900 Mhz - Non line of site

Feb 04, 2005 7 Replies

Hi,



I want to be able to connect two locations (approx 4 miles) that do not have clear line of site. There is some wooded areas between the two locations. Aside from that there are no obstacles in the way.



I have access to some LinkSys WRT54G's - Is there anyway to make this work?



I guess what I am not clear on is whether it as simple as using 900Mhz antennas in stead of the 2.4 Ghz ones. If so, does anyone have any links to sites where people have done such a thing?


Thanks



900Mhz

Requires 900mhz radios for 900mhz antennas. Antennas are tuned to match the frequency used. Shooting through trees, especially with leaves is difficult to accomplish even at 900mhz but it is the best option due to its longer wave length. How tall are the trees? Might erect some towers.

A pair of high gain antennas at a mutually visible third location (say, top of a hill), coupled together, one aimed at one site and one at the other, could serve as a no-power-needed passive relay. You'd need good power output and a good directional antenna at both of the active sites, most likely.

These can be modified to serve as relays, but they will need power to run them... less than an amp. The Sveasoft firmware allows you to alter the operating power, so you can reduce the power consumption to the minimum needed, and feed one from a solar panel/battery combo, if there's no power at the relay point.

900MHz antennas will not work.

Just a small point of pedantry: its line of /sight/. As in you can see from one place to the other. The phrase line of site has zero meaning.

The trees are full size pine trees and various hardwoods. Not sure of actual heights but I can say that towers would be very expensive at that height.

Unfortunately there are no mutuially visible high spots so the option suggested in the first reply would not work for this instance.

Any other ideas? I like the sounds of the 900 Mhz stuff but can't seem to find the equipment at a decent price. Was hoping to get by with the type of expense that comes with the standard WIFI access points and homebrew antennas.

What you are referring to is one of the HOLY GRAILS of wireless. A cheap wireless device that shoots through trees and other obstacles, doesn't cost much, is very dependable, and is cheap and is low cost. And it shouldn't be expensive.

Thanks for the reply. Was wondering if you could clarify this for me. Does this require that the relay point have two radios configured as relays or is it one radio configured as a relay with two antennas? (each pointed to a separate location).

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