Wireless with best range

[bregent]

A friend has DSL and he rents a small apartment next to his house for his business. He wants to use a wireless router to share his internet connection from his home to his office. It's probably 75 feet as the crow flies between the two computers, and of course there are several walls it needs to penetrate. Are there any wireless routers with the range to accomplish this? Thanks.

[reader]

BRegent,

I investigated wireless pretty thoroughly because my DSL connection is a good 75 feet away from the computers I wanted to hook up to the network. The route was through 3 or more walls and a ceiling with numerous heating ducts.

There is a good rule of thumb: if it is "line of sight" (without obstructions) the 100mw units (Linksys and others) will work very well. But your friend's situation sure isn't "line of sight."

Another option is to put a "wireless access point" on a cabled connection much closer to his office by hardwiring it to the network and placing the access point in an attic or crawlspace. He could even run cable to a site somewhere on his property that has line of sight to his office, and mount it in an enclosure.
He also needs AC.

The above option means buying a DSL router AND a wireless access point (transmitter.) His home computer would be hardwired and his office computer would link to the WAP. Some companies build WAP antennae that attach to the OUTSIDE of buildings and look like a small dryer vent (well, sort of...you have to use your imagination!) Other external antennae look like the cardboard inside a roll of paper towels and mount on the exterior of the building. The apartment building, unfortunately, probably has heating ducts all over the place which can really block his wireless range.

Check out these links:

http://www.proxim.com/learn/library/whitepapers/wp2001-06-what.html#config

http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2001/1204wlesslan.html

http://www.beacon-link.co.uk/wireless_antennas_features.htm

As fascinating as it all was, I found it a bit of overkill. I simply ran a cat5e cable!

[bregent]

Thanks reader,

To clarify the rental situation, it is not an appartment building, but rather the ground level of a house directly across the street from his residence. So it is line of sight, but there are 2 exterior walls and 3 or 4 interior walls that it would need to deal with.

I know practically nothing about wireless, but my thought was that he would use a Wireless router, hardwired to his home computer, and a USB wireless network adapter in his office.

Could you please explain what the difference is between a Wireless Access Point and a Wireless Adapter is, and when you would use each. Thanks again,

--bob

[reader]

Given the description you posted, I think I would try the cheap route first and get a wireless router and see if it makes the connection. You could return it if it doesn't work.

There's no sense mounting a major effort if it isn't necessary. There's no way of telling if it will work in your friend's situation without trying it.

Definitely get the USB based wireless receiver because these can be moved or mounted on walls, bookshelves in locations where there is a "sweet spot" for the signal. In any event, that's probably going to be the best receiver unless you go a much more expensive route.

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Other notes

A wireless router is a cable/dsl router for sharing internet connections WITH a wireless transmitter built in.

A Wireless access point is just the transmitter and antenna. See this Linksys product page:

http://linksys.com/Products/product.asp?grid=22&prid=157

The access point connects like a computer or printserver with a regular ethernet plug into the back of the router...but you could run lots of cable between the router and the wireless access point.

The advantage of having the router separate in your case MIGHT be that you could locate the router at the main (home?) computer and then run cat5e cable up to the attic and locate the wireless access point closer to the front of the house...or even in front of an attic vent or something so it would be going through wood instead of brick/masonry.

The wireless adaptor is the USB/PCMCIA or other type receiver that functions like an ethernet card...only it receives the wireless signal from the network.

I've had lots of friends try wireless with lots of problems. One of them can't get good coverage in a medium sized home. He reverted to hard wire. Another has a larger home and his works fine.

All this stuff about 500 feet indoor range is baloney. If someone steps in front of the receiver/transmitter the signal drops out. Heating ducts bounce the signal all over the place. All the promised laptop freedom down at the pool depends on which way you sit in the chair!

Passing vehicle traffic on the street, electric utility lines etc. are all going to affect how well your friend's idea will work.

And DON'T FORGET SECURITY. You want to protect a network that's hanging out in the street! Some of the products have it, some don't.

Here's a roundup of wireless routers reviewed -- read the stuff written by the users.

http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2846911,00.html

http://hwreviews.netscape.com/hardware/0-1037.html

[biggjohnson]

http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

I'm going to try this soon, just read about it a couple days ago.
Sounds interesting.

[reader]

BRegent,

This is not as cheap as the tin can route...

...but I've been revisiting some of the links I found when I investigated wireless on a serious basis. I think a lot of people are only interested in a SOHO situation and this company even makes solutions for them.

The idea is that the real core of any wireless system is the antenna that creates the link to the users. The more gain, the stronger the signal. You get more gain by narrowing all of your signal strength into one direction. The narrower the beam, the stronger the signal, but the smaller the area that's getting that signal.

Check out a company that specializes in LAN bridging solutions with all kinds of antennae. They’re called Hyperlink.

http://www.hyperlinktech.com/index.html

They’re selling a package as Linksys compatible that’s what I call a “dryer vent” and they call a “smoke alarm” style antenna for $130.

For $130 there is an enclosed Yagi antenna with 14dBi (gain) 30 degree signal beam model. This is really getting professional. Again, they sell as a “kit” for Linksys products. The higher gain of this antenna and narrower beam would be much more likely to “penetrate” exterior and interior walls and deliver a better signal. Scroll down to see the "tube-type" enclosed Yagi antenna!

http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/antennas_2400.html


And, just for fun, at the very high end of the scale, HyperLink Technologies sells a preconfigured “kit” to link two locations up to 10 miles apart!

http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/backbone.html

BRegent, I would still try a plain "out of the box" solution. It doesn't have to be Linksys, I just use them as an example. Let us know your results, be they good or bad!

Good Luck!

[bregent]

Thanks to both of you for the replies, links and explanations. They've been extrememly helpful.

--bob