Sharing broadband w/ bro that lives about 300 ft away via wireless adapter

[Darkhawk28]

First off, my brother lives about 300 feet away from me and the only thing that separates us are our front doors and 300 feet of clear field or parking lot.

Was wondering what products would accomodate us in this endeavour?

 

[farmercal]

I have a Linksys Wireless-B Broadband Router and the distance according to their website for both the B and G series wireless routers is about 100 - 150 feet indoors depending on building materials and room layout. It works great to connect my kids computer to the net but that is only down the hall, not across a parking lot. I would say it would not work in your case due to distance.

 

[mamisano]

How about a High-Gain external Antenna like this:
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=54

 

[ttown]

This SMC router at newegg claims 1155 feet.
I have an older SMC 802.11b router and the distance is quite good. Haven't measured it, but my guess is I can get at least 500 feet at 10Mbits/sec -- and that's with a wood wall between, and a lame (free) gigafast ethernet adapter on a laptop.
Figure you've got at least 2 walls between you, so the router may drop down to 1Mbits/sec -- but that's ok, since your broadband won't be much more.
I'd definately say YES to your question; but go with a router that at least claims some distance -- like an SMC.

If the farther computer is not a laptop (even if it is... but it's not very convenient), then in the worst case you can get a wireless card with an external antenna. Powered antennas can be had for < $50.

 

[gpgofast]

"G" standard is claimed to have more range over "B". Get a repeater and put it as close to your wireless router as possible. It is always "best" to stay with the same product line as radio range compatibility is increased. Here is a Linksys repeater.

Repeater

High gain antenae would help also.

Antenae

Also if you buy a Linksys WRT54G(S) router, they have released the source code for these routers and there is aftermarket firmware available that will allow you to boost the routers radio power.

 

[farmercal]

"G" standard is claimed to have more range over "B"

Not true - they have the same range but the "G" is faster at transfer rate than the "B."

 

[gpgofast]

That's correct. B&amp;G have longer range than "A". Mistyped

 

[Darkhawk28]

Cool guys. Thank you for answering my question..... we measured the distance... it appears to be 420 ft but I think your suggestions will more than make up for that.

Heading to Best Buy now to check out some schtuff.

 

[Kenazo]

use something like this on one end and something like this on the other end (find a PCI one if it's not a laptop). Actually, a USB 802.11g adapter on the non-router end might be the best idea, b/c you can place it higher, easier.