Connectivity for farms, packhouses and agri-estates

What farms & agri-estates need connectivity for

• Irrigation and pivot automation that needs a stable link
• Cold-chain and packhouse monitoring
• Farm cameras and perimeter security backhaul
• Reliable connectivity for the farm office, POS and bookkeeping
• Guest connectivity on farm-stays and agri-tourism sites

How CTTX delivers it

We start with a site survey — assessing terrain, line-of-sight and the nearest viable backhaul. We design an engineered link (the right radios, mast height and path), our own qualified teams build it, and we support the infrastructure once it's live. Where a carrier business fixed-wireless or LTE service is the right fit, we arrange that too as an authorised reseller. The result is connectivity engineered for your site — not a best-effort consumer line.

Wi-Fi across the whole farm, not just the house

Most farms get a connection to one point, usually the farmhouse, and then try to stretch a router across kilometres. It never works, because a router is built for a house. A farm needs a small network of its own: one strong feed onto the property at the point with the clearest view of a high site, then point-to-point links out to the sheds, packhouse, workshop, staff housing, pivots, pump stations, gate and cameras.

That network belongs to you. Whoever supplies the feed today, or whoever supplies it in five years, the links across the farm stay where they are.

The dish reaches one roof. The farm needs the rest.

A satellite dish, an LTE router or a fibre point gives you a connection at one building. Getting it to the rest of the farm is a separate job, and it is the job we do. From the building with the feed we run directional links outward and put outdoor access points where people actually work. If the feed changes later, nothing on the farm has to be rebuilt.

Common questions

How do I get Wi-Fi on a farm?

Get a strong feed onto the property once, at the one point with a clear view to a high site. Then carry it across the farm with your own links: house, sheds, packhouse, pivots, gate. Most farms struggle because they try to stretch one router across kilometres. The fix is a small network you own, built on line of sight.

How far can Wi-Fi reach outdoors?

From an ordinary router, a few dozen metres. From a good outdoor access point, a few hundred metres. For kilometres you need a point-to-point link: two directional radios aimed at each other. With clear line of sight that runs 5, 10 or 20 km and more.

Will a Wi-Fi extender reach my shed 2 km away?

No. Extenders are built for homes, and 2 km is link territory. You need two directional radios on poles or masts with a clear view of each other. Done right, that link is more reliable than the Wi-Fi inside most houses.

How high must my mast be?

High enough to clear the tallest thing on the path, with a margin for the radio zone around the line. On flat ground a 6 m pole is often enough. Across trees or a rise you may need 12 to 18 m, or a relay on a koppie instead. It is worked out from the terrain, never guessed.

The signal is on the hill, not at the house. Can I bring it down?

Yes, it is one of the most common builds we do. Put the receiver where the signal is strong, give it power (solar if needed), then send it to the house with a short point-to-point link. The house gets the hill's signal without anyone standing on the hill.

My phone has no signal on the farm. What can I do?

That is normal in much of rural South Africa, and it is not the end. You do not need signal everywhere, only one clear path from your property to a high site. Build that one link properly and calls and data work over it anywhere on the farm.

Will a signal booster fix it?

Only if there is already at least one usable bar outside. A booster makes a weak signal stronger but cannot create one. If there is nothing to boost, you need a link to where the signal is.

What happens in load shedding?

Each mast and radio runs on its own battery, and on solar where there is no mains. We size it for your stage and your site. A network that dies at the first outage was not finished.

Does this work for forestry plantations and sawmills?

Yes. A plantation is a farm with taller crops and longer distances: compartments, a sawmill or depot, weighbridges, fire lookouts and staff villages spread over hills. The backbone goes along the high ground above the trees, with solar-powered relays where there is no mains, and each site hangs off it. Growing trees close paths that were clear at planting, so the design must allow for the canopy at full height, not at survey time.

What does it cost?

It depends on distance, mast height, power and what the network must carry, so we do not quote blind. The Network Assessment is R3,500 excluding VAT and is credited against the build. You get a design and a firm number, and you keep the report either way.

How to build your own connectivity backbone across a farm or plantation

Owners ask us how to do this themselves. This is the order it is done in, whoever builds it.

1. Map every site that must be connected. House, offices, sheds, packhouse, cold rooms, sawmill, weighbridge, pump stations, pivots, gates, cameras, fire lookouts, staff housing. Put each one on a map with its height above the ground.
2. Work out what each site carries. A camera stream needs far more than a pump controller or a tank sensor. Video and office traffic go on the backbone; small telemetry can ride a low-power link off it.
3. Bring one strong feed onto the property. Not at the house by habit, but at the one point with the clearest view of a high site or the nearest real capacity. That point becomes the hub.
4. Build the backbone from the hub to the high ground and the main sites. Point-to-point links between masts, heights worked out from the terrain profile and the radio zone around the path, solar and battery at every relay without mains, lightning protection on every mast.
5. Extend from the backbone to where people and equipment are. Short links and outdoor access points off each backbone site. Keep cameras, guests, staff and controls on separate networks.
6. Test every path, then monitor it. Measured throughput at each site, not a guess; alerts when a relay loses power or a link degrades; a second path for anything that must never go down.

The backbone belongs to the property. Whoever supplies the feed today, or in five years, the links across the farm stay where they are. A worked example with real figures: a 30,000 ha property, three lodges, a 100 Mbps symmetrical feed and an 800 Mbps backbone. If you would rather have the design done for you, that is what the Network Assessment is.

Wi-Fi op die plaas

Wi-Fi op die plaas: hoe kry ek dit reg?

Kry eers 'n sterk verbinding op een punt op die plaas, waar jy 'n skoon sigblad na 'n hoë punt het. Dan versprei jy dit met jou eie skakels na die huis, die store, die pakhuis en die hek. 'n Router in die huis gaan nie 'n hele plaas dek nie. Jy het 'n klein netwerk nodig wat aan jou behoort.

Hoe hoog moet die mas wees?

Hoë genoeg om die hoogste ding op die pad skoon te maak, met 'n bietjie speling. Op plat grond is 'n paal van 6 m dikwels genoeg. Oor bome of 'n bult kan dit 12 tot 18 m wees, of 'n herhaler op 'n koppie. Ons werk dit uit die terrein uit, ons raai nie.

Ek het geen sein op die plaas nie. Wat nou?

Dit is normaal op baie plase, en dit is nie die einde nie. Jy het nie oral sein nodig nie, net een skoon pad van die plaas na 'n hoë punt. Bou daardie een skakel reg, en oproepe en data werk oral op die plaas.

Serving farms & agri-estates across South Africa

CTTX Services operates from Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and Cape Town across all nine provinces, with a focus on sites in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga where reliable business connectivity is hardest to get. If you run farms & agri-estates and your connection is holding your operation back, that's exactly the problem we solve. Sites with no coverage at all: see remote site connectivity.

Ready to start?

Request a site survey or a connectivity assessment for your site. Email sales@cttx.co.za or apply online and we'll come back with next steps.