Is my neighbour too far away to wirelessly network with?

Consider putting the antennas on each end in the windows so each antenna as a clear line of sight to the other. A USB client on his end might be useful to allow positioning of his antenna in the window. YOu could also go with a USB panel/directional antenna on his end - in his window - such as the Hawking HWU54D

USB client which includes a small panel antenna. Approx $60. Or he could use a USB dongel based tin "cantenna" such as the one I built and used with good success: I would try the window first; the directional antenna on HIS end 2nd; and a directional antenna on YOUR end last. That is because using an directional antenna out your window might limit the coverage of your access point within your house.

Good luck.

If you have one hell of a good AP/antenna combo beaming signal at him, his itty-bitty rubber ducky antenna might be okay. If all you have on the AP is itty-bitty rubber ducky antenna(s) then I'd say plan on spending a few bucks and an afternoon learning how to get this link to work. A parabolic antenna would work but would be overkill. A panel or yagi antenna, maybe a cantenna would be a good starting point. One on each end to make it work for sure, on one end only might do the trick. Experimenting is the only way to know.

In article , Tim Haynes wrote: :I have a neighbour 3 houses away (about 150 meters - around 450 feet). Is :there any chance in heck that I will be able to establish an 802.11b :connection with his house without going all crazy with the external :parabolic antennae? Am I dreaming by thinking that maybe a small internal :antenna on his end will be enough to allow him to connect to my AP?

Possibly an interior sector antenna would be good enough.

:We have a clear line of sight between our houses, and only my external wall :and his external wall between my AP and his computer. Would that help?

The exterior walls will noticably attenuate the signal, and thus will present challenges. The degree of challenge will depend upon the construction materials, and upon details such as there happening to be aluminum siding on the walls. The real biggest signal killers are metal and water; in practice, the water in tree leaves or in books can be a serious signal damper.

Careful. You may have aluminium foil back insulation in the walls. The foil will block any attempt to go through the walls. I would use an outside antenna.

Thanks for the advice, Walter! Luckily, we both have wood frame houses with vinyl siding (albeit aluminum frames around our windows). Looks like I may be able to get away with some small internal antennae (and possibly only one). That's great to know - thanks!!

Tim

Do some internet shopping for D-Link DWL-122 USB dongel. YOu should be able to find one for about $10.00 If you want to use "G", I saw one in the Sunday paper for about $20 after rebates.

In my tin cantenna, I calculated the distance from the bottom/closed end of the can that the dongel should be placed. Used a drill and drilled the side of the can. Two holes, then bent the tin between the holes. Need a rectangular hole the size of the USB connecter in the dongle. Then I insert the dongel from the inside of the can, thru the hole, with the label edge of the dongle facing toward the open end of the can. My hole is such that only the USB adapter part extends thru the hole in the side of the can.

Hope this additional description helps.

Again, putting whatever antenna you use in the window, avoiding the exterior wall, should help with reception.

No. You're not going to go through the foil in either direction, in or out of the house. If your access point has two antennas for diversity reception, you might wanna leave one with the stock indoor antenna for inside coverages. Then attach a coax cable and outside antenna to the other antenna connector. That will work, but has one big drawback. File transfers between computahs connected to opposite antennas will go rather slowly. Also, considering the cost of antennas, coax, waterproof feed thrus, and pigtails, you may wanna consider using two radios. One for inside, one for outside.

Thanks for the great advice. I love the USB dongle based cantenna solution - cheap and (relatively) easy to do. Since it's so cheap, I will probably try that first. The pictures that I see of how to mount a normal probe into the can shows the probe running from the side of the can to the centre of the can (i.e. piercing the side of the can and not turning any corners). Is that how your dongle is place? Just running from the center of the can to the side of the can?

Thanks Tim

directional

Great - thanks for the pictures! That's how I imagined it, but wasn't totally sure. This looks like a really fun project!

Thanks again Tim

Ah... good point. I know that I have foil backed insulation just beneath the vinyl siding (watched them put it on, effectively making my house a big faraday cage... seemed smart at the time!!!).

If I mount an antenna outside (may not need to, as I have a nearby window that may have a line of sight to my neighbour), do you think I'll still get decent reception inside my own house? Given that my vinyl siding has foil-backed insultion?

Thanks! Tim

I just realized that maybe my foiled insulation isn't as foily as I thought. I did some range testing with a laptop and a PDA the other week. The laptop got reception in the far corners of my (large) yard (due to a 200mW transceiver on the WiFi card, I think). The PDA got some reception but only to the end of the driveway. I wonder, given that, if my house is more EM-permissive than I may have led you to believe. Given that, maybe an outdoor AP would still work okay for me inside the house. Then again, as you mention, the waterproofing would be somewhat annoying. I don't like drilling through my house exterior walls, either. :-)

In any case, I am going to give the WiFi USB dongle + cantenna thing a shot. Should be fun, if not useful!

Cheers and thanks! Tim

I built mine with two coffee cans soldered together. Bob said that one can was better than two for him.

antenna element is near the top of the dongle, perpendicular to the body of the dongle, so it winds up being nearly centered in the can. I had used the calculations on to determine that the bare reflector for a cantenna of 4" should be at 1.72" from the bottom of the can. That's where Bob and I each made our holes in the can.

$20.00 at

YOu just have to really search. Also possibly the price point has gone back up - possibly due to all the "hype" about using it in tin cantennas! :)

Ebay current price point is $16.50

$20.00

Sure would appreciate your source for the DWL-122 for $10! I can't find one for less that about $28. I have 2, would like another! Thanks, Rob

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Thanks! Ebay looks good at 16.50. Rob

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