Does a wifi "repeater" exist?

Repeater not exactly by that name, however there are some that can broadcast whatever it is fed ( see

) I have one up on the garage roof and cabled to a router

There are several consumer grade repeaters out there, and i'm guessing thats what your asking about, but unfortunately they switch between transmit and receive (quickly) and cut your thruput in half, so to keep up speed you may want to look at other things/plan B (that's why I went with the thing above, I have wired where feasible, and wireless where not, gives me lots of flexibilty and the best of both :)

How is it working out for you?

snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net wrote the following on 3/18/2008 12:33:

I run a WAP54G in "repeater mode" to get good coverage on the second floor of my home. The main router is a Linksys WRT54GS. The WAP54G will only work in repeater mode with another Linksys router - maybe only the WRT54 series.

This arrangement is about 4-5 years old and runs 24/7. About 3-4 times a year some weird unknown thing happens and I'll have to reboot everything to re-establish network connectivity.

They're located about 50 ft apart. Measured file transfer speed (big file and stopwatch method) from 2nd floor to router to wired computer is roughly 2 Mbit/sec. This speed wouldn't make me happy, but the rest of the family is satisfied.

Lance

*****

Adequately, I live on 10 acres in northern idaho, and cept in the months when there is a lot of foliage that blocks the signal, works okay on my laptop and pda, (outside dsl and cable areas, so I have sat internet tied into my home network)... unfortunately it works best in the winter, cept there was over 3 feet of snow on the ground, so It was a bit too cold out/hard to walk around.....

As an aside, that was the cheaper consumer way, (now) in the area (spokane washington) Skynet of spokane

has a several hundred square mile hotspot, with commercial grade repeaters on the mountains in the area (last count, 20.... they spent lots of bucks, but it's really cool)

Where do you live at? There are several other commercial nets already available, you may want to check online to see if there is already one in your area.....

What kind of sped do you want? How far the distance? How much money do you want to spend?

When we go horseback riding and camping in the grasslands, I set up a mast on my truck and pipe my 10 Meg DSL signal ten miles from town down into the valleys to my laptops and still have a 10 Meg endpoint connection.

Hannibal Missouri

Check

and click on the state and follow the links... does show a red dot for Hannibal, but have no idea if you can get it.....

Forgot, have wireless on your 'puter already? If so, you may want to fire up the free program netstumbler (download it at

)

IMO looking at maps/dots/shaded areas etc, doesn't mean as much as actually trying something to see if it works, and if there is a signal where you have your machne... Did I menton it is free? :)

What exactly is a 'commercial net" for WIFI?

What is in it for them to broadcast free wifi signals?

Commercial nets aren't always free (usually a subscription).... However that link/map shows both free and paid/commercial stuff... Since nobody can acurrately predict exactly what will be received at a specific locaton, why not try and see if you can get a free one (if available)

Well I Am picking up some kind of wifi connection.... but how can I tell if it's a commercial free one?

Try using it? I have wifi in the laptop, and a PDA with wifi, so it's pretty easy to try... Unfortunately I am finding a bunch of supposed "free" systems, that have splash screens and beg for money once you connect (they must be free to connect so they can charge), another oddity, I've run across some that show locked/closed (i use netstumbler/ministumbler get em free at

) but you can use em free once you get authorized/added to the okay list....

If you already have a puter and wifi card/connection (as evidenced by what you wrote above), worth a shot at trying netstumbler (hey it's free, so what the heck, mayb it will work with your wifi stuff) and see what it says..... (mine shows a picture of a lock, and either it is open or closed, as for logon, usually you have to connect and see what it says)

Ok.... thanks....

I hate to be so dumb abt this..... but I am using the connection.... I just don't want to be using someone unsecured PRIVATE connection that's all.

Its just that I can't tell if this is the free commercial on in the map/info you gave me.

Again....I just don't want to be horning in on someone private paid for connection.... unless maybe they have it open just so that others CAN use.... out of goodness of their heart or something.

I guess my bottom line question is..... how can I contact or find out of this connection is available to anyone free?

No way of telling....But there are some progs out there that may help you find the source (it's easier with my PDA, I just walk around and see if the signal level goes up or down) Try some of the free ones at

and see what you can find to get the general direction to walk in.....