wireless internet access from another location

[Cas]

My shop is 1 mile from my house. I do not have
cable internet available there. Is there anyway
I can send a signal from my home computer to the shop? What equipment would I need and how hard would it be to install?

 

[Bob]

GOOGLE "wireless ethernet bridge".

 

[Derek MN]

My neighbor and I use the tin can method. He has the internet access at his house and sends the signal over via the antenna which concentrates the signal and gives it direction. It's cheap and works well. We're almost 1 mile apart. Here's a link to one of the many on the subject. http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

 

[awkknottedup]

There are many methods, much depends upon what is between the source and the shop. If it is a direct line of sight things are a lot easier. If there are intervening trees or buildings it gets a little more complicated.

For a direct line of sight, get a Wireless n router with MIMO. MIMO provides greater distance, n provides faster speeds and some increase in distance. At the receiving end you will also need a wireless hub that supports wireless n and NIMO.

For that distance you would need some sort of directional antenna. There are several on the market, most designed for outdoor use. The ever popular cantenna can be made in the shop. Other options are directional antennas like the yagi from MFJ.

If there are obstructions in the path you may gain line of sight by increasing the height of the antennas. You also need to put the router and hub up high as Ethernet cable losses are much lower than coax losses. Maximum Ethernet cable runs are 300 feet so you may be able to move the AP and hub for a better signal.

If you cannot get a clear line of sight you will have to install a repeater. You can use a hub or switch at the end of that 300 feet to gain another 300 feet. Wireless repeaters are also available. All need access to power though the power drain is small enough that you could use battery power.

Lots of options, all it takes is time and money.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Their are a lot of things that cause reception problems with wireless internet. Most inexpensive wireless gear has trouble sending a signal from one end of the house to another.

A concentrated, directional high gain antenna is a must with a clear line of sight with no interfearance like power lines etc. My guess you will still have intermittant problems with this setup.

The best solution would to get a pre-made 5,500 feet fiber optic cable and run it underground to your shop. Doesn't have to be deep just installed so that no one cut's it.

It will cost several hundred dollars but will be reliable and in the end not much more expensive than a wireless setup with high gain directional antenna's on a pole. You can always terminate this cable into a wireless router in the shop if you want to use a laptop with out a cable following you around.

If yout thinking the laptop's built in antenna would work back to your house it won't - the built in antenna is too small and the garage walls will block the already week signal from your house.

 

[george md]

Cas,

I have wireless internet, weather conditions
don't affect it , but it must be line of sight.
The tower that get signal from is about 1 1/2
mile from here, the next tower in the sys is
6 miles and so on until they get to a city
with either T-1 or fiber optics . there are
6 or 7 repeaters to get to the city.
The radios for the repeater sys are several
hundred dollars each.
This is called local wireless ,it is not
like the satelite that changes with the
weather.

george

 

[T_Bone]

Hi Cas,

You'll need a wireless 401.N router with external antenna's for your house system. That will give you ISP with-in 300ft or so of the router.

You'll need to install a external yagi antenna's on the router too a height that's "clear line of sight" too the shop. One antenna is for transmit, another yagi antenna is for receive, both pointed at your shop.

Install another wireless 401.N at the shop again with two antenna's facing toward the house antenna's. Configure this router as a gateway/pass though.

The 401.N routers will transmit/rec further and faster than a 401.g router.

If your laptop/desktop doesn't have wi-fi then you will need to buy a add on card or 10/100 direct wire each puter to the router.

The cellphone routers also work close on the same frequency as the routers, so that equipment (antenna & amp) will also work for you application with a reasonable cost.

I like Linksys products the best as there easy too configure with the least amount of headaches.

I'm doing 5miles with a Cisco(Linksys) router powered amp and have zero problems other than a 1min long glitch every now and then.

T_Bone

 

[RayP(MI)]

Our wireless comes from three miles away to an antenna at 100feet on a radio tower at our barn. Barn is less than 100yards from house. Tried all kinds of wireless setups between house and barn. Nothing worked reliably, and we had several failures in the equipment. Finally burried 2 lines of fiber optic cable in a 2" plastic pipe between house and barn. No communications problems since inception. (Son is a computer tech with local community college.)