15Km modem range,is it possible?

Question

A friend of mines from cuba says that theres a modem that has a 15Km range.My first thought was that its impossible except if you use an antenna of some sort or repeaters.He doesnt know much he said that the modems have 2 antennas attached to them xD.He told me to go search on a cuban page with information about those modems so i did.i selected a TP-Link modem and it says that it has a range of 60 meters and then sth about wi-fi 15km and i was confused . Here is the page but its in spanish,i hope you can translate or understand me and help me.Thanks!
http://www.revolico.com/computadoras/modem-wifi-red/tp-link-de-exterior-5ghz-300mbps-13dbi-cpe5101-14955981.html

Answer 1

Modems are always connected by cables. They do not support WiFi. I have used a modem over distances of 200 miles (320 km) in the days of dial-up Internet connections around 20 years ago.



The CPE510 is not a modem. It is not even a router, but it is a form of microwave transmitted/receiver/antenna that allows a connection to another similar device to allow two separate subnets up to 15+ km apart to work together.



Obviously your searches of TP-Link's site leaves something to be desired. Take a look at:



http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/CPE510.html



If you read the Spanish page you will see that it is talking about the CPE510 and not CPE5101 or other device reference.



The CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) does not use WiFi. They use microwaves, but not normal WiFi protocols. You should check whether you can self install or whether it needs to be performed by a licensed installer.



CPE equipment is point to point in operation so you will need suitable router equipment at each end to make it work for multiple devices. At the longest distances, professional installation may be essential to get the two CPEs correctly aligned with each other.



I hope this helps.

Answer 2

There is no modem that has any range, it is a modem...

However, routers with wireless access point (wifi access) normally cover 30-50M in normal situations. That is all...



To go 15km, you need long range wifi "bridges", with high gain antennas, and clear line of sight between the two antennas. This usually involves towers or high locations (top of apartment buildings, high in the hills/mountains/etc.)



There is no home type of router or wireless access point that can do 15km in normal situations.

Answer 3

Yes, this device claims a > 15km range ("Wireless transmission of more than 15 km from scope"). The 60m limit is for the PoE (power over Ethernet) capability, "Passive PoE adapter supports up to 60 meters (200 feet)." Meaning that it can be powered through a PoE Ethernet cable up to 60m away, so it does not need a separate power adapter.



So, yes, this device specification says that it will work for distances greater than 15km. Whether or not it actually will is another matter. You would have to get one and test it out.