Looking for Longest Range

[atiqmalik]

Hi all.

I am a software engineer and has never been into networking. I want to create a wireless network with a friend of mine who lives around 300 meters in city (chicago, 2-3 story apartment buildings area).

I am not sure if it is possible to get such range going wireless? If yes, in your opinion what router has the maximum range so that I don't get into trouble of low data transfer rate/disonnection. I have a budget of $300-500 for both units.

Thank you all in advance!
-atiq.

[atiqmalik]

Hi all.

I am a software engineer and has never been into networking. I want to create a wireless network with a friend of mine who lives around 300 meters in city (chicago, 2-3 story apartment buildings area).

I am not sure if it is possible to get such range going wireless? If yes, in your opinion what router has the maximum range so that I don't get into trouble of low data transfer rate/disonnection. I have a budget of $300-500 for both units.

Thank you all in advance!
-atiq.

[JonnoB]

At 300 meters, you will require multiple access points that are in turn connected to a wired network. The typical range is 100m indoors, and about 300 meters outdoors (unobstructed). Of course, different brands vary a little, but it is not just the AP that matters, but the client device as well. I know there have been tests done, but I do not have links to them off-hand.

[Ed Hansberry]

Jonno, can you set up Access Points as simple relays to boost the signal? For example, could I set up an accesspoint on my LAN, then near the edge of its limits, could I just plug in a WAP that would take that signal and boost it for another few hundred feet?

[that_kid]

I belive D-link just came out with a wifi router that will do repeating. I saw it over at tomshardware.com but the article did say that the repeating function cut down on the bandwidth on the repeated side. The only other options I can think of is either the new wifi amplifier from linksys(don't know how much it is) or two high gain directional antennas at each location if you have a clear line of site.

[JonnoB]

Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry

Jonno, can you set up Access Points as simple relays to boost the signal? For example, could I set up an accesspoint on my LAN, then near the edge of its limits, could I just plug in a WAP that would take that signal and boost it for another few hundred feet?

Yes, you can use WiFi technology as a bridge. For example, the WET11 uses WiFi as a bridge for wired networks.

[Ed Hansberry]

Originally Posted by JonnoB

Yes, you can use WiFi technology as a bridge. For example, the WET11 uses WiFi as a bridge for wired networks.

Bridge. That was the term I was looking for. Cool. Many thanks.

[JonnoB]

Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry

Bridge. That was the term I was looking for. Cool. Many thanks.

I pre-wired my house with CAT5 four years ago as it was being built. I wish I had done fiber now

Well, when I bought my second XBox with XBLive for the kids on Christmas (who were hogging my XBL !) I realized I did not wire the family room TV... so I am now using a WiFi bridge to ethernet to connect the second XBox wirelessly to the rest of the house. The WiFi has been only for our Pocket PC and notebooks previously as everthing else was wired.

Works well.

[Steven Cedrone]

Originally Posted by atiqmalik

Hi all.

I am a software engineer and has never been into networking. I want to create a wireless network with a friend of mine who lives around 300 meters in city (chicago, 2-3 story apartment buildings area).

I am not sure if it is possible to get such range going wireless? If yes, in your opinion what router has the maximum range so that I don't get into trouble of low data transfer rate/disonnection. I have a budget of $300-500 for both units.

Thank you all in advance!
-atiq.

Did you want him to be able to share your Internet connection? What exactly are you trying to do? Just curious...

Steve

[Janak Parekh]

Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry

Bridge. That was the term I was looking for. Cool. Many thanks.

Be careful, a standard access point is also strictly speaking a bridge as well. A bridge connects any two networks that use the same basic underlying protocol (Ethernet CSMA/CD in this case). You want a base station that supports wireless-to-wireless bridging.

The other alternative, if you're near-line-of-sight in those 300 feet, is to get special antennas. Check out http://www.proxim.com/products/all/o...ies/index.html. Not cheap, in fact probably not in the budget you mentioned, but they can easily exceed 300 feet with a pair of base stations. Useful if you have buildings you want to connect where you can't put AP's in between.

--janak

[Pony99CA]

Originally Posted by Janak Parekh

Be careful, a standard access point is also strictly speaking a bridge as well. A bridge connects any two networks that use the same basic underlying protocol (Ethernet CSMA/CD in this case). You want a base station that supports wireless-to-wireless bridging.

I also think WiFi people use the term "bridge" for devices that connect an access point to a wired Ethernet port (as opposed to USB). Those are useful for things like connecting a Replay 4000, which only has an Ethernet port, to your WiFi network.

I'm not sure if that fits your definition of bridge or not, so I thought I'd bring it up.

Steve