wireless specs

Personally I'd be surprised if your existing setup work that far without a directional antenna. It depends what's between router and client - trees, walls, neighbours with wireless etc etc.

The only way you're going to know is to do a site survey with your existing router and laptop. No paper specs will tell you if it will work.

builtin adapters often have terrible aerials. Check to see if you can add an external antenna, and consider using a USB device which you can position for better strength.

Your router is probably fine, especially if it has a removeable antenna.

Got line of sight from your house to the shop?

See what the existing antenna can do with a simple site survey: Get Netstumbler running on your laptop and with the router as is, walk out to the shop. Try different router placements. You might find that the signal reaches the shop exterior, possibly inside if you can line up with a window.

Once you see if and how much gain you need:

- Put a homemade reflector on the router antenna. Point it towards the shop. Adds significant gain. Easy to make.

- Put a higher gain directional antenna on the router.

- Use a USB adapter for your laptop. Mount it up high/in a window/ outside,whatever for best reception.

- Add a directional antenna to the USB (or buy a USB dish antenna to start with).

Steve

Thanks for the replies. We visit in PA for several months and I'll be leaving my modem and router behind for the children and grandchildren to use while I'm gone. In PA, the modem is on the second floor and I'll connect it to a router there, but I can move them to the attic. If I go to the attic I'll be able to put them next to a window. The shop is in clear view, no obstacles, but

90' away. I'm hoping I can use the wireless feature of my laptop, and not have to connect any cables to it. I can sometimes access a neighbors internet while I'm in the house; that's about the same distance, and through at least a couple of walls.

"William Andersen" hath wroth:

Probably none. Minor changes in router design offer some minor variations in range. What really makes a *BIG* difference is the gain of the antenna system. However, there's no free lunch. If you want to increase the range in one direction, you do it by redirecting the power that would normally be lost going in the wrong direction, thus trading coverage area for range.

Many of the differences are tied up in router features, not wireless features. Some have dual band radios (2.4GHz and 5.7GHz). Some have security features (VPN termination). Some have enhanced *SPEED* features (Pre-802.11n, Turbo-G, Afterburner, etc) none of which offer more range.

100ft through what appears to be 2 walls is going to be difficult. If the walls are made of concrete and steel, or you have foil backed insulation in the walls, it will be impossible. Range is really a function of the environment. Also, when you're setting up in a new location, there's also the possibility of interefrence from existing systems. Having the local municipal network installed outside your window will essentially trash your home network.

No. It's a combination of ingredients with no single number or parameter. Everything can be traded for range.

1. Wireless router TX power
2. Wireless router RX sensitivity
3. Wireless client TX power
4. Wireless client RX sensitivity
5. Wireless router antenna gain
6. Wireless client antenna gain.
7. Wireless connection speed.
8. Interference susceptibility.
9. Signal loss in obstructions along the path.
10. Fresnel Zone losses.
11. Environmental issues (fog and rain attenuation).
12. Whatever else I forgot.

If you don't mind, I don't want to get into how each of these affects range in detail. Basically, the bottom line if the fade margin, which establishes how reliable the connection will be and at what speed the connection will run. If you increase drop the path loss by 6dB (such as by increasing the antenna gain(s) by 6dB), the range doubles. If you increase the transmit power by 6dB, the range doubles.

Or, you can trade speed for range. At a given fade margin, if you drop the speed 4 times, the range will be double.

It is possible to calculate the range if all the aformentioned are known. This is normally used for microwave point to point links, where moving obstructions, moving wireless clients, and interference are uncommon. It can also be calculated using terrain models, as in cellular coverage calculations, but you would need to have an accurate architectual map of your workshop and backyard to do this.

If your coverage requirements are all in one direction, then any wireless router with an external antenna connector, plus a moderately directional gain antenna will help. Putting the antenna in a window will be a huge help (to avoid going through at least one wall).

