extending wireless router range..

[Theodore Cleaver]

Living in the country..only have a person or 2 that can get DSL service near me . My next door neighbor 120 ft away has agreeded to put a wireless router on her connection..my router is a Linksys 2.4 G ..is there a cheap easy way to give it a little more range..gets about 1 bar of strength now..bought a antenna 7db w a tnc connection ebay $6 have not received yet ,seem like I just attach to the back inplace of one of the other antennas..info kinda vague..think it will add a little range?. Any tips ..it will be located on the room of their house (nearest to me)and by /near a window..needs to penatrate 2-4 walls. Many Thanks "the Beav"

[CharminEyes]

Yes, that antenna should give you an extra bar or two of signal strength, and that may be enough on your end. However, remember it's a two-way conversation between your router and your neighbor's, so it would also help if your neighbor puts one on their end as well.

If that doesn't work satisfactorily, you might also look at range extenders, there are several models available. The one from Linksys is their WRE54G, but it is only for the "G" standard and you'll probably want to run "N" at this distance.

Hope this helps.

[Mokoa]

Even with the antennas, the wireless G standard still has a limited range. It was never really designed to go beyond a dwelling. You may want to consider wireless N instead to insure signal quality. Its range is significantly better.

[Theodore Cleaver]

Im sorry my router will be at the neighbors ..my wireless router will be plugged in to their dsl modem and a ethernet from router to their desktop, which is all the have. Does a n have a further range? Trying to avoid purchasing another router though..thanks for reply CE..

[Theodore Cleaver]

Thanks Mokoa I guess I was posting when you replied..any and all imput apprec..

[Capt. Lincoln F. Stern]

www.fabcorp.com get a nice 22 db external antenna and aim it at the hotspot. Look into a Bridge (turns wifi into ethernet cable) .. I have beamed over 300 feet using flat panel antennas with amps..

it gets complicated so read up

[gnadfly]

Stupid question: can you just run an ethernet cable the 120 feet?

[knowshisstuff]

consider a wireless repeater. it should boost the range of the access point. but truth be told, I have gotten someone's computer to hook up to their friend's WiFi connection, and they about 4-5 houses apart.

[Capt. Lincoln F. Stern]

Originally Posted by gnadfly

Stupid question: can you just run an ethernet cable the 120 feet?

Ethernet can be run 328 feet and maintain 100 mbit (Cat5 and Cat5E)
Cat6 which supports above gigabit speeds can run 328 feet before it drops down in speed
if you and he are next door and do not mind the digging, get some PVC, and bury a direct cable from him to you.

Also, it might not be cheaper than DSL or cable but ask about ISDN.. its not as fast but its faster than dialup

[Theodore Cleaver]

Thought of the pvc /ethernet..however cement driveways & a garage are in the way. What % of range would you gain going from G (which I have)to N ? Not sure what ISDN is ..dont have a landline either..many thanks for all the replies..Dont need much more strength 50 or so feet and to penetrate a few walls.

[Capt. Lincoln F. Stern]

Originally Posted by Theodore Cleaver

Thought of the pvc /ethernet..however cement driveways & a garage are in the way. What % of range would you gain going from G (which I have)to N ? Not sure what ISDN is ..dont have a landline either..many thanks for all the replies..Dont need much more strength 50 or so feet and to penetrate a few walls.

G and N are faster but their range is shorter. According to Fluke networks
G will go about 90 feet LOS (line of sight) with ideal conditions
B (11 mbit) will go about 160.

If bridging is not really an option, see about an external AP and placing it as close to your property on his land as you can with a directional aimed at your place or a big Omi antenna.

As for burying the cable... you can also hang it outside or run it in the attic until you need to hop it over to another building (garage) then back into the attic etc.

Doing what you sound like you want done will have cost and its what you want to spend and how much you know how to do will be the main factor

[Capt. Lincoln F. Stern]

Originally Posted by Theodore Cleaver

Thought of the pvc /ethernet..however cement driveways & a garage are in the way. What % of range would you gain going from G (which I have)to N ? Not sure what ISDN is ..dont have a landline either..many thanks for all the replies..Dont need much more strength 50 or so feet and to penetrate a few walls.

