2.5KM wireless link? Possible?

G

genesis[OFT]

n00b
Joined
May 23, 2006
Messages
59
Hi all.

Like a few people in this forum, a friend of mine and myself are thinking of setting up a long range wireless link between our houses. They're roughly 2.5KM away (translate into miles for US people...whatever it'd be) but I've yet to get on my roof to see whether we have any form of Line of Sight.

Anyway, more specifically, we're going to be using IEEE 802.11g WiFi Technology to do it (obviously).

For the antennas, we're both thinking of getting two of these. For the cable linking the antennas to the access points, we're thinking two of these. And lastly, the APs themselves, which we're not really sure about. We're thinking, obviously, whatever the cable\antenna can attach too, but, I think we'll stay with NETGEAR products for the moment. We've considered this and this, with the last one being the 'enterprise' product. Nonetheless, they both support WDS and repeater mode, which is what we'll be needing.

So, overall, do you think I am getting the right gear? I mean, the antennas are rated for a MAX. of a 15.8KM link, line of sight, obviously, and although we don't have line of sight, if we both put these on our roofs and point them at each other, what would be the chance that we'd have sucess? There would be roads, trees and houses in between, however, i'd probably put the antenna on a pole.
 
I think you might want to go with a Parabolic antenna (like this) instead. Now, depending on local regulations you might be able to get an amplifier as well to help.
 
Hmm, hadn't thought of the Cantennas. I'll have to look into it, as they are MUCH cheaper than the NETGEAR ones. I like the idea of a parabolic dish too - it'd be fairly discrete next to a TV antenna as well - well, at least until I start having more than 1 wireless link spawn from my house :D. Parabolic Dish galore!
 
Lets see.

10 miles or more without breaking a sweat

No

even with trees and other simple obstructions in the LOS pathway.


Not only no, but laughable.

Simple.


And another no for you. Ghost sounds like most amateurs that have put up a link from the house to the garage and think all wireless is cheese.

Though the 30 degree on the cantenna would be a much better choice. The patches are 60 and 30 degree directional. They'd probably work though for that short a distance. Your cable choice however would not help your effort. 2 db of loss per foot. Horrible. If yoru going to do anything over 10 foot coax you'll want to go with LMR400 or equivalent. Anything at 50 or over and your looking at very expensive cable runs.
 
Simply put, DO NOT do a long cable run. Get a PoE capable access point and put the AP in a weather-proof housing so you can use less than 3ft of coax.

Trees will obliterate a signal, you REALLY need LOS to do 2.5KM. The Cantenna should do 2.5KM LOS, assuming you are using two and 3ft of coax or less on each end. I know a modified DSS antenna will do it with zero issues LOS. ( http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/Airport/Primestar/Primestar.html )

Something to consider would be a pair of WRT54GLs flashed with DDWRT in bridge mode. That way you could increase the transmit power for an even better signal. You would have to manually add PoE to them tho.
 
Hmm...ok, i'll have to look into putting an ethernet cable onto my roof :p But seriously, i'd imagine that's how you'd do it wouldn't you? Ethernet cable up the side of the house? Because, I can't put it through the ceiling....Insulation was installed last year :\
 
genesis[OFT] said:
Hmm...ok, i'll have to look into putting an ethernet cable onto my roof :p But seriously, i'd imagine that's how you'd do it wouldn't you? Ethernet cable up the side of the house? Because, I can't put it through the ceiling....Insulation was installed last year :\
Click to expand...

Yup, up the side of the house is fine.
 
That netgear cable you linked to is just plain useless

i would recommend some lmr400 or cnr 400 with a male and female n connector for anything over 1 metre

parabolic dish antennas would work a lot better and are not that much
http://www.techtopia.com.au/product_info.php/cPath/1_19_50/products_id/1048
an australian mob over in perth (for some reason a lot of the good wifi dealers are in perth o_O)

add a suitable pigtail for the ap you are getting http://www.techtopia.com.au/index.php/cPath/1_33

pity you cannot really find decent senao aps with detachable antennas these days :(
or at least i haven't been able to

now the best option would be to stick the ap up on the mast in a weatherproof box
http://freenet-antennas.com/rootenna.htm :) antenna and weather proof box in one (another perth mob)

http://freenet-antennas.com/MnM/index.htm i would definatly look at this and my preferance would be for the MnM 8 kit


edited for spelling and stuff <.< >.>
 
You should go with a 400mw senao router... Senao is best when dealing with anything long range...
 
tacitus said:
i would recommend some lmr400 or cnr 400 with a male and female n connector for anything over 1 metre
Click to expand...

Could you recommend any Australian retailers for these cables? Or could I just hope off to a hardware store\electronics store and they'd have some? Like, how difficult would it be to get some...

Really, I have no idea where to get Senano APs or Minitar ones....well, MAYBE the Minitar, but not the Senano ones. I think I'll either have to get some Linksyses or stay with the NETGEARs, the NETGEARs being the easiest option (For the latter, I'd be buying from an Australian local Retailer in Brisbane, Queensland - http://www.computeralliance.com.au/)
 
Marv
yes its the best but it is rather expensive :) /me pats his 3 senao pcmcia cards and 2 senao aps


Genesis the links i posted are australian companies in perth they sell lmr400 or cnr400

for more details what part of .au are you in :) Alice springs here
 
tacticus said:
Marv
yes its the best but it is rather expensive :) /me pats his 3 senao pcmcia cards and 2 senao aps


Genesis the links i posted are australian companies in perth they sell lmr400 or cnr400

for more details what part of .au are you in :) Alice springs here
Click to expand...

If you want done something correctly though without any problems... Senao is best... Oh yeah... I've got some too... :D

Your next bet would be linksys wrt54g with DD-WRT and change the power... Hook that up to a 15-18dbi omni or directional antenna with appropriate connectors.... For long wiring you gotta use Times Warner LMR-400 patched to your router to antenna... For 12 feet or less you can use LMR-200...
 
genesis[OFT] said:
Could you recommend any Australian retailers for these cables? Or could I just hope off to a hardware store\electronics store and they'd have some? Like, how difficult would it be to get some...

Really, I have no idea where to get Senano APs or Minitar ones....well, MAYBE the Minitar, but not the Senano ones. I think I'll either have to get some Linksyses or stay with the NETGEARs, the NETGEARs being the easiest option (For the latter, I'd be buying from an Australian local Retailer in Brisbane, Queensland - http://www.computeralliance.com.au/)
Click to expand...

You could buy some on ebay...
 
bbz_Ghost said:
http://www.cantenna.com/

One for him, one for you, 10 miles or more without breaking a sweat, even with trees and other simple obstructions in the LOS pathway.

Simple.
Click to expand...

I could barely push 3/4 of a mile with a cantenna, and my packets dropped like flies. Im not talking about establishing a connection good enough to ping, I mean something good enough to host a game server behind... Cantennas suck.

I ended up buying a tranzeo 802.11b bridge, its a beige rectangle... 220mW radio stuck in a plastic and metal box, with a built in 15Dbi antenna. With a pair of those, http://radiolabs.com/stations/wifi_calc.html says I can do 10 miles with a signal at -70.7Dbm which is fairly crappy.

With trees in the way over 10 miles, Im not even sure if 900Mhz could punch through and maintain a tolerable connection.
 
Alright. Thanks everyone for the ideas :D. I'm quite sure they'll all come in use somewhere along the line of this (small?) project.

I think at the moment we'll just get an IPSec tunnel up between my house and his using the 'net first. Then in a few weeks get this bad boy up and going :cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top