Wireless Network of about 1km Range

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hauntedfury

Weaksauce
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Jul 4, 2005
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Ok guys, actually i am planning to connect my pc wirelessly to my friends pc whose house is around 1 km away from mine...... So can someone guide me out what kind of equipment would be need to achieve a network having this much range. Budget is a big issue so recommend me the cheapest way that would make this possible.
Adios
 
First things first do you have decent line of site? If so you could get away with a senao 2611-cb3 deluxe with an external antenna (19db+). But like I said depends on line of site.
 
Ive read of guys making antennas for shooting wireless signals out of stuff like pringles cans and the like .. they got quite a range with it , but had to "aim" it correctly

I forget where I read that ..its some site I think thats devoted to making antenna type devices on the cheap ..this was awhile ago tho .

**Aaahhh Found it**

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/448

Apparently, antennas of comparable gain cost upwards of $150. Over a clear line of sight, with short antenna cable runs, a 12db to 12db can-to-can shot should be able to carry an 11Mbps link well over ten miles.

Have fun!
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Where are you? The 1km thing has me asking.

In the US, max transmit power is 30dB, in England its like 20dB, so a smaller antenna would be required or the ability to drop the transmitting power.

1km is just over half a mile, right? Something along the lines of a 10-15dB directional and a pair of WAP54G access points in bridge mode would do the trick at about $150 USD per location, assuming you already have line of site.

Honestly, WAP54G plus the Linksys 7dB antenna might work in line of site.
 
Assuming I remember correct, I had my wrt54g w/ 9 dbi high gain on it, got 1500 or so feet range to my buddy's laptop with no antenna mods. So its possible yes, but that was basically line of sight.

Mainly the line of sight thing is the biggest.
 
Well, about the line of sight. I cannot see my friends house directly from mine but theres not much in the middle of the two houses also just some trees and other houses....
 
If you dont have LOS its gonna be tough. But if you have LOS of his roof you can get two poe bridges and an external antenna and you will be fine.

LOS is a huge deal, some times you can get away with out having it but your connection will drop suddenly for no reason, (i know from personal experience) it will come back but it really sucks for any type of gaming.
 
Well from roof to roof.....If i go very high up from my roof then yes i would be able to see his roof but you know i cant fly :D
 
Then you will have a lot of probems getting a link between the two places. Unless you plan on useing 900mHz gear........
 
hauntedfury said:
Well, about the line of sight. I cannot see my friends house directly from mine but theres not much in the middle of the two houses also just some trees and other houses....
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Trees are pretty bad for wirelessG stuff. Leaves have a lot of moisture which just loves absorbing that microwave radiation.
Wireless A might work a bit better with a pair of cantennas.
 
id pick up a pre n router. they have great range somthing like the Belkin Wireless Pre-N Router (F5D8230-4) should do the trick....ive heard of people getting a couple miles of range...lol secure your network or youl make everyone in a 2 mile radius with a wifi card happy ;)
 
There is really no way of telling how it would work for him. If I was in the same situation as him I would try and borrow some gear first and try it to see if it would actually work. Instead of buying it and it not working.

When it come to Wireless and no LOS its hard to judge how far and what the signal will go through.
 
So i guess i would also have to borrow this stuff from someone and first check to see if it works or not before i go out and buy anything.
 
hauntedfury said:
So i guess i would also have to borrow this stuff from someone and first check to see if it works or not before i go out and buy anything.
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Either that, or buy froma store with a good return policy (Circuit City, CompUSA etc)
 
LOS isn't good enough for two reasons:

1 - RF LOS is different than your visible LOS. From what I've learned, we don't know enough about RF to be able to say 'this is RF LOS'. It's mostly hit or miss. If you use a true directional antenna (dish), then you need to be careful with LOS, as wind and rain will change RF LOS and wind may change your antenna's direction. If you use a semi-directional antenna, it won't be as bad, but then you lose possible distance.

2 - Something that hasn't been mentioned yet: the Fesnel zone. Sure, you may be able to find direct LOS and RF LOS, but there's a sphere around the signal that can't recieve interference either; this is the fresnel zone (I don't have a scanner, or I would put up the image from my book). Typical Fresnel zone intereference will be buildings and trees.

I'm not saying that it can't be done: it really can (even with pringles cans). But look into these two things to prevent yourself from wasting time installing an antenna that is surrounded by trees.
 
IanG said:
Wireless A might work a bit better with a pair of cantennas.
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A uses the 5GHz range, which will have worse propagation effects than a lower frequency. Like what Acidtone said, 900MHz would be best, but there aren't any readily available 900MHz WiFi products on the market.

Also, if you do use a home-made antenna, maybe you should try 802.11n with MIMO. I know you said you're on a budget, and the 'n' spec is brand new (careful: Pre-N routers may or may not fully comply with the new 802.11n, as they came out before the 'n' spec was published), and the MIMO might work well with a less-than stellar antenna.
 
Depending on the foliage density, 5.8GHz may actually work better:

From the link I posted earlier:

Q: How can I get my signals through trees?
A: Trees are a BIG problem in Fixed-Wireless systems. They absorb and scatter RF energy and can prevent a WISP/FWA system from functioning. Check out this cool University of Texas reference on tree attenuation.

-900 MHz systems can usually penetrate trees better than either 2.4 or 5.8 GHz systems.
-High-power systems and FHSS work better than lower power systems and DSSS.
-Placing the both the AP and CPE antenna above the tree-tops works the best.
-If there is a small LOS hole through the trees, 5.8 GHz signals may pass through, due to the smaller Fresnel distance required.
-Horizontal and 45 degree polarization has shown to have a slight advantage over vertical polarization at 2.4 GHz.
-Using an Access Point at extreme height (>500 feet) with mechanical or electrical beamtilt also helps clients within 5 miles because the signals pass through fewer trees.
-Wet trees are worse than dry trees.
-Pine trees are worse than leafy trees
 
MIMO will work out the box or I'm betting not at all.

Multiple In and Multiple Out, it would require multiple antenna for long range shots, in this case he'd be better off with a 802.11g access point in bridge or a dedicated bridge.

for 1km, the fresnel zone would be small, and it isn't outside the realm of possibity that defraction might work to his advantage, depending on the obsticles. If he doesn't have line of sight from the rooftop, I don't think it will be worth the trouble.
 
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