Is this network possible?

[cdrasmu]

Hello, I am from argentina and I am trying to make a LAN between three houses that are 400 meters appart.
Wireless is too expensive for those distances so I thought in using three Cable modems on a private Cable system (I will put the cable through the blocks). Is it possible?

Something like this

Using a DHCP cable modem to assign the IP

The use is to connect by a Cable Modem with a Cable TV

one modem
|
| 400 meters
|
another modem and the internet cable modem
|
| 400 meters
|
another modem

What are the distance possible?

Thank you

Ciro Rasmussen
cdrasmu@hotmail.com

[BDillon21]

The distances you are trying to achieve are possible, but your setup is not. There is a lot more to a cable modem than hooking it up to cable. 400 meters is a stretch for wireless, you would need to have signal boosters. Your options would be, wireless with the use of signal boosters, wired with the use of repeaters, or by having all computers connected to the Internet via broadband and then set up a VPN.

[cdrasmu]

The problem of wireless (at least here in Argentina where we had a change of 1 U$S=1 peso until November and afterwards 1U$S=3.7 pesos, without any raise in the sallary!!!) is that it is VERY expensive even if you buy it in the US.
As a cable modem in the US is around 80 to 100 dollars I thought in this solution.
Using Cable modems, how would I have to set it up.
ADSL or cable is costing arround 100 the installation plus 20 (U$S) every month and if I have to pay for three of them it goes way behind the money we can afford.
The use I was looking for was to share de broadband connection with some friends(256Kbits and thanks).

Thank you

Ciro

[cyberskye]

In the end, it would probably be cheaper to get each their own cable service. You would have to buy seceral pieces of extra equipment and poossibly have some of it outside. 100meters is the limit on ethernet - you would have to place a switch or repeater every 100 meters.

Skye

[koldchillah]

I was in Buenos Aires (my first time outside the US) last summer meeting most of my in-laws for the first time and noticed that many of the houses were sharing walls.

Were you going to run cable directly into an adjoining house right through the wall or will it go outside first?

If it's straight through on the inside, I would think several switches and/or repeaters, like Cyberskye said, would do the trick in order to run the cable to the extent of your network. That way, you would only have upfront costs on the equipment and not recurring monthly charges for independent service lines. You would be wasting a lot of switch ports though.

Isn't wireless cheaper now that the currency changed. Everything else sure is cheaper. I've been talking to a lot of very happy Argentines lately! I can't wait to go back and enjoy some more authentic argentine parillada!

If you have to run the cable outside or underground, good luck.