Need help on wireless bridge

[Hellbender]

I have decided to join the 21st century and get hi-speed internet access.

I live in the sticks, no DSL or anything "normal" available for 2 years or so.

I have decided to get "Wildblue" brand Satelite based internet, it is kinda like cable, only you have 2 co-ax's going to a cable modem-like device, then a standard cat-5 cable going to your computer. The only real downside is I'll have a 1/2 second or so of latency, but everything is sufficient for my needs.

My question is this, I need to make a wireless bridge between two buildings on my property (distance of 1500-2000 feet with a clear line of sight). Wireless security/access concerns are not a problem, as I own all the property around.

Questions:

What is the easiest way to accomplish this?

Is it just 2 wireless routers with the same IP address and a couple of directional antennas? (I hope )

Thanks for the info.

HB

[Matt Pascoe]

I don't know the answer, but I'm fairly certain it is as easy as you've described. If you get stuck, PM me and I'll ask a friend thats a IT guy. He has set up several wireless bridges for my wifes co.

MP

[kranky_kel]

I am a sys admin for a Power Utility Coop. We are also the primary ISP for our area. We have been installing WildBlue since last August. WildBlue has been a huge success for my customers that cannot utilize my wireless broadband or DSL.

To extended your network from one building to the next you will need a Wireless Router at one location and a Wireless Bridge at the other.

Here's an idea of the Bridge: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=172282

[speaceman]

General consumer wifi devices you could buy at a place like best buy tend to have a max effective range of about 300 feet. And that is line of sight, with nohting in between.

If you are pushing the signal though walls and rooms, the distance is much shorter.

There are probably commercial wifi solutions you could look into, although I have no experience as to what they are or what they cost.

You could also run cat 5 (wired) between the two buildings, but you will also have to look into running signal boosters on the line, as you can run about 300 feet of so effective, without signal loss, with no boosters.

(I think, if i remember correctly).

[Stu Olson]

A directional antenna with reasonable gain can be had in the $50 range. We've used them for some mountain top wifi experiments and they worked well....distance of about 11 miles.

That being said, make sure the wireless device you get allows one to attach an external antenna.

[TObject]

Back when I worked as a network technician in the 90?s we usually run a fiber-optics cable for such distances.

I guess these days there are a lot of different options.

If you already have phone cabling between the buildings, you may be able to utilize that. Look up "Long Reach Ethernet" for that.

And yes, new wireless technologies available with good positioning and antennas should be able to work for like 10 miles or so, search for "2.4 GHz directional antenna"

[Macgyver]

HB, once you are up and running, let me know how you like WildBlue....... at my new house the only way we can get DSL is this or direcway....... we have no DSL and Charter wont come down my road.

[Hellbender]

Everyone,
Thanks for the info!

I think kranky_kel is going to get me fixed up with some used equipment he has.

Sergey-I have phone connection between the buildings, but to make it work I would have to do a little creative connecting in the phone company's outdoor pedistal, 20 years ago I did that kind of stuff, but now I decline anything with even a question mark attached. It wouldn't actually cost the phone company any $$ as the wires are there and unused, but I would be using thier wires without proper compensation.

Macgyver-So far it seems to work well, I just got it installed yesterday, we had a severe storm last night, and I had to reboot the modem this morning, but we have to do that at the other office where we have cable DSL, too. I will let you know more in a few weeks.

Thanks again, HB

[speaceman]

I didn't know about those panel directional antennas. That's pretty cool.

All I ever used were the little omnidirectional antennas that were similar to the standard wifi antennas that come with the devices.

They didn't make much of a difference.

[mudpup]

Wish I could remember who made it but had a roomate in college that borrowed an antenna from the IT department, worked perfect if line of sight was available. We lived about a mile off campus and it was able to pick up the campus wifi, the only thing I remember about it is that it was shaped almost identically to a pringles can.

[TObject]

Originally posted by mudpup
...shaped almost identically to a pringles can.

http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/weblog/view/wlg/448

[mudpup]

Heh, I've seen that before, they actually work pretty decent. It was very directional and very line of sight.

[Stu Olson]

Not that it matters for this thread, but having your ham radio license for this kind of project comes in handy. WiFi access on the 2.4 Ghz band is secondary usage. Hams can legally run quite a bit more power on their "experimental" wifi setups as they are the primary user.

[Dan-H]

Originally posted by Stu Olson
Not that it matters for this thread, but having your ham radio license for this kind of project comes in handy. WiFi access on the 2.4 Ghz band is secondary usage. Hams can legally run quite a bit more power on their "experimental" wifi setups as they are the primary user.

Hi Stu,

how much of a ham license is needed to "experiment" in this band?

Is a Tech sufficent? or have I finally found a reason for getting my general ?