How To Get Farm Internet: Farm Wi-Fi Extenders, Asus AiMesh, and More

To set up Wi-Fi across your farm, you first need a reliable rural internet provider, like one of these satellite internet and LTE and 5G home internet options. These types of internet providers have the widest availability across the U.S., and all of them offer good internet speeds, so you can probably get one of them in your area.

But if you want to see if you have access to a faster internet plan, enter your zip code below to see all the best rural internet options near you.

One of the simplest ways to spread Wi-Fi across your farm is to set up an outdoor Wi-Fi extender—or a whole system of them.

Wi-Fi extenders pick up your existing network’s signal and boost it using an antenna built into the extender equipment. There are several kinds (and they’re sometimes referred to as Wi-Fi antennas, Wi-Fi repeaters, etc.), but these are the best suited for the outdoors.

Before you purchase an outdoor Wi-Fi extender, be sure you have a power source ready for the equipment. Both indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi extenders need to stay plugged in—otherwise they can’t pick up and broadcast your house’s originating Wi-Fi signal. We recommend placing your extender someplace like a workshop or barn that already has power.

And just as another reminder: You must already have a separate internet connection for your Wi-Fi extenders to connect to, or they don’t work. Make sure you have a reliable rural internet connection to begin with.

If the prospect of Wi-Fi extenders intrigues you and you want to level up the tech on your farm, check out our Best Outdoor Security Cameras without Wi-Fi to see how you can get farm buildings connected without constantly relying on a wireless connection.

Outdoor Wi-Fi extenders are great, but a mesh Wi-Fi system is what they want to be when they grow up. A Wi-Fi extender picks up signals from your original Wi-Fi network and repeats (or rebroadcasts) a new network based on the speed and strength of the signal it receives. Mesh Wi-Fi systems, on the other hand, broadcast the original signal from multiple points, acting as a network of routers that create a stronger and larger area.

The Asus AiMesh system does both. It gives you far better signal coverage over larger areas than a Wi-Fi extender can cover, and it’s our recommendation for the easiest and most convenient mesh system option for getting farm Wi-Fi.  

This option is for the slightly braver DIYers looking for farm internet. Setting up the Asus AiMesh system is a bit more complicated than simply plugging in a Wi-Fi extender, particularly because you build it as you go. You need to buy however many routers are necessary to cover your area, place them where you want coverage, and connect each one to the system. In fact, you can get just about any router you want from Asus, since most are compatible with the Asus AiMesh system. The cost varies depending on which exact model you get, but they’re usually around $60 each.

If you can identify the right areas on your rural property to place your routers and feel comfortable navigating the Asus AiMesh, you should be able to get seamless Wi-Fi coverage over acres of farmland.

The exact cost for the Asus AiMesh system for your farm depends almost entirely on how many routers you need. That’s one up- or downside of the system, depending on how you look at it. You can opt for as little or as much equipment as you want or need.

Asus AiMesh relies on multiple routers from Asus that use the AiMesh system and app to create multiple internet connectivity points.

Usually when you set up multiple routers, they each create separate networks. Disconnecting and reconnecting to the different networks as you travel between different routers’ coverage areas can get really inconvenient. Fortunately, the AiMesh system unites all your routers on one network, so together, they create multiple overlapping circles of coverage—creating what amounts to Venn diagrams of internet coverage.

Of course, it’s up to you to determine those coverage areas. The best way to start is creating a map of your farm. Then determine where you want Wi-Fi, and place multiple AiMesh routers throughout the space, making sure the coverage areas intersect to keep reliable Wi-Fi coverage. This is easier to do when you have multiple relatively close buildings.

For a hands-on instructional tutorial, check out how this man used the AiMesh System to cover multiple farm buildings. Like him, you too can be well on your way to having a Wi-Fi sprinkler controller before you know it.

Of course, the AiMesh system may not be suitable for your farm if your buildings are spread out or you have significantly more acreage. In those cases, you need to go with more sophisticated methods like those from Ayrstone’s services or Ubquiti’s equipment.

Ayrstone offers a small suite of products dedicated to helping getting you solid, wireless farm internet, including the following:

• AyrMesh Hub
• AyrMesh receiver
• AyrMesh Cab Hub2
• AyrMesh Bridge
• AyrMesh IndoorHub
• AyrMesh Switch

Each of these pieces of equipment offer slightly different features—the AyrMesh Cab Hub2, for example, attaches to your tractor or other farm equipment so you can get internet while you’re on the go. Check out the Ayrmesh website for more, but just know that the Ayrmesh Hub is the most essential item, as it creates the backbone of your extended internet system. Plus, the Ayrmesh Hubs are designed to stretch a signal for several miles, and you can reach up to 15 miles of coverage with a set of three. 

