[lancec2c30]

I need to send a WiFi signal roughly 1/2 mile. I have a friend who has a Comcast broadband connection and she lives across a field from us.

What type of 2.4ghz router could I use with this WiFi directional antenna?

Radiolabs - Stage 2 Parabolic High Gain dish antenna for Wi Fi or Lan

I am thinking that I will need something a little more powerful then your typical Linksys.....

Then do I put a repeater in another room in my house to receive the signal with the same dish connected to it?

[hilowe]

I'm going to caveat this to begin with. I've done work like this before, but the company I worked at used some fairly expensive equipment for the routing.

First off, that antenna is incredibly expensive. You might want to check out this one: 2.4 GHz 24 dBi 802.11b 802.11g WLAN Die Cast Reflector Grid Wi-Fi® Antenna

As for equipment, you'll need a wireless router or access point that you can remove the small antenna from, and have a connector. You'll also need some cabling to get from the router or access point to the antenna. The tails off of the antenna I linked are approximately 2' long. Also, you'll need a mounting bracket for the antenna. Check out the hyperlinktech site, they will premake cables for you and have mounting brackets.

You'll need to have almost an exact duplicate of the system on your end. Antenna, cabling, and probably a wireless router.

Should be able to set the wireless up as an ad-hoc network.

[lancec2c30]

Since you have already set something up similar to this, What disadvantages can I expect from carrying a WiFi signal this far?

Will I get bad pings?

Is 1/2 mile going to give me crappy signal and speed?

Is there any wattage amplifier I can put inline from the router to the antenna that will send the signal? Would it help any?

[hilowe]

Originally Posted by lancec2c30

What disadvantages can I expect from carrying a WiFi signal this far?

If you live in an area with a lot of wind, you may have to go out and periodically readjust the antennas. Your initial setup will be a pain in the rear end. This was part of the reason we used the equipment we did. Using special software, we could log into the Central Office Router (COR) and Remote Outdoor Router (ROR) (manufacturer's names for our equipment), and view the signal strength. Our company decided inital setup was a two person job, one moving the antenna and the other monitoring signal strength.

Originally Posted by lancec2c30

Will I get bad pings?

Is 1/2 mile going to give me crappy signal and speed?

The answer to these questions will depend on the site conditions. I was assuming that you have a clear line of sight to your friends house. If there are trees in the way, your signal won't be squat.

Also, are there any power lines that your signal will be going through? It surprised me at the time, but power lines will kill a 2.4 GHz signal.

Originally Posted by lancec2c30

Is there any wattage amplifier I can put inline from the router to the antenna that will send the signal? Would it help any?

There are, but you have to be FCC licensed to use them in the US. Even though 2.4 GHz is unlicensed radio spectrum, there is a limit on power output. If you go above that power output, you have to get licensed.


The company I worked for is gone now, but I'll give you an idea of how we were setup.

We had wireless access points in approximately 10 towns when I left the company. We had 2 T1 connections in 2 different towns. We basically setup an ad hoc network between the towns, and an access point antenna. We used the parabolic antennas I linked to in the first post to shoot the signal from one town to the next.

We had a many customers that were in excess of 5 miles from our access point.

Here's the kicker, though. The company was FCC licensed, and we used pretty good amps on our access points. We typically didn't need to on the connections from one town to the next, though, but ouR equipment was on the top of grain elevators (we were well above any interference, and had clear lines of sight).

[lancec2c30]

Hmmm, well. 1/2 mile shouldn't need an insane amount of amps.

I was thinking, If I could talk to my friends neighbors on the other side of the street, I could avoid the power lines and I would have a way better line of sight.

I would just have the problem of "my connection isn't working, and the modem is 1/2 mile away in someone else's house that I don't really know."