Range of wireless networks?

[maleficarus]

Basically I want to steal or "borrow" depending on what way you look at it, the wireless unsecured internet connections in my apartment building. I have read wirelessG has an effective range of around 100 feet 360 degrees depending on interference. I can't seem to figure out the range of wirelessN although I read from a few data-sheets it is around 10X farther then G so around 1000 feet?

So my math tells me 100 feet is as tall as a 10 story building and so 1000 feet would be a 100 story building?

Seems odd to me but if this is true I live in a 3 story building but it is long not tall. So I guess I would leech connections of a shit load of insecure connections right?

 

[killab33]

could be but you never know if the connection is worth it or not. better to scan a small area than a larger where signals can be very week on you even though you think like OH 100 stories down imma get a good connection even if its insecure.

 

[B1zz]

also, per the wireless protocols, the farther you get from the antenna the slower the speed it can mange, 802.11g may be good for upwards of 150-200 feet but you may only be getting about 2Mbps out of it due to distance, interference and multi-pathing.

 

[Orinthical]

First thing to keep in mind is that the marketed range is always line-of-sight without obstruction or interference which usually means outdoors. Real wireless range is so subjective that it's reckless to tell anyone anything about distance until you've done a site survey or at least know compositions, distances and obstructions. In most buildings, especially older ones where the walls are thicker and usually well insulated, it's not uncommon to see signal strength drop to unusable after only one floor. This is usually because each floor in an apartment or corporate building is usually concrete. In a single family home the floors are wood with little to no insulation between floors; so it's an apples to oranges comparison. Many corporate/apartment/high-rise/hotel installations require at least one AP per floor in order to provide respectable signal strength.

Even with a high-gain antenna, you'd only be heightening your side of the connection unless you connected a similar antenna to the source.

 

[the_b_man]

Yep, apt. buildings have lots of concrete so I doubt you could get a signal from more than a few floors away. I pick up 20+ networks (6 storey building) but I suspect some are from across the street line-of-sight, the rest being on the same or +/- 1 floor.