How To Get Internet To Your Shed Or Remote Building

Updated November 2026

Your WiFi works fine in the house, but the shed, workshop, granny flat, battery system, front gate or bore pump might as well be on the moon. A bigger router or a WiFi extender rarely fixes this. Household WiFi spreads its signal in every direction, so it fades fast once it leaves the house, especially through walls and across a yard.

The reliable fix is a wireless bridge. This guide explains what one is, how it's fitted, and which one suits your job.

A wireless bridge is a pair of small outdoor radios, one at each end, aimed at each other. Together they behave like an invisible network cable between the two buildings. Each radio focuses its signal into a narrow beam towards the other, rather than spraying it everywhere. That's why a bridge can reach hundreds of metres, or even kilometres, where ordinary WiFi gives up after a few walls.

Whatever you plug in at the far end acts as if it were plugged in next to your router.

Fitting one is simpler than most people expect. At each end you have:

• The radio, mounted outside on a wall or pole with the bracket supplied, pointing at the other radio.
• One network cable running from the radio to a small indoor power adapter (called a PoE adapter). PoE stands for Power over Ethernet: the adapter sends power and data down that single cable, so the radio doesn't need its own power point.
• The adapter, plugged into a normal power point indoors.

At the house end, the adapter connects to your modem or router. At the far end, it connects to whatever you want online: a battery or solar monitoring unit, a camera, a computer, or a WiFi access point or small switch if you want to connect several things.

There is no cable between the two buildings. That's the part the radios replace. You do need power at both ends.

• Distance. Roughly how far apart are the two spots? Pacing it out or measuring it on Google Maps is fine.
• A clear view. If you can stand where one radio will go and clearly see where the other will go, you're in business. Trees, buildings and hills in the straight line between them are the main thing that spoils a link. Mounting the radios higher, under the eaves or on a short pole, usually gets you over the problem.
• Power at the far end. Is there a normal power point out there? If the site runs only on a DC supply, such as an off-grid solar battery, tell us, because there are ways to power a radio from DC.

The bridge gives you one network connection at the far end. From there:

• For WiFi inside the shed or granny flat, add an access point such as the UniFi U7 Lite.
• For WiFi outdoors (yard, pool, workshop apron), the weatherproof UniFi U7 Outdoor is built for it.
• To plug in several wired devices, a small switch like the UniFi Flex Mini turns one cable into several.

Access points are powered through their network cable too. The adapter that powers the NanoStation won't run them, so add a suitable PoE injector or a small PoE switch at the far end. We'll make sure you have the right one.

• Mount high and solid. A radio that sways in the wind loses its aim. Tighten the bracket properly.
• Aim carefully. Point the radios at each other by eye first, then fine-tune with the signal meter in the app or the LEDs on the unit. A few degrees makes a real difference.
• Leave room for growth. Trees that are clear today may not be in two years. Give the beam a little clearance.
• Use outdoor-rated cable. Ordinary indoor network cable breaks down in the sun. Use UV-resistant outdoor cable, ideally shielded, and leave a small downward loop before it enters the building so rain drips off rather than running inside.
• Keep the PoE adapters indoors and dry.
• Think about lightning. On exposed rural sites, earth the mounting pole and fit an earthed Ethernet surge protector. It's cheap insurance.
• Set the country to Australia during setup (on UniFi gear this comes from your UniFi site settings) so the radio uses the correct channels and power levels.
• Set a strong wireless key and change the default device password.

A buried cable is the gold standard for reliability. There are catches, though. Standard network cable is limited to 100 metres in total, including the short leads at each end. Trenching is hard work and expensive, and in Australia cabling that connects to your internet service must legally be installed by an ACMA-registered cabler, with underground runs needing a cabler qualified for that work. For longer runs, fibre is the answer, but it costs more again. For most homes and farms, a wireless bridge is the quicker, cheaper and perfectly reliable choice.

Yes. Each radio is powered through its network cable from a PoE adapter, and that adapter plugs into a power point. If the far end only has DC power from a solar or battery system, let us know and we'll suggest a way to power it.

Not well. These radios want a clear line of sight. A few thin branches might be tolerated over a short distance, but dense trees or a building in the way will cause dropouts. Mounting higher is usually the fix.

The 5 GHz radios (NanoStation, Device Bridge Pro) shrug off normal weather. The 60 GHz Building Bridge can lose some performance in very heavy rain, which is why it has a 5 GHz backup radio that takes over automatically.

Yes, once it's set up properly. The link between the two radios is encrypted, just like your home WiFi. Set a strong wireless key during setup and change the default device password.

Not for the NanoStation 5AC Loco, which is set up with Ubiquiti's free UISP app. The UniFi bridges are designed to be managed in your UniFi Network app with a UniFi console or gateway. The Building Bridge and Device Bridge Pro can also be paired on their own with a button press, but you lose the management and monitoring. The Sector needs UniFi.

For a typical house-to-shed job of 20 to a few hundred metres, every option above is comfortable. The Building Bridge tops out at 500 m. The NanoStation and Device Bridge Pro go well beyond that with a clear view. For anything over a kilometre or two, ask us first.

Tell us how far apart the two spots are, what's in between, whether there's power at the far end, and what you want to connect there. A Google Maps satellite screenshot with both points marked is perfect. We'll recommend the right gear, free of charge. Ask us for a recommendation or contact us.