Directional wifi antennae recommendations

[dewey edwards]

Hi,

I'm currently recovering from an auto accident (pedestrian).

My situation is that I have wifi where I am, BUT I must travel to the
office to use it (that's outside). Fine in non-snow/ice months.
I am about 100 to 120 feet away from the router/source.

Would this be a viable solution

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833164156


This would be currenty used with a

Toshiba Satellite A200/A205
running Vista Home Premiun

Any other recommendations welcome.

Thanks.

 

[Mike Walsh]

Hi,

I'm currently recovering from an auto accident (pedestrian).

My situation is that I have wifi where I am, BUT I must travel to the
office to use it (that's outside). Fine in non-snow/ice months.
I am about 100 to 120 feet away from the router/source.

Would this be a viable solution

For best results you should have a directional antenna at both the router and the PC.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833164156

The price seems high. You could use one of these with the router. They are cheaper but may not have as high a gain or work outdoors.

http://skycraftsurplus.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1842

http://cgi.ebay.com/Terk-WF-D-Hi-Ga...onal-WIFI_W0QQitemZ230281170509QQcmdZViewItem

This would be currenty used with a

Toshiba Satellite A200/A205
running Vista Home Premiun

You could use something like this with the laptop:
http://www.buy.com/prod/hawking-hi-gain-usb-wireless-g-dish-adapter/q/loc/101/202149085.html

Any other recommendations welcome.

It is best to have an unobstructed view between the antennas. It is best to have the antennas outdoors or at a window. If you use a relatively long cable with an antenna there will be considerable signal loss from the cable. A USB adapter with a built-in directional antenna should transmit a stronger signal.

Have you considered running CAT5 cable from the office to your house?

Try using 802.11b (instead of 802.11g); it will work much better with a weak signal.

 

[Guest]

Hi,

I'm currently recovering from an auto accident (pedestrian).

My situation is that I have wifi where I am, BUT I must travel to the
office to use it (that's outside). Fine in non-snow/ice months.
I am about 100 to 120 feet away from the router/source.

Would this be a viable solution

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833164156


This would be currenty used with a

Toshiba Satellite A200/A205
running Vista Home Premiun

Any other recommendations welcome.

Thanks.

Have you tried the obvious first?

How far are you from the router. 100-120 feet is rather vague
and suggests a wild guess. If it's really 80 feet, you might
have a shot at making what you have work. If it's really 160 feet,
you may not.
What's in between?
A straight shot out a non-metalized window is a lot better
than thru 4 apartments.
Have you tried a wifi scanner that can see all the wifi in your area?
Multiple routers on the same channel can have a dramatic effect of
coverage. Maybe you could negotiate with some interfering
users to change their channel.

Is there a hot spot in your dwelling. Move around while running the scanner
to see if there's a place where it works. Assuming your wifi antenna
is built into your laptop, you may need to use a different device.
A 10-foot usb cable with a usb wifi dongle at the end surrounded
by a reflector positioned optimally may make it work. 10 feet of RF cable
can cause significant loss when it runs to a wifi antenna.
If you use 10 feet of usb cable to the radio in the dongle, you
don't get that loss.

There are some ideas here for usb dongles stuffed into tin cans or lamp
reflectors.
http://windsurf.mediaforte.com/wifi/wifi_antenna.html

Here's a template:
http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/
Here's that template with a usb dongle stuck in it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivymike/10968401/

I'd try the simple free stuff first. You can always spend money
tomorrow.

 

[Mike Walsh]

These remind me now of what I forgot to ask previously,
whether the office itself still needs access to the wifi.
If so and only one antenna is supported, it may be a problem
for those in the office with only a directional being that
antenna and having it pointed out the window.

It that case another access point might need to be added.

Don't most 11g adapters scale down in speed fairly well to
maximize distance? Also there may be settings in Network
properties for the adapter that toggle between distance and
throughput.

