You’ve got your main house secured with a reliable Montavue NVR system. But what about that detached garage, workshop, or barn sitting 200 feet away across the property?
If you’re like most homeowners, the thought of renting a trencher, tearing up your landscaping, and laying hundreds of feet of underground PVC conduit is exactly why those outbuildings are still unprotected.
The good news?
You don’t have to dig a single trench to get professional-grade PoE (Power over Ethernet) cameras on your outbuildings.
Here is exactly how to do it using a simple piece of tech called a Point-to-Point Wireless Bridge.
The Problem with Standard Wi-Fi
Your first thought might be to just slap a battery-powered Wi-Fi camera on the barn. The problem? Your home router’s Wi-Fi signal won’t reach that far. Even if it does, the thick metal siding on most barns and garages will block the signal completely, leaving you with offline cameras and dead batteries.
You need the reliability of a wired Montavue PoE camera, but without the physical wire crossing your yard.
The Solution: A Wireless Point-to-Point (PtP) Bridge
Think of a Point-to-Point (PtP) bridge as an invisible ethernet cable shooting through the air.
It consists of two small, weatherproof antennas. You mount one on the outside of your house pointing at the barn, and the other on the outside of the barn pointing back at the house. As long as they have a clear line of sight, they beam a high-speed, dedicated network connection across your yard even up to several miles away!
How the Setup Works (Step-by-Step)
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At the Main House: Run a standard ethernet cable from your Montavue NVR (or home router) to the first PtP antenna mounted outside your house.
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At the Garage/Barn: Mount the second PtP antenna on the outside of the outbuilding so it faces the house.
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Power the Cameras: Run an ethernet cable from that second antenna inside the barn and plug it into aMontavue PoE Switch
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Mount Your Cameras: Run ethernet cables from your new PoE switch to the Montavue cameras mounted around the barn.
That’s it! The cameras on the barn get their power directly from the PoE switch plugged into the barn’s wall outlet. The video feeds are then beamed wirelessly across the yard back to the NVR inside your house.
What You’ll Need
To pull off this trenchless setup, here is your shopping list:
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A Montavue NVR System (Located in the main house) with a Hard Drive
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Montavue PoE Cameras (To mount on the outbuilding)
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A Montavue PoE Switch (To power the cameras inside the outbuilding)
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A Wireless PtP Bridge Pair (To Bridge the connection back to the recorder)
- A couple Ethernet Cables (To connect every device together)
Keep Your Entire Property Secure
You don't need to be a network engineer to set this up, and you certainly don't need to ruin your lawn. By combining a wireless bridge with Montavue's industry-leading PoE cameras, you can easily monitor your tools, vehicles, and livestock from the exact same Montavue GO app you use for your house.
Need help designing the layout for your property?
Our US-based tech support team has helped thousands of customers secure large properties and outbuildings. Give us a call at 1-800-415-1215 or hit the live chat on our website to get expert advice on your specific setup!
