Point-to-multipoint wireless in 2026: sharing one Starlink or Amazon Leo connection across several buildings

Earlier this month we looked at point-to-point wireless bridges: a matched pair of outdoor radios that links one building to another without digging a trench. That works brilliantly for a single garden office or workshop. But many of the properties we survey have more than one outbuilding. A farm might have a farmhouse, a dairy, a workshop and a farm shop. A holiday business might have a main house and several lodges or cabins. A small business site might have offices, a warehouse and a gatehouse.

Running a separate pair of radios to every building quickly becomes expensive and untidy. That is where point-to-multipoint wireless comes in, and 2026 has brought new hub-and-client kit that makes it far more approachable for homes and smaller businesses. In this post we explain how it works, what has launched and how it fits a property connected by Starlink or, when it arrives, Amazon Leo.

Point-to-point versus point-to-multipoint

A point-to-point (PtP) link is two radios aimed only at each other, like a private cable through the air. A point-to-multipoint (PtMP) network has one central radio, often called the hub, access point or sector, and several client radios, one on each building that needs a connection. The hub uses a wider antenna pattern so it can see all of the clients at once, while each client uses a narrower, focused antenna pointed back at the hub.

The result is a star-shaped network. The satellite connection arrives at the main building, the hub shares it outwards, and every outbuilding gets a wired Ethernet connection at its end, ready for a switch, a Wi-Fi access point or a camera. Adding another building later usually means adding one more client radio rather than building a whole new link.

The new hub-and-client kit in 2026

TP-Link's Omada range has built a complete point-to-multipoint family this year. Its Sector Bridge 5 is a dedicated central hub with a 120 degree horizontal beamwidth, 16 dBi antennas and a 5 GHz link rated at up to 867 Mbps over distances of up to 5 km. TP-Link says one Sector Bridge can serve up to 32 Flex Bridge 5 clients using TDMA scheduling, and it can be powered by 802.3af PoE, passive PoE or a 12V DC supply, which suits solar-powered sites. At the time of writing the UK product page lists it as coming soon.

The matching Flex Bridge 5 client has a narrower 40 degree beam, three Gigabit ports and two PoE output ports that can power IP cameras. Flex Bridges can also work together without a Sector Bridge, and TP-Link says that arrangement is optimised for around eight nodes. Pairing is done with physical DIP switches and a role switch rather than a complicated setup process, and the Omada app gives visual alignment guidance. Like every manufacturer, TP-Link points out that its distance and capacity figures come from lab testing and real-world results will vary.

Grandstream released its GWN7302 fixed wireless bridge in January. It supports both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint modes, uses TDMA, is rated for up to 5 km with IP66 weatherproofing, and has two Gigabit ports with PoE in and PoE out. Grandstream quotes 2.4 Gbps aggregate wireless throughput.

At the professional end, Ubiquiti's Wave 60 GHz platform received a firmware update this year that, according to Ubiquiti's release notes, improves 60 GHz point-to-multipoint performance when several stations are connected, along with backup radio channel selection and stability fixes. Cambium Networks released ePMP software 5.12 at the end of July, which lets supported ePMP 4000 subscriber radios be converted into small access points serving up to eight connections. These are aimed mainly at wireless broadband operators, but they show how much attention multipoint wireless is getting.

Why TDMA matters when several buildings share a link

Ordinary Wi-Fi lets devices take turns by listening and then talking when the airwaves seem quiet. Over long outdoor distances that breaks down, because buildings far apart cannot always hear each other and end up talking over one another. Engineers call this the hidden node problem, and it is a common reason older multipoint setups felt slow or unreliable.

TDMA, or time division multiple access, solves it by letting the hub act as a timekeeper. It hands out time slots, so each client knows exactly when to transmit. That keeps the link orderly as more buildings join and helps share capacity fairly, which is why TDMA now appears in the specifications of most serious multipoint kit.

Sharing a satellite connection fairly

It is worth being clear about one thing: a multipoint network shares the internet connection, it does not multiply it. Every building draws on the same satellite service. The wireless capacity of a modern hub is usually well above what a satellite connection delivers, so the radio link is rarely the bottleneck; the satellite plan is.

Good planning keeps that sharing under control:

• Choose a satellite plan that suits the total number of people and devices across every building, not just the main house.

• Use per-building or per-network rate limits where the kit supports them, so one busy lodge cannot slow everyone else down.

• Separate traffic with VLANs, for example owner, staff, guest and CCTV networks, so visitors never share a network with business systems.

• Prioritise video calls and card payments over large downloads where the router or switches allow it.

• Put the hub, the satellite router and the main switch on a small battery backup so short power cuts do not drop every building at once.

Planning a multipoint layout

The hub position is the most important decision. It needs a clear line of sight to every client building, so it usually goes high on a gable, a chimney bracket or a pole, near the middle of the site rather than at one edge. A 120 degree sector cannot see a building behind it, so on a site spread all around the main house we may use two hubs pointing in different directions, or a mix of multipoint and point-to-point links.

Trees, hedges and other buildings are the usual enemies, and a path that is clear in winter can close up in summer. Every client radio needs a rigid fixing, an outdoor-rated cable, a weatherproof entry and proper earthing. At each outbuilding the radio feeds a small switch or an access point, often powered over PoE, so the Wi-Fi inside is just as good as in the main house.

The satellite dish itself still goes wherever it has the clearest view of the sky. That may be the main roof, but it can just as easily be a barn roof or a pole at the edge of a yard, with the multipoint hub sitting on whichever building gives the best view of the others.

When point-to-point is still the better choice

Multipoint is not always the answer. If there is only one outbuilding, a matched point-to-point pair is simpler and gives that building the whole link. If one building needs very high capacity, such as a busy office or a building that relays the connection onwards, a dedicated point-to-point link for that building alongside a multipoint hub for the rest is a common and sensible design. And where a trench is short and easy, a buried armoured cable or fibre run still beats any radio for long-term reliability.

Professional installation by Space Internet Solutions

Space Internet Solutions installs Starlink and prepares homes and businesses for Amazon Leo, and on multi-building sites we design the whole network together: the dish position, the hub and client radios, outdoor cabling, PoE switches, access points and CCTV links. Through our nationwide network of trusted PLEO (Professional Low Earth Orbit) installers, we can survey, align and test multipoint systems for farms, holiday businesses, equestrian yards and commercial sites anywhere in the UK.

If you have one satellite connection and several buildings that need it, talk to us before buying any kit. To book a survey or installation with a trusted professional installer nationwide, visit spaceinternetsolutions.com.

Sources: TP-Link Omada UK product pages for Sector Bridge 5 and Flex Bridge 5, Grandstream press release of 21 January 2026 for the GWN7302, Ubiquiti Wave PTMP/PTP 4.1.1 release notes, and Cambium Networks announcement of 18 August 2026 on ePMP software 5.12.