Will the signal reach?

I'm running a D-link DGL-4300 router with the default stock antenna. I want to share files with my friend, who lives not to far from me. But the problem is that we don't have a clear LOS, so the signal may have a hard time getting there, cause of all the homes, trees, etc...

I know he will have to have a hi gain antenna of some kind, and that I will need a powerful antenna on my end to send the signal. I just don't know exactly what I need to do to make this work.

Also, if I get some powerful parabolic or Yagi antenna, would buying a signal amplifier help?

Could anyone suggest a way that I can get the signal to his house? Any help is appreciated.

Below is a picture of the distance between us.

copy and paste to browser:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/5479/40454927pq1.jpg

thx again,
Borgslayer

Is there any possibility of placing the AP/Antenna on a mast/Pole of some description. This will probably need to happen at both ends. If so you may get away with a rotenna.

By pole/mast I do mean just a television antenna pole or something that will get the antenna array over the buildings.

Regards

Fred

Well, my parents may not want a huge antenna pole on the side of their home. I might be able to mount an antenna right out side my window, but thats a good as its gonna get. If I lived alone, I could use my family members old TV antenna, which would be absolutely perfect for this situation. But I don't think thats going to happen. I'm willing to try everything else before I go for that.

I saw a 14 dBi outdoor panel antenna at Compusa that might mount good on the side of my window, but I'm not sure if that would be enough to make it there.

I'll see what I can do.

Borgslayer

Well, now that I think about it, we do have the highest chimney in our neighborhood. So I could possibly mount the antenna on that, and hopefully get the signal to his house.

Its just a thought, but the TV pole isn't really an option, and the TV pole wouldn't really be much higher than the chimney.

It also wouldn't really made the house look bad, cause the antenna is white and the chimney is white.

Borgslayer

I am not sure where you are located, but here in NZ we can get mounting kit for our TV antenna pole to mount onto a chimney.

The other thing to consider is to just overpower the daylights out of both ends so that the signal gets there regardless (not a good solution). This is pretty much what I have done with our 2.1Km non-LoS link. It has plenty of tress and houses between. We use WAP54Gs at both ends with power hacked firmware to give us 84mw and they feed a 24db grid array each. One end is on a 30' mast and the other is just mounted on a tv antenna hockey stick on the apex of the roof.

The point here is that we have made an attempt to get the signal over the top of the obstructions. This will be something you will have to do eventually or I am going to guess and say that your signal will be unstable if you can get a signal at all.

I know this wasn't a huge amount of help to you as it seems you don't have the resources to mount the antenna above the obstructions, but realistically your only other option is to put repeaters in along the path to get your signal to is destination.

Regards

Fred