer, or network server at Location 1.
The second PtP receiver is set up at Location 2.
A standard wireless router is plugged into the PtP receiver at Location 2.
The internet or network connection is received by computers and devices at Location 2.

Example 2: accessing the same internet or network connection in two separated locations

For example: a schoolroom accessing the single internet connection at the main house.

same internet two locations

Image courtesy of BIRRR

The internet or network connection is set up as required as Location 1.
A standard wireless router is plugged into the internet modem or computers/server. You’ll use this router to access the computer, network, or internet at Location 1.
The point-to-point (PtP) equipment is plugged into the wireless router at Location 1.
The second PtP receiver is set up at Location 2.
A second standard wireless router is plugged into the PtP receiver at Location 2.
The internet or network connection is received by computers and devices at Location 2.

If this setup is sharing an internet service, note that you may need to set up the router so each location gets exactly half of the available bandwidth. Otherwise, one location could “swamp” the others’ access.

Depending on configuration of the routers, the two locations may or may not share the same network. Network configuration can impact shared devices such as printers, scanners, or backup drives. For eg, if Location 1 is the main house and Location 2 is a schoolroom, and if the only printer is at the house, the schoolroom may not be able to print to that printer.

If you absolutely need all the devices at both Location 1 and Location 2 to be on the same network, you need to set up a “transparent” connection, and use a switch instead of a router at Location 2.

This page provides information on this setup. It refers specifically to Ubiquiti equipment, but the principle will work for any suitable PtP equipment.

Example 3: two separate connections to multiple locations

This configuration works for multiple different internet connections of the same configuration. For example, nbn™ fixed wireless from two different suppliers; supported at the time of writing – March 2021. Check with nbn to ensure this setup is supported before setting it up.

Additional configuration: more than one internet connection that uses the same connection end-point. For example, multiple separate nbn™ Fixed Wireless connections, from either the same or different nbn™ suppliers. At time of writing (March 2021), nbn™ Fixed Wireless supports up to four (4) separate services to one set of installed equipment.

Location 2: a location with independent power and which requires internet access. Must have LOS to Location 1, and must be within the appropriate range for the proposed equipment to be used.

two separate connections multiple locations

Image courtesy of BIRRR

The first connection – Connection 1 – is set up as usual in Location 1.
A standard wireless router is plugged into the fixed wireless modem. It supplies internet access via Connection 1 to computers and devices in Location 1.
The second fixed wireless connection – Connection 2 – is set up as usual in Location 1, connecting into the same modem.
The modem must be configured to manage the multiple separate connections.
The point-to-point (PtP) equipment is plugged into a second port on the modem at Location 1.
The second PtP receiver is set up at Location 2. It receives Connection 2.
A second standard wireless router is plugged into the PtP receiver at Location 2.
The Connection 2 internet connection is received by computers and devices at Location 2.

In this setup, both locations have their own separate internet connection.

The two locations are unlikely to share the same network, unless you make some significant network changes. Location 1 and Location 2 probably can’t share devices such as printers, scanners, or backup drives.

How to set up a point-to-point connection

Step 1. Identify the purpose of the link

For example:

bringing an internet connection to your main building from another building on your property.
accessing your main computer or network from other buildings on your property.
adding and extending a second internet connection to an existing connection.
Fixing connection “dead zones” or back spots on your premises.

Use the examples above to plan your connection. Work from that to find appropriate locations with safe 240 volt power to run the equipment.

Step 2. Assess the link path

You now need to look at the pathway that the link – the two separate connections – need to take.

The pathway needs to have “Line of Sight”, in a straight line, and joining two locations where power will be available.

Wireless connections will only tolerate very minor interference, and even that depends on the frequency being used.

If the path is only hundreds of metres, then a visual line of sight check is easy. At these distances, and using the lower, slower, but more robust Wi-Fi frequency of 2.4Ghz, some light tree branches and leaves won’t cause a problem.

However, the higher-quality and faster 5Ghz frequency won’t work unless the pathway, and the related “Fresnel zone”, is completely clear.

Ubiquiti Support and Help Center: airMAX – Planning an Outdoor Wireless Link.

“Flashing” the link path using the sun and a mirror at the distant site is essential if there is uncertainty about the path. A “mirror flash” can be easily seen up to 25km.

On longer paths, you may need to contact a supplier to run a desktop survey.

Ubiquiti is a well-known supplier of point-to-point wireless equipment. They have a very helpful “link planner”, on which you can map link paths between whichever two points you like and see the quality of the path between the two links. It’s based on Google Earth images.

We recommend switching the view to the “satellite view”, so you can easily see the buildings on which you might consider adding your connections. Remember that connection points must have a power source and that the starting point must receive the internet connection you plan to extend.

Step 3. Build the link and buy equipment

The link is best made using semi-commercial specialist Wi-Fi routers such as those made by Ubiquiti, MicroTik, or similar. This equipment is relatively cheap and straightforward to configure.

You may also be able to purchase the equipment pre-configured and tested for your setup, depending on the setup you need.

Configuration includes choosing the Wi-Fi frequency.

This article on configuring a PtP transparent bridge provides a good idea of the work involved in this step.

For links up to 3km in length, expect to pay around $300 per site. Installation and cabling costs are additional to this.

Step 4. Installation

If the PtP is to be used with an internet connection, the internet connection needs to be installed first, by your service provider’s installer.

You’ll need to install the equipment yourself, or pay a professional to do the installation.

Installation can include setting up poles and wires for the PtP antennas, or mounting them on roofs or other high points.

For example:

If you’re not confident of your skills in this area, we recommend finding a specialist to install the equipment and test that the connection is working.

Where to buy equipment

There are many locations that sell the relevant equipment. However, these suppliers are focussed on rural, regional, and remote setups, and have extremely helpful staff.