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    long-range wireless

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by cooker263, Nov 28, 2007.

  1. cooker263

    cooker263 Notebook Enthusiast

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    hey all,

    I bought a dell 1520 this summer w/ the wireless N card and I would like to be able to use the internet in a small building 375-400 feet away from the house. It's through a medium-wooded area and up a gradual 35 feet in elevation. You can see the building slightly through the trees from the house. The building has thin wood walls and both have about 30 feet of clearing around the structures.

    Any chance this would work with just a typical N router? I know you can use an outdoor antenna or a range extender if it doesn't work initially-but a range extender wouldn't be as easy to use. Any thoughts? I have little experience with wireless. thanks in advance!
     
  2. vctr

    vctr Notebook Guru

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    Go for the n router. If configured properly you should get at least a 1000 ft range if not more. Heck ! I'm surfing on a wireless G signal from a Kinkos 200 ft across the street from me right now.
     
  3. cooker263

    cooker263 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sounds good...I mean I knew if it was flat with no trees it wouldn't have been much of an issue-I just wasn't sure how much of an impact they would have.
     
  4. blue68f100

    blue68f100 Notebook Virtuoso

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    I would get a router that supports the dd-wrt firmware. It will give you more options on power settings. As far as n going farther not really. It will drop all the way back to b speeds, no advantage of n. A 11g router like Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 which has a seperate amp will probably out talk any 11n hardware. This unit is unique in that 1 antenna is removable with one built it, so adding a external antenna will not impact users inside. The model below it is the same unit with out the extra amp, is very good to. According to their forum they are using these to go up to 4000m in one application. Using external antennas on top of towers.

    You may be forced to set up a bridge between the buildings, then you will need to run the wrt firmware. Or spend more money on specific bridge hardware. The problem your facing is the router may have the power but the nb does not. The reason buffalo add a seperate amp on the receiver side t boost the incoming signal.

    If this needs to be up all the time just run the cat5e with the outdoor jacket. I did this at a friends place. We just attached it to the fence and trees till we dropped in.