Wireless network
 

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?

While I am not stupid this is not my field of expertise so a list of
equipment would be appreciated. That is if this is even possible.

I am looking for something that will cover to the buildings. Once at
the building's I can then take the signal back to a wired network.

You can see the place I am talking about to get a better picture.
(next to an airport.)

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/addressimage.aspx?t=1&s=10&Lon=-116.25518820&Lat=43.57528526&Alon=-116.25518820&Alat=43.57528526&w=1&opt=0&ref=A|5920 %20W%20Victory%20Rd,%20Boise,%20ID%2083709

I have looked at http://www.technolab-inc.com/cgi-loc.../ppalstore.cgi
to cover the area. From what I have read I understand I can not output
more than 1 WATT at the antenna.

If I go with an netgear WGT624 amp and antenna I think I can put out
around 38 DBi

In article ,
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?

While I am not stupid this is not my field of expertise so a list of
equipment would be appreciated. That is if this is even possible.

I am looking for something that will cover to the buildings. Once at
the building's I can then take the signal back to a wired network.

You can see the place I am talking about to get a better picture.
(next to an airport.)

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/addressimage.aspx?t=1&s=10&Lon=-116.25518820&Lat=43.57528526&Alon=-116.25518820&Alat=43.57528526&w=1&opt=0&ref=A|5920 %20W%20Victory%20Rd,%20Boise,%20ID%2083709

I have looked at http://www.technolab-inc.com/cgi-loc.../ppalstore.cgi
to cover the area. From what I have read I understand I can not output
more than 1 WATT at the antenna.

I believe that the standard is 1 watt PEP into an omnidirectional
antenna having 6 dBi of gain... hence, an EIRP of 36 dBm. If your
setup is for point-to-multipoint access (e.g a single access point and
a bunch of roving stations) you're limited to this 36 dBm EIRP, and if
you use a higher-power transmitter you must reduce your antenna gain
accordingly.

You can achieve higher EIRP for those links which are "exclusively for
fixed, point-to-point operations", by using higher-gain directional
antennas. For every 3 dB of antenna gain above the 6 dBi, you must
decrease your transmitter power by 1 dB.

This combination can enable you to get EIRP of up to about 50 dBm, by
using (e.g.) 23 dBm of transmitter power and a 27 dBi gain antenna.

If I go with an netgear WGT624 amp and antenna I think I can put out
around 38 DBi

My guess is that you're going to have serious trouble if you try to
cover that much area with a single high-powered access point. You
probably could not boost the access point's power or gain high to
cover the outbuildings, without exceeding the 36 dBm EIRP limit. And,
even if you could, the little 15 dBm transmitters in most 802.11b
cards probably couldn't get a strong enough signal back to the access
point.

What you probably could do, though, is to install an access point at
your central building which is intended to create point-to-point links
with the outbuildings. You'd install one or more directional gain
antennas at the central building (e.g. Yagis or parabolic dishes,
aimed at the outbuildings), and install similar gain antennas on the
outbuildings. You'd install an 802.11b bridge (or something acting as
one) in each outbuilding... the outbuildings could use wired Ethernet
inside, or could each have an 802.11b access point running on a
different channel.

I've spoken with a guy who has wide-area 802.11b networks of this sort
running here in the San Francisco Bay area. By using parabolic dish
antennas on both ends of the links, he can maintain full-speed 802.11b
links over distances of several miles, using only ordinary 802.11b
access points and PCMCIA cards (typically 15-16 dBm output) - no amps
are necessary.

This is the best way, I think, to do the job - it doesn't require the
use of excessive power.

Now, it's possible that you could perhaps use 802.11b at higher power
levels under the terms of Part 97 (amateur radio) if you and the other
users are licensed. However, doing so legally looks tricky to me...
you have to avoid _any_ commercial use of the link, and cannot use
encryption (no WEP, no SSL).

www.maxrad.com is one source for highly-directional 2.4 GHz antennas.
There are plenty of others.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

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

Thank you both Dave and Alex.

RE Dave's post.

I think you are right. 1 watt at the base of the antenna is what you
are allowed. So you think that the total dbm I can run is 36 for omni?
Is there a height limit to that?

Re Omni verses directional.

I would not mind doing directional. I just did not know how to add
different directions. Can you do several antenna easily? In either
case, omni or direct I always planned on running the signal through
wire (well both wire and wireless off another router.) once I got to
the building. My big problem is I can not find a site that will tell
me in plain language what parts I need to get this stuff to an
antenna. I can do all the network stuff but this signal stuff is just
kicking my butt. I know want to setup the most complicated/powerfull
omni I can at a reasonable price just so I understand the distances it
will travel.

Re Alex's post

While not a amateur radio person at heart I am a experimenter. I have
looked at serveral sites that show how to turn a pringle can
http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/has.html into an antenna to an old
primestar dish http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/Airport/P...Primestar.html
.. Once I know more info I fully intend to play with all this and more.
I am just having problems finding all the parts. Well best parts best
info. All that stuff.



I figure poeple like you and Dave may know where to find sites that
will put all this info in laymans terms.


Once again. Thank you all.