What are my wireless network options? I need to send a signal about a half mile.

[DrRock]

What exactly are my options? I don't have a line of sight between the two buildings. It seems that all of the wireless solutions that I know of are either too expensive or their range is too short. Anybody know of a solution?

 

[IaPuP]

non-line of sight at a half mile??

I don't imagine there are any options.

Broadcasts of that power require licencing from the FCC. Perhaps a HAM radio setup might do... but that'd definately not speedy.


You could pull it off with an 802.11b network if you had a reasonable line-of-sight, but I don't think you could push that small a 2.4GHz signal through buildings and still expect it to go 1/2 mile. Most of the 802.11b products are already bumping up against the FCC regulations on power output... larger antennas do help, but not *that* much. You'd need one of those directional antennas to get it to 1/2 mile and they're definately rather line-of-site oriented.

:-/

sorry!

Eric

 

[ktwebb]

Most 802.11b devices are actually not in fact very close to FCC regulations. You can amp up to 1 watt (1000 Milliwatt). Even the most expensive corporate bridges are only 100mW (Cisco). There are other factors when considering RF transmission and the FCC, like your antenna db's and transmission cable loss (They both factor into the equation on long shots), but the transmitter itself can push up to one watt.

As to your options, there is some proprietary, Microwave non-line of sight technology unlicensed by the FCC at 5.8 Ghz. Gets pretty expensive but you can get some very high bandwidth non-line of sight hardware. What about towers at both buildings? Is this a possibility? Check the email off my profile and email me if you want some specific options and/or quotes.

 

[JackMDS]

SMC sells bridge, and Booster Antenna (about $500).

Or you can try these:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/tools/wireless_articles_range.htm

 

[ktwebb]

Pretty cool link, but at a half a mile even the highest gain antenna addition likely would not help, and with non line of sight, forget about it.

 

[DrRock]

Hey guys, thanks for the responses.

ktwebb: I would like to see what you guys have to offer. I looked around on Cisco's website for awhile last night and there is definitly some good stuff there. I noticed though that there weren't any prices listed and am afraid that it falls under "if you have to ask, you can't afford it." I guess you do get what you pay for though. Towers are not a possibility, the property manager is weird about his building. Heck I wouldn't even be asking this if he would just let us run an overhead wire so we could get roadrunner. For some reason he would let them dig up his parking lot. Only problem is that it would cost $100 per foot.

JackMDS: I have check out that site and all of the links before. It seems that it mostly deals with stuff that requires a line of sight. Definitly a cool site though. I had no idea of some of the things that were possible with wireless technology. Do you have any information or links about the SMC setup and its range?

Most of the stuff that I think would be in our price range works in the 2.4 GHz range. From what I have read, this seems to be a fairly crowded area. If I could find a way to get this to go a half mile, what kind of interferance would I be dealing with?

A friend of mine lives about 2/3 of the way between the two buildings. Could a antenna/booster be placed at his house to help?

 

[IaPuP]

First of all, let me say that if you're just trying to share a 'net connection between two houses or apartments, you're pretty much out of luck as far as doing it wirelessly- I think it might be cheaper to have 'em run a fractional T1 or frame-relay out to your house. Just a guess...



<< It seems that it mostly deals with stuff that requires a line of sight. Definitly a cool site though. >>


I would wager to say that is likely because anything that can transmit 1/2 mile through several feet steel and concrete (a building) is not priced well for the average consumer.


Most of the stuff that I think would be in our price range works in the 2.4 GHz range. From what I have read, this seems to be a fairly crowded area. If I could find a way to get this to go a half mile, what kind of interferance would I be dealing with?

Well, from what I know of DSSS, it's not terribly prone to interference, especially if you live in an area with few other networks (or expensive portable phones). I've seen some pretty sweet antennae which have a reported range of over 10 miles, but they are highly directional (you have to aim them perfectly) and they can be interrupted by so much as a leaf or some snowflakes (or raindrops).

Eric




<< A friend of mine lives about 2/3 of the way between the two buildings. Could a antenna/booster be placed at his house to help? >>



If you can use his place to construct a line-of-site, then a nice 802.11b setup could be made to work and give all three of you a LAN hookup.

 

[ktwebb]

Without raising the RF band above the fray, you would be prone to any Tom, Dick or Harry with an 802.11b LAN that makes it outside his/her house. YOu can diminish this with quality antennas with a very narrow beamwidth but that is the nature of an unlicensed band. We have gone almost exclusively with 5.8 products for our WWAN point to mutlipoint customers. Too manh headaches, but you can make it work. It's just about engineering it properly. Without line of site you need to look at other options than 802.11b though. Check out www.wmux.com. Might be out of your pricerange but they have some non-line of site hardware.

 

[ktwebb]

A friend of mine lives about 2/3 of the way between the two buildings. Could a antenna/booster be placed at his house to help?"



In that scenario, if that provides line of site to Point A and Point B (meaning Line of site from your friends house to site A on one side, and Site B from the other, you could buy three bridges. The parent bridge would be at your friends house. The other two sites would have children bridges. Cisco's terms. Just a multipoint solution with all the traffic going through the parent bridge. The Parent would not need to be plugged into any network, but I guess if your friend is going to let you use his property, a nice gesture or aggrement would be to let him plug the bridge at his house into his network hardware. Works pretty well, if the signal is strong, you dont lose any bandwidth.

 

[JackMDS]

Following IaPuP post, you should take into consideration that almost all of the info concerning long distance Wireless is available when there is a direct sight. Since it is close to impossible to predict the effect of obstruction on the connection, you never know what will be the real distance under such circumstances.

Unfortunately, this stuff is expensive, so trial and error approach is not feasible for most of us.

SMC sells few Antennae; they claim 9miles point to point on the most expensive one (look at the pdf Data Sheet).

How much these 9 Miles will translate to under obstruction is any body guess.

EZ Connect? Wireless Access Point/Bridge


EZ Connect? Wireless High Gain Antenna Kit

 

[IaPuP]

That DI145 unit looks promising, but I still doubt you'd be able to penetrate a large apartment building (I'm guessing that's what is in the way) and still get a long enough range.

It is also a directional antenna, so you would have to aim it properly, which can be difficult when you can't see your target

Eric

 

[ktwebb]

Mileage doesnt translate at all really. If dealing with a point to point, you could be 100 yards away but if you have a building taller than the freznell zone it doesnt matter, its a no go.

Edit: Assuming the building is not made of paper and has more than one or two walls in the path.