Can someone help a technology newb?!
I’m looking to spend less time in the freezing cold this year, so would like to get cameras in our foaling stall. However, there is no wifi access to the barn, and probably won’t be able to get any out there. Cell service is also very limited in the barn (usually have to step out to make a call). Do I have any camera options if this is the case?
I don’t have wi-fi or reliable cell service at my barn, but it is fairly close to my house. I use a video baby monitor in my foaling stall. It works surprising well, especially considering it only cost about $60!
Obviously, the down side is that it can’t be viewed remotely. But I generally try not to leave the property for long when I have a mare that looks imminent, anyway.
One option is to run ethernet cable from house to barn. If just to for a short time period you can leave the internet cable just laying on the ground, and roll it back up when you no longer need camera coverage. How far would a cable run from house to barn be?
Another is to use the electric wiring in the barn to transmit as the connection to your home internet, assuming you have electricity in your barn, and the wiring meets certain criteria.
A third is to purchase a Starlink dish and service at $120 per month to have wireless internet service in your barn. This is my current approach.
I have used all these options myself.
Do any of these approaches have any appeal for you?
We actually don’t have wifi at the house at all. We just use cell service.
Starlink may be our best bet?
OK. How far from your house is the barn’s foaling stall?
You may be looking at a complete stand alone camera, maybe an outside antenna at the barn, and receiver (monitor) system in your house. Do you have electricity at the barn or will you need a battery powered camera?
Though I use Starlink, here is my experience. The antenna dish needs to be in a spot with a clear view of a segment of the sky. The Starlink app you can install on your phone lets you check that out. You can use the app without being a subscriber to scan the sky and see if you have a good spot to place the dish. The dish connects with a cable to a Starlink wireless router, and that router is designed to be indoors, not outdoors like the antenna. The wireless area coverage is limited. My barn is 250 feet from my house. With the Starlink wireless router in the barn I cannot get its signal in my house. However there is a workaround. Buy the optional Starlink ethernet outlet to go with the router. You can then run an ethernet cable from barn to house. There are also other ways to try to extend the coverage. Since your original question is about foaling stall monitoring, setting up a Starlink system just for that will probably be more than you care to do.
So we are back to a totally stand alone camera-remote monitoring setup. Basically something akin to a wireless trailer monitor camera, but with range to carry the signal from your barn to your house, not just from a horse trailer to the truck. So, what is the distance involved as a starter?
The barn is a metal shell & heavily insulated. I think that’s what blocks the signal. House is 20’ away. Great service everywhere, but you have to be standing by a door or outside the barn to get service.
Barn has full electricity!
Only 20 feet? Then there are numerous workable options. Even Starlink will take care of this, and give you decent and reliable internet service overlapping both your house and your barn as a big bonus.
But with that short range even a baby monitor is likely workable for your specific situation of just keeping an eye on the foaling stall.
Are you certain? That’s very, very close.
Regardless, I think a video baby monitor like mine may be your only reasonable option. My barn is around 100’ from my house, and the house is brick. I can get the receiver to pick up the monitor signal from all except one room in the house.
I dropped a zero. 200’.
That makes more sense! I think a good baby monitor should work over that distance, though maybe only in whichever rooms in your house are closest to the barn.
DH just said he’d like to be able to check the cameras at his office. So that complicates things. 
His office is in town. Any suggestions? Or tell him too bad?
You might have to try one of LCDR’s more technical solutions, then. I’m afraid I can’t help with that! I’m sure something could be done, but I’m more of a low-tech girl. Lol.
I use a bridge- just commented this on another thread about cameras actually.
Plug the end at your house into the wifi, the other end will need an Ethernet network switch & wifi router. I use mesh wifi at the house so it was super easy. This one is set up already so all you need is a clear line of sight and the equipment above:
Ubiquiti LocoM5 X 2 Units Bridge Kit Complete Pre-Configured Nanostation Loco M5 https://a.co/d/8SAdiH8
I shoot wifi about 215’ from my house to my barn and run wifi and three cameras down there. Highly recommend if only to be able to use the phone to talk to vets in an emergency (I also don’t have service where my barn is).
I was able to watch cameras to see my horses while in Scotland riding this summer! So as long as your camera solution is on wifi, you would be able to watch anywhere.
Useful information; (step by step how to)
There is a solution, but you may want to get a tech in to install it and set everything up. It is very easy to have one wrong setting mess things up in this situation.
How does your power come into the barn?
One option we explored was pulling ethernet underground, either with the power or in an “extra” but empty length of conduit that was installed when the barn was built.
You get a lot of bandwidth if its actually wired, and could then set up a router inside the barn to create a wifi for your cameras, or hard wire them to a hub in the barn.
We had no idea it would be so easy to just pull cable, until the electrician poked around. Maybe worth exploring as a possibility?
OP does not have internet access other than via her cellular phone service. Maybe she could set up her phone as a wifi hot spot., but I doubt that the range will be enough to cover both the barn and the house. Wired internet service may not be an option if she lives in a rural area. That is the reason I mentioned Starlink.
I cannot think of a less expensive option, especially with the desire to have remote live video monitoring.
Oh, that’s right. Thanks for the reminder.
Tmo (and others?) are offering home internet service that runs on their cell network. If the OP has very good cell coverage from a company that has that option, the router could be placed in an area with good coverage, and a wired connection could be installed to the barn. Cameras could be wired, or another router added to provide barn wifi.
Not sure how the bandwidth would play.
Uhhh. I have not a clue Simkie! That is far beyond my technological abilities!
We are very rural. I can maybe ask the neighbors if they have wifi and what they use?
I saw a Facebook post that said they ran cameras through their cell provider. They got some sort of box from them and it provided signal to the cameras? I may call Verizon and see what they say!
I’m on tmobile internet and it runs my 6 arlo cameras just fine.
My house-to-barn distance is about 50ft. I have wifi in the house, but the signal is weak in the barn and the wifi in general is poor quality for uploading video. I do have a booster in the barn.
I have used Sequro cameras with moderate success; I chose them because our first foaling season here, we DIDN’T have wifi and I needed “something” to work from barn to house. The camera system I have came with two cameras and one 10" monitor screen. The camera-to-monitor is wireless; I can put the cameras in any stall and it will transmit to the monitor up to about 100ft depending on obstructions. The monitor screen is in the house, wherever I want it to be. I can view one single camera, or both on split screen. The monitor can be hooked up to internet via ethernet cable, and will then transmit your video online; then you can download the app and view the feed from anywhere (anyone can, that you share the passcode). The cameras are decent quality with night vision; they do require an outlet for power. The monitor screen isn’t fancy but does the job and is simple to use. Being tied to ethernet sometimes limits the location for best wireless transmission from camera to screen, but I can make it work when necessary. The 2-camera system was about $150.
I’m sure there are other systems with improved features and technology. I really liked that I didn’t have to trench wires from the barn to house, and did not need to rely on internet for at-home viewing. On the rare occasions I need to foal watch long-distance (out to dinner, on an errand, etc) I can set it up such that I can view from my phone.
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