I receive unencrypted signals from two of my neighbors that are weak but usable. My wireless PC will connect at 11g but the connection is erratic; either slowing to a crawl or disconnecting. If I force my WiFi adapter to 11b I get a consistent good connection and can use their fast cable access.
My laptop has settings for distance or throughput, roaming tendencies, etc. but it usually will not connect with these signals. The desktop has a PCI WiFi adapter with an extension cable to get the antenna above PC case, furniture, etc..

 

[dewey edwards]

Mounted on a window, it should be better than indoor use of
the notebook antenna, though it's intended for a wider area
than would be ideal... might be enough, it could depend on
background noise, where the router is in the other building
(if it uses an omni antenna also, it wouldn't do as well as
also having a directional antenna mounted on a window).

What will likely work better (still potentially needing a
directional antenna on the router mounted on a window) is a
can shaped or yagi antenna for the client system. For
examples:
http://www.buffalo-technology.com/p...14-dbi-high-gain-outdoor-directional-antenna/
http://www.uberreview.com/2007/02/super-cantenna-directional-wi-fi-antenna.htm

Your cantenna recommendation is appreciated, better than my original
plan. And far chaper.

Keep in mind that these add-on antennas won't connect direct
to the notebook, they will need a network adapter card or
bridge to connect the antenna to. I don't know if there are
any highly directional antennas with built-in network
adapter that can use USB to connect to the laptop, there
probably are but I don't know who might have them.

Yes, found hunting for connections to do so would require a network
card.

If you buy from someplace with a good return policy, at
least you can send it back and be out only the return
shipping cost and possibly a restocking fee.

Thank you sir

dewey

 

[dewey edwards]

Have you tried the obvious first?

How far are you from the router. 100-120 feet is rather vague
and suggests a wild guess. If it's really 80 feet, you might
have a shot at making what you have work. If it's really 160 feet,
you may not.
What's in between?
A straight shot out a non-metalized window is a lot better
than thru 4 apartments.
Have you tried a wifi scanner that can see all the wifi in your area?
Multiple routers on the same channel can have a dramatic effect of
coverage. Maybe you could negotiate with some interfering
users to change their channel.

Is there a hot spot in your dwelling. Move around while running the scanner
to see if there's a place where it works. Assuming your wifi antenna
is built into your laptop, you may need to use a different device.
A 10-foot usb cable with a usb wifi dongle at the end surrounded
by a reflector positioned optimally may make it work. 10 feet of RF cable
can cause significant loss when it runs to a wifi antenna.
If you use 10 feet of usb cable to the radio in the dongle, you
don't get that loss.

There are some ideas here for usb dongles stuffed into tin cans or lamp
reflectors.
http://windsurf.mediaforte.com/wifi/wifi_antenna.html

Here's a template:
http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/
Here's that template with a usb dongle stuck in it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivymike/10968401/

I'd try the simple free stuff first. You can always spend money
tomorrow.

You sir, have given me ALOT to think about.

Thank you

 

[dewey edwards]

For best results you should have a directional antenna at both the router and the PC.


The price seems high. You could use one of these with the router. They are cheaper but may not have as high a gain or work outdoors.

http://skycraftsurplus.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1842

http://cgi.ebay.com/Terk-WF-D-Hi-Ga...onal-WIFI_W0QQitemZ230281170509QQcmdZViewItem



You could use something like this with the laptop:
http://www.buy.com/prod/hawking-hi-gain-usb-wireless-g-dish-adapter/q/loc/101/202149085.html


It is best to have an unobstructed view between the antennas. It is best to have the antennas outdoors or at a window. If you use a relatively long cable with an antenna there will be considerable signal loss from the cable. A USB adapter with a built-in directional antenna should transmit a stronger signal.
Ok

Have you considered running CAT5 cable from the office to your house?

Not a house, and certainly not my property. When this is all over,
and I am elsewhere, YES CAT 5 is an excellent recommendation.

Try using 802.11b (instead of 802.11g); it will work much better with a weak signal.

Thank you sir