However, there's no way to predict or guarantee that it will work. For example, if your workshop is a metal building, it won't work. The easiest way is to take what you have, and just try it. If it works, an external gain antenna will be a big help. Try different locations and positions.

Thanks. The home is in a smalll community on a 1/4 acre lot. The utility pole for electric and cable service is next to the shop and the lines to the house run almost parallel to the sidewalk between shop and house. I don't know if they will provide any interference to the signal. Both shop and house are wooden construction. The shop was built in the early '40s and has interior walls of celotex for insulation; the house was built in 1898 and I don't think the walls are insulated. My wife grw up in the house and remembers her Dad building the shop. She remembers him finishing parts of the house, but not insulating it. A neighbor's home had old newspapers between interior and exterior wooden walls. The home had siding of a rubbery shingle style (I don't remember what it was called) which has beencovered with vinyl siding. The shop had that sasme shingle siding but has been covered with T-111 wooden siding. The shop has an attic space, too, so if I go to an external antenna, I have a good place for it.

I believe that you will find that you can place your router in a window in the attic or upstairs, put a reflector on it and get a signal in your shop. You may have to work in front of a window at the shop too, but you may not. 100 feet is not far.

You can make a reflector at home and play with it before you go.

Steve

That's 100ft by 100ft lot. Unless the shop and house are on opposite corners, the require range will be less than 100ft. Better numbers please?

Utility power does NOT generate any interference to cable, DSL, satellite, or wireless.

Does this community have a building code? Just curious.

Sounds ideal for wireless. Unless there's some metal in the walls (chicken wire, foil back insulation, etc) the single walls should be almost transparent to 2.4GHz.

A good name for the shop would be "the fire trap". I lived in a WWII era house that used "vegetable board" instead of drywall. The vegies were made from dried and pressed agricultural waste. It worked well until I knocked a small hole in the wall above the kitchen stove. The steam from the tea pot caused the seeds in the wall to sprout. I had various difficult to identify plants growing out of the walls.

Anyways, newspaper is transparent to RF.

You got me there. If the rubber was strengthened with carbon or graphite, there may be a problem. It's probably ok.

That's fairly thin and should not add much attenuation. I think you're ok for going through the walls.

Does it have glass windows? You may not need to install an external antenna on the shop.

However, methinks you might want to explore some alternatives to wireless.

1. For 100ft, you can just run CAT5 between the buildings. Direct buriable rubberized and filled with silicon gel goo is commonly available. I just bought 1000ft for 0 plus shipping. Optical fiber is also an option if lightning is a potential problem.
2. If the two buildings share a common power line, you can use the power lines for internet.

See various power line networking products from Netgear.

1. You can also use the phone lines:
2. If you have CATV coax between buildings, there are ways to also share the cable.
3. If you have a barbed wire fence, you can run DSL over barbed wire.

Thanks for the information. The deed says 1/4 acre; the only measurement I've taken was by measuring the sidewalk between the two buildings: 90'. The lot isn't square. If they have a building code, it isn't enforced for any existing structures. When I checked with the borough about pouring a 20' x 40' pad to park my motor home in the backyard they didn't know why I asked - they told me it was my lot, do what I want. Both structures have be re-roofed, the house has been rewired. I hope to rewire the shop this year, including electrical service. It is fed underground from the main panel in the basement of the house. I hope I can just pull new wire through on the end of the old, but may have to dig a new trench. I'll consider running cable for TV and Internet access when I do. I think I asked about separate electrical service for the shop and was discouraged. I think the electric company didn't want to be bothered because the consumption for a few months of the year would be so little, and the electrician wasn't aware of any situation like mine having separate power for a shop, garage or barn. I've removed the pot belly, wood/coal stove that was used for heat and blacksmithing in the past, and chimney, and have a small kerosene heater available. We don't plan on spending winters there. There is a window in each attic. There's no phone wire in the shop; I use a wireless extension from the house phone, or my cell phone. There's no fence on the property.

"Jeff Liebermann" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...