recommend me a long range access point

I wouldn't use a stronger AP as much as a stronger client.

We use these in rural applications to connect an office in a barn to a house. Also used in apartment complexes to circumvent interference.

Chris

nz666 hath wroth:

You must have line of sight. The concrete walls will probably block any 2.4GHz signal. Before you spend any money, I suggest you BORROW an access point and a wireless laptop, and check for coverage. Use Netstumbler or some other application that shows signal strength. Setup the access point or router at one end, probably in a window with a view. No need for an internet connection as you're only trying to talk to the router. Try it at your end.

If you have any manner of even marginal signal at the endpoints, you can improve things with better antennas or reflectors. However, if it looks like zero, give up.

Jeff, do any of the low-end APs sold by the likes of WallyWorld have the innate ability to serve as wireless bridges? I've got two buildings at work separated only by 90', but with a plethora of plumbing and underground wiring between. I'd rather not trench.

LLoyd

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" hath wroth:

Any particular reason you didn't start a new topic?

I don't have a local Walmart so I have no idea what they stock. I've given up on the Linksys WAP54G and Dlink DWL-2100AP+. They work, but they don't stay up. The big problem is that many such bridges do NOT support WPA-PSK encryption with bridging. Check on this before you buy.

Another mal-feature that always causes problems is the number of MAC addresses a transparent bridge is expected to pass. Many of the bottom of the line bridges will only do 32 MAC addresses. Even the best of the bottom of the line bridges will do no more than about 200 before running out of RAM for table space. Most crash and hang instead of expire old table entries gracefully. If your network has more than 32 devices total on both sides, start thinking of something better than junk.

You can check on Linksys and Dlink features using their emulators:

it has a PTP bridge mode or PTMP bridge mode, it *MAY* work if it supports WPA in these modes. Note that a client bridge mode is NOT suitable.

I don't have a recommendation because all I know is that you're trying to bridge 90ft. No clue on antenna position, interference, bandwidth requirements, number of MAC addresses, traffic mix, QoS?, feature list, management requirements, and price range.

If you're looking for a Polish Army knife that can do anything, for

90ft, I suggest a Buffalo WHR-HP-54G running DD-WRT v23 SP3 firmware. This is certainly overkill but will work for up to about 64 MAC addresses. (I'm not sure of the limit and too lazy to check).

If you've got wiring between buildings, think about phone line networking and power line networking.

Thanks... good tutorial.

The 'remote' building has two MAC address, and the 'local' one fifteen. There is no direct electrical or phone service between them, and they're serviced by separate pole transformers, so unless carrier-current stuff has much improved, I don't think that'll work in this application.

I have a clear under-eaves line of sight between the two, but only about 8' off the ground.

I think you gave me enough to get this done. ('cept maybe the 8' isn't high enough.... and even at 90', I might need higher-gain antennae than rabbit ears.)

LLoyd

Bummer...and I always thought you lived in the lower 48 states. :)

DTC hath wroth:

The nearest Walmarts to the Peoples Republic of Santa Cruz is about

40-50 miles away. Too far to drive.

However, we're not totally uncivilized here. We have a local Costco and a soon to open Home Depot available to ruin the local small businesses. Costco carries some really odd Dlink bundles, which keeps me in business doing updates, setups, and replacements.

Ummm... Looks like the Linksys brand might be going away:

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" hath wroth:

Well, if you like spending money, they're also FSO (Free Space Optical).

Naw, you're find. Fresnel Zone clearance for 90ft is:

2.5ft at midpoint. I would be more worried about the eves than the ground.

I'm sure the rabbits might not that think it's a good idea. A rabbit foot is always useful for wireless installations. I'm not sure about rabbit ears.