Outdoor AP, external antennas No signal inside building.

[Einstein]

We have an outdoor MR76, that is also set up as a repeater to another building on campus. The building is made up of metal siding, with cinder block halfway up all around.  I have no issue connecting to equipment in that building via the wireless repeater. The MR76 is connected by Cat6 to a Meraki switch inside. With this setup, I can obtain wireless connectivity without any problem while I am outside of the building.  As soon as I take a single step into the building, I lose all wireless signal.  I know it is because of the makeup of the building. 

Now for my question. The MR76 has a MA-ANT-23, and a MA-ANT-20 external antenna, without adding another AP inside the building is there any change I can implement to get wireless inside the building.  Can one of the antennas be moved inside the building?  Can the AP be moved inside, and leave the MA-ANT-23, and MA-ANT-20 outside?

Thank you all in advance. I have a feeling the answer will be buy another AP. But I just wanted to check here first. 

[PhilipDAth · Accepted solution]

Personally, I would not mess with it.  It is also used as a repeater.  It is in a challenging RF environment.  What band does the downstream AP that repeats off it use?  Too much risk.

Check out the MR36.  A reasonably low-cost option for providing WiFi internally.

https://meraki.cisco.com/product/wi-fi/indoor-access-points/mr36/

I agree with your second-to-last statement.

"I have a feeling the answer will be buy another AP"

[cmr]

Just for information, the AP can be moved inside, but it is just a processor and network card, you don't get any signal from the AP itself, it is all from the antennas.

[Einstein]

True. I was just curious if the 5Ghz could be moved inside, and the 2.4 left outside to continue the connection to the main building.  Just did not want to spend the money on another AP that will literally be 20 feet from the outdoor repeater. 

Thank you!

[BlakeRichardson]

Ok just so I am clear, building A has the MR76 installed, you can get signal inside and outside of building A. Building B is where you want signal but as soon as you are inside building B you have nothing

Some questions

1. Is the MR76 installed on the exterior or interior of building A?

2. What is the distance between the two buildings?

3. Are there any windows in building B?

4. What is the approximate  age of building? 

[Einstein]

I know, my description wasn't the best.

1. Is the MR76 installed on the exterior or interior of building A?   -    Exterior

2. What is the distance between the two buildings?    -    ±300Ft

3. Are there any windows in building B?   -     No

4. What is the approximate  age of building?    -     ±6 years

Thank you!

[BlakeRichardson]

Thats quite a distance between the buildings, I think even if you put an access point in building B using mesh it will still struggle to get a decent signal. 

[GIdenJoe]

Since the MR76 is a 2x2 antenna where 2.4 and 5 GHz antennas are on different ports you could have the 5 GHz antennes on the outside and 2.4 GHz antennas on the inside if you buy n-type (plug to jack) cables of the appropriate length.

Both Cisco and other vendors like Hubbel sell these kinds of cables.

So you would have wireless bridge coverage outside to the other AP and you could get 2.4 GHz service inside with this solution but you will have to drill 2 holes or 1 bigger hole and buy cables.

Alternatively you could get a local switch and connect another indoor AP on the inside and have that network be bridged.  However in this case you will need to look at the documentation about extending wired networks through wireless backhaul. https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Deployment_Guides/Mesh_Deployment_Guide 

[Einstein]

This is the config I was thinking of. I have never heard of anyone setting it up in this fashion since it is also a

repeater. 

Thank you for the document link!