Ayrmesh’s goal is to make complicated internet systems more accessible for the everyday farm internet user, but there are still some drawbacks to consider. Primarily, Ayrstone equipment is more expensive than the same hardware from competitors. The higher price accounts for Ayrstone’s own software changes. The company takes the tried-and-true hardware shell and fills it with software that’s more accessible and easier to manage for the everyday person.

Overall, Ayrstone may be more expensive, but you’re paying for the convenience. Someone else already leveraged their expertise to make the equipment easy to set up and use. And once it’s up, it’s up. You have a 90-day money-back guarantee to boot. So if you’re okay with physically setting up the equipment, and you’re a set-it-and-forget-it type of person, this is one of the best farm Wi-Fi options.

But if you want a more tailor-made solution and don’t mind becoming a semi-expert in tech, there’s still an option for you: Ubiquiti.

Ubiquiti is for advanced tech DIYers—what many call prosumers. That is, consumers who have pro-level knowledge. With next-level tech skills, they can sling IT phrases around with the comfort of a practiced hand. If the tech world feels a bit out of reach for you, Ubiquiti and its product lines (UniFi, AmpliFi, EdgeMax, UISP, airMAX, airFiber, GigaBeam, and UFiber) are probably not a good fit.

But if you’re excited at the prospect of being a prosumer and upgrading your farm to its absolute best internet equipment options without Ayrstone’s markup, here’s a brief look at some terminology you may encounter when approaching Ubiquiti’s product lines. In fact, the terminology comes in handy for most cases while trying to set up farm Wi-Fi.

Ubiquiti offers most of the networking equipment you need. It has wireless access points (WAPs) covered, but what exactly is a wireless access point?

A wireless access point is essentially a sub-router that creates a secondary point for your wireless devices (think your smart phone, iPad, etc.) to connect to the network. Because it creates an additional way to tap into your network, it can house more connected devices than a router could on its own.

We likened the WAP to a router, but they’re not really the same thing. Both routers and wireless access points act as hubs for other devices to wirelessly connect to the internet, but a wireless access point works only when connected to a router. Without the router creating a network for the WAP to connect to, it can’t create a new sub-access point for devices. So the Ubiquiti wireless access point is not a router replacement.

Your router can also offer wired connections through Ethernet, while wireless access points can offer only wireless connections.

Point-to-point (PtP) links use two radios that send and receive data from an originating internet access point to a new, previously unconnected one. This requires a clear line of sight to establish, so PtP links are not good for tree-dense areas. Once it’s set up correctly, it can carry up to 300Mbps of internet bandwidth with a range up to 400 ft. (using the standard model 802.11n MIMO UniFi AP as an example).

Point-to-point connections are especially useful if you need to transfer data from one internet network to another securely. You don’t even need data encryption, since the point-to-point connection is closed.

All Ubiquiti equipment, of course, needs software to run. Check out Ubquiti’s site to get your equipment’s appropriate Ubiquiti firmware download. Ubiquiti software is compatible with macOS, Linux, and Windows.

There are obviously more categories of Ubiquiti equipment than the few listed here, but these are a good start for newbies.

Internet access can be a huge advantage to farmers. Fortunately, getting Wi-Fi in rural areas is totally possible, even if it may be a bit tricky to set up initially.

First, you need to find a strong rural internet provider to get you connected. Satellite internet is available anywhere, so you should at least be able to get Viasat or Hughesnet. Satellite is a bit slower than other services, however, so we also recommend unlimited 4G rural internet and other wireless internet providers like T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, Rise Broadband, and Verizon Home Internet. Many LTE home internet and 5G home internet providers offer unlimited data at better prices than satellite internet, but they don’t cover quite as much of the U.S.

After you have an internet provider, we suggest going with a Wi-Fi extender if you only want internet in one area near your home. If your farm buildings are grouped fairly close together, a mesh system should do you nicely. Ayrstone internet kits and Ubiquiti tech are better for larger and more complicated farm internet situations; we suggest Ayrstone’s simpler equipment if you’re not confident in your tech skills.

Whatever route you choose, we hope you feel empowered to get Wi-Fi across your farm to better enhance your farm equipment, keep you connected to family while you’re working, and allow you to monitor systems like sprinklers even when you’re away.

Anyone can install Wi-Fi in a rural area, but your options may be limited depending on your precise location. You can often find Spectrum in rural areas, and satellite internet can be set up in 99% of the U.S., for example.

If you want to convince an internet provider to lay internet infrastructure in your rural area, you can reach out to an internet service provider and offer to pay up-front for the infrastructure, or you can form a co-op and together with your neighbors split the upfront costs to get better internet options.

Internet service providers (ISPs) have to build out expensive infrastructure in order to bring internet access to a certain area, and unfortunately, because rural areas typically have fewer people spaced further apart, ISPs get much better return on investment from cities. Fortunately, with satellite internet services like Starlink, Viasat, and Hughesnet, even rural areas can get internet access as long as there’s a clear view of the southern sky.