I need to set up wifi between my neighbor's house and my house. I've estimated the distance is 1,500 - 2,000 feet. There are some hills in the way, and lots of trees, but I'm hoping there's a decently high enough spot I can mount the antenna that it won't have too much interference. I don't really know anything at all about long-range antennas, but my guess is I would need a router with an external antenna port, and a long-range antenna that could be mounted outside. I don't need to broadcast anywhere but between the two houses, so a unidirectional antenna would be fine.
Could anyone recommend a router/antenna that would work for this setup? How much am I looking at spending?
Wireless router or AP at his end;
Bridge or Client at your end;
Serious antennas at both ends.
Plug in
15 db antennas, both ends
1.2 Miles ( 2 km )
3 db cable loss
15 dbm Tx power ( typical home gear )
You have a healthy 33 DB Signal Operating Margin Signal Operating Margin calculator
I buy wireless gear with RP-TNC connectors. Robust. RP-SMA is not compatible with my vast anatomy and crowded house.
Router: I use Linksys WRT-54Gs. I buy the older ones and change the firmware. One of those "If you have to ask you probably shouldn't do it" things.
Bridge: Linksys WET-11 or a card for your computer. With a Wet 11 and a switch, you can add more computers later. I use Linksys WRT-54Gs with third party firmware as bridges, but, "If you have to ask you probably shouldn't do it"
I would use 24 dB antennas. Not that much more $ than 12 dB.
Ok, the last link had something about Google Earth, which I downloaded. Their house is at 725', my house is at 674ft, and the hills between us peak at 731' and 741'. The distance is 1,020ft. Do you think that will interfere with the system you mentioned? Or will I be alright? (Oh, and you're right, it is his house that has the internet).
The thing is, I don't think I will be able to get a clear line of sight, unless I am very very lucky and I can mount the antennas high enough. Is there a way to calculate how much interference the two hills in the way will provide?
Picture in your mind a high grade flashlight. The kind cops carry. The kind you can focus by screwing the front end in and out.
This is how parabolic dishes work. Concentrating and directing energy in one direction, by reflection.
No matter how much you fuss and fiddle with that flashlight you will never get the beam parrallel. It will diverge, or cross over and diverge beyond the crossover.
Now give a flashlight to someone else, move away from each other and focus the flashlights. You get 2 long skinny cones of light. At some point the 2 long skinny cones meet, making a football shaped region of light.
Now put the lights down and consider 2 parabolic dishes pointed at each other. Same effect, with radio waves. The football shaped area is the Fresnel zone.
Intrusions into the Fresnel zone block the radio waves. Intrusions at the edge cause radio waves to bend, like a rock in a river that has a swirling eddy behind it.
The region you need clear is bigger than the antennas, in the middle. Intrusions in the middle cause problems if they are near the line of sight, not necessarily in it.
That site lets you determine the diameter of the Fresnel zone. When you know that you can determine the extent of blockage you have.
I am not home yet, I won't be until next monday, but my brother has been scoping out the area between our two houses and can't find any line of sight. I suspect the hills that are in the way will also be much more than 40% of the Fresnel zone. Does that mean I pretty much have no chance of this network setup working?
Ok, I finally got home and checked out the terrain, and there's no way to set up a network with that neighbor...
However, I've discussed the same thing with another neighbor who is closer... about 300ft up the hill next to my house. There are some trees that may or may not be in the way, depending on where I place the router. The only thing I am worried about is that if the router is inside, it's going through part of his house before going down to my house, and since his house isn't directly on the hill, its on a level plane, there might be a bit too much interference. Do you think a router such as:
Well, I bought two netgear WPN824s and I can get a signal at my house. Now, I need to figure out how to set up both routers as repeaters/gateways/bridges (not sure which one applies) in order to access the internet provided by my neighbor's linksys WRT54G. Could anyone point me in the right direction for how to do this? Even the right name for my setup would help. I want:
Long-range wifi setup 
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