ISDN or Intergrated Service Digital Network basically means a pair of wires from the main phone switch in your area is extended to your house, and you complete the switchback on that pair (or pairs if you have dual channel isdn)
Cost is higher) and it gets more technical, but you do not dial a number, and it is symmetrical unlike ADSL (or DSL as we seem to know it) which is Asymmetrical.

Symmetrical means your upload speed is the same as your download speed.

Asymmetrical means your download speed is faster than your upload.

Usually if you have 3 megabit download speed you might get up to 1 megabit up.

down side to isdn is most is 128kbit

[JRLawrence]

Originally Posted by Theodore Cleaver

Living in the country..only have a person or 2 that can get DSL service near me . My next door neighbor 120 ft away has agreeded to put a wireless router on her connection..my router is a Linksys 2.4 G ..is there a cheap easy way to give it a little more range..gets about 1 bar of strength now..bought a antenna 7db w a tnc connection ebay $6 have not received yet ,seem like I just attach to the back inplace of one of the other antennas..info kinda vague..think it will add a little range?. Any tips ..it will be located on the room of their house (nearest to me)and by /near a window..needs to penatrate 2-4 walls. Many Thanks "the Beav"

I have a directional antenna to send and receive to a Mac wireless; it works great over a two block range. We actually picked up another network 4 blocks away. We set to internal setting on the ether net transport (airport) to only recognize the receiving computer and the problems of receiving, or being heard by others, was solved.

JR

[Capt. Lincoln F. Stern]

A 19 dbi directional can shoot over 500 feet easy. Look into amplifiers (up to about 1-5 watts max) and see about doing a direct line of sight

[GneissGuy]

Watch the wireless range extenders. Some of them only work with certain brands and models of routers. Some of them claim to be universal, but aren't. Some of them just plain suck in all cases. They are great when they do work.

In theory, it doesn't matter which end the directional antenna is on. A directional antenna helps the transmitted signal just as much as the received signal. However, the gains do "add," so putting a directional antenna on both ends does help. Many high gain antennas need to be pointed in the correct direction. It's like a spotlight. You can focus the light (signal) into a narrow beam, but it lights up a smaller area, so you have to point it in the right direction, or you get a weaker signal.

There's a lot of black magic in radio/wireless signals. Sometimes moving one of the antennas a few inches will help. Sometimes things work backwards of what you expect. Usually putting the antenna higher helps, but sometimes it works better if it's lower. Think of the old days of TV with rabbit ears where you waved your arms around and it helped. It may take a lot of trial and error.

There are also a lot of snake oil devices with wireless. Some people sell "high gain" antennas that do almost nothing. This is especially true about the antennas that promise good gain in a small package, especially the cool looking flat packages.

Wireless N devices are supposed to have better range than G devices.

Even among the same "class" of devices, or even the same brand and model, there's a lot of variation in how well they work with weak signals.

Penetrating walls is iffy. Some walls are "transparent" to wifi, some are opaque.

It's getting harder and harder to do external antennas. Lots of the routers have external antennas, but they don't unscrew. Or they have no external antennas at all. There are also different connectors on some routers. What model router do you have?

On the receiving/PC end, it's even worse. It's getting hard to find a wireless adapter with external antenna connections.

Be careful with the cable you use between the antenna and the router. There's a lot of signal loss at 2.4 GHz in coax cable. Keep the cable short, and only use antenna cable specifically intended for this use.

One would think you could use a router on each end. Plug the internet into the router at your neighbor's house via the ethernet cable. Then plug a router in your house at a high spot, let it pick up the wireless and hook up to it either through ethernet, or wireless. Unfortunately, this often doesn't work. Even wireless repeaters/range extenders are pretty hit or miss in terms of whether they will be compatible with a particular wireless router.

The really bad part about what you're trying to do is that usually the only way to figure it out is to try it and see if it works in your particular case.

ISDN sucks compared to broadband. However it sucks a little less than dialup.