On 29 Mar 2004 12:31:17 -0800, (Lonnie) wrote:

Internet connections in my area are either t1 or wireless and are very
expensive. Our place is on the edge of town, covers acres (A little
less than five) and has three buildings (Metal roofs cinder block
external walls). Can someone recommend complete (Cables seem to get
cut here a lot.) solution that stays legal (Boise Idaho) and will
cover our needs?

If you can put up line-of-sight antennas (e.g. on the roofs), then a
few hundred meters distance should pose no problem even with standard
low power wi-fi equipment. Maybe even with dipoles, but certainly with
directional antennas at both ends with even moderate gain.

The 2.4 Ghz field inside the buildings is another story. It is often a
maze of reflections and maximums and minimums and twisted polarities
that may even change mysterieously from time to time.

If you are a radio amateur at heart, you could make some experiments
before making a big equipment investment. Directional antennas can be
made from tin cans, cardboard/aluminium foil etc. Note that the
standard RG58 50 Ohm coax cable antenuates about 1 dB / meter at 2.4
GHz (as opposed to 0.2 dB with LMR400 cable).

Alex