Guide · wireless distance
How far can a wireless link actually go?
Short version: a point-to-point wireless link can run from across a yard to many kilometres, and how far is not really about the box. It is a budget you spend on three things: the frequency you choose, the size of the antennas, and how clear the path is between them. Spend that budget well and the distances surprise people. Spend it badly and a link you can nearly touch still fails.
Last updated 13 July 2026 · by Alien IT Solutions
Distance is a budget, not a spec
People want one number, and there isn't one, because range is the result of trade-offs rather than a rating on a box. Three levers set it.
Frequency. Lower bands reach further and forgive a messier path; higher bands carry far more data but over shorter, cleaner hops. That is the core trade: reach versus speed. A long rural shot leans low, a short urban link that needs capacity leans high.
Antenna gain. A bigger or more focused dish does not add power, it concentrates the same power into a tighter beam, like a spotlight over a bare bulb. Two well-aimed dishes turn a hop that would never work into one that is rock solid, which is why aiming matters as much as size.
The path. This is the one that decides most links, and it is covered next.
The clear corridor nobody expects
The single biggest misunderstanding about wireless range is line of sight. It is not enough that you can see the other end. The signal travels in a fat cigar-shaped corridor of air between the two antennas, and that whole corridor needs to be clear, not just the thin line your eye follows.
That is why a link where you can plainly see the far shed can still disappoint: a fence line of trees, a parapet, or the curve of a hill clips the edge of the corridor and bleeds the signal away. It is also why the fix is almost always height. Lift the antennas so the corridor clears the obstruction and a marginal link becomes a solid one. The visual explainer lets you drop a tree into the path and watch exactly this happen, and the line-of-sight guide goes deeper.
What the distances look like in practice
Without quoting prices or promising a figure for your site, here is the honest shape of it by scenario.
- Around one property (house to shed, house to studio): short and easy. These hops are rarely about distance and almost always about getting a clean path and decent mounting. Covered in the shed-to-house guide.
- Farm scale, paddock to paddock or neighbour to neighbour: comfortably into the kilometres with the right dishes and height, provided the ends can see each other. This is the home ground of a dedicated point-to-point link.
- Across a town or between city buildings: the distance is short but the air is crowded, so clean spectrum matters more than reach, and the choice between wireless and fibre comes into play. That comparison lives in connecting two buildings.
- Beyond a single hop, or around an obstacle: a relay point extends the reach or bends the link around a hill, which is what masts and relays are for.
What quietly kills range later
A link that works on install day and fails months later usually met one of these, and none of them show up in a spec sheet.
- Trees that grow, and leaves that return. A path surveyed through a bare winter canopy can lose its margin in summer. Good installs plan for the leafy state of the trees.
- New structures. A shed, a water tank or a fence built into the corridor after the fact clips the signal just as effectively as one that was always there.
- Mounting that was never quite right. An antenna under an eave, on a flexing pole, or aimed by eye rather than tuned will work at short range and fall over as conditions change. Height and a solid, well-aimed mount are cheap insurance.
So, how far for you?
The only honest way to answer is to look at the actual ends and the actual path. A site and line-of-sight survey checks whether the two points can see each other, how high the antennas need to be, what the spectrum is like at each end, and what sits in the corridor between them. That hour is the difference between a number pulled from the air and a link that is still solid in a year.
Common questions
How far can a point-to-point wifi link go?
It ranges from across a yard to many kilometres, and the honest answer is that the site decides, not the box. Given clear line of sight and the right dishes, multi-kilometre links are routine. Take away the sight line, or crowd the airwaves, and a short hop can struggle. Distance is a budget you spend on frequency, antenna size and a clear path, so we survey before promising a number.
Does weather affect a long range wireless link?
Ordinary rain and wind barely touch a well-built link. Very heavy downpours can dim the highest frequencies slightly, which is why long rural shots favour lower bands with more margin. The bigger seasonal culprit is not weather at all, it is foliage: a link set up in winter can fade in summer when the leaves come back on the trees in the path.
Can a wireless link go through trees or hills?
Not really, and this is the most common surprise. Radio at these frequencies wants a clear corridor of air, not a laser line, so even branches at the edge of the path bleed away signal, and a hill or a building stops it. The fix is height or a relay: lift the antennas above the obstruction, or bounce the link off a third high point to bend around it.
Do I need a licence for a long distance wireless link?
For most links, no. The common wifi bands are licence-free to use, which is what makes a private bridge quick and affordable to stand up. Where a link is business-critical and must never share its airspace, a licensed microwave band buys guaranteed clean spectrum for a fee. Which path suits you is part of what a survey sorts out.
Why does my link work in winter but drop out in summer?
Almost always leaves. Deciduous trees in or near the signal path are bare in winter and full in summer, and wet foliage is very good at absorbing these frequencies. A link surveyed through a bare canopy can lose its margin once the leaves return, so a good install accounts for the summer state of the trees, not the day it was set up.
How do I know what distance is possible on my property?
A site and line-of-sight survey answers it properly: it checks whether the two ends can see each other, how high the antennas need to be, what the spectrum looks like at each end, and what obstacles sit in the path. That is the difference between a guess and a link that still works in a year, so it is always the first step.
Link your two buildings.
Tell us where the two buildings are and what sits between them. We will check the line of sight and price the bridge.
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