![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
GotNoRice
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2001
- Messages
- 12,016
If you dont feel like reading the back-story, you can skip to the last paragraph.
My friend lives out in the middle of nowhere, like in the middle of a forest. He has had dial-up for the longest time, and they just made broadband available, but its way expensive there. Anyway, his neighbor that lives not so far away said that he could use his net if he wanted to via WiFi. Their houses are far enough apart that you cant really connect to it directly from my friends house. Netstumber will see it on and off, and sometimes windows will let you connect, but it never gets an IP. If I take the laptop outside, even to his front porch, it works (still very weak though). We tried using a belkin range extender and put it outside hanging off a tree, but it didnt work that well. We could connect to the range extender fine, but it seemed like there was a problem with the net between the first AP and the range extender.
Finally we got the idea that we would just put a computer outside, within range of the access point, run a cable in to his house from that, and then bridge the wired and wireless connections. We took his old dell, loaded it up, and changed a few things to make it a little more headless-friendly. We put it outside, under the corner of his house that is closest to his neighbors, then we ran the USB wireless adaptor up the wall and sat it on an elevated position, then covered it loosely with a bag
Its been about two days so far, and the computer seems okay so far. The dell isnt that old, so were going to use that for a week or maybe more till I can throw together more of a basher out of spare closet junk. Im not really worried about the computer getting messed up out there; Im really just concerned with getting him good stable internet for a long time. It works GREAT right now, but I dont really want to have to put a new one out there every month or whatever.
How long can someone expect a computer to last outside? They have a TV outside under an overhang and its been there for a long time (years) and it still works. What could potentially be a problem? He lives out in the woods, so spiders are everywhere. Im sure they are making their nice new homes in there as we speak are spiders harmful to a computer? What about other things like dew, etc? Its pretty well protected against rain, but thats about it. Also, is there any computer that would be better for operation outside than another? Like would a Dell Pentium 2 make a better outdoor system than a Compaq K6-2?
My friend lives out in the middle of nowhere, like in the middle of a forest. He has had dial-up for the longest time, and they just made broadband available, but its way expensive there. Anyway, his neighbor that lives not so far away said that he could use his net if he wanted to via WiFi. Their houses are far enough apart that you cant really connect to it directly from my friends house. Netstumber will see it on and off, and sometimes windows will let you connect, but it never gets an IP. If I take the laptop outside, even to his front porch, it works (still very weak though). We tried using a belkin range extender and put it outside hanging off a tree, but it didnt work that well. We could connect to the range extender fine, but it seemed like there was a problem with the net between the first AP and the range extender.
Finally we got the idea that we would just put a computer outside, within range of the access point, run a cable in to his house from that, and then bridge the wired and wireless connections. We took his old dell, loaded it up, and changed a few things to make it a little more headless-friendly. We put it outside, under the corner of his house that is closest to his neighbors, then we ran the USB wireless adaptor up the wall and sat it on an elevated position, then covered it loosely with a bag
Its been about two days so far, and the computer seems okay so far. The dell isnt that old, so were going to use that for a week or maybe more till I can throw together more of a basher out of spare closet junk. Im not really worried about the computer getting messed up out there; Im really just concerned with getting him good stable internet for a long time. It works GREAT right now, but I dont really want to have to put a new one out there every month or whatever.
How long can someone expect a computer to last outside? They have a TV outside under an overhang and its been there for a long time (years) and it still works. What could potentially be a problem? He lives out in the woods, so spiders are everywhere. Im sure they are making their nice new homes in there as we speak are spiders harmful to a computer? What about other things like dew, etc? Its pretty well protected against rain, but thats about it. Also, is there any computer that would be better for operation outside than another? Like would a Dell Pentium 2 make a better outdoor system than a Compaq K6-2?
