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How to Connect To AP @ 1000+ feet

There is a Starbucks about 1000 feet from my house.I do not get its signal at my house using either of two older 802.11B pcmcia cards.These have no external antennas except for the inch or so that the card extends outside of the pc card slot.

I'm wondering if a G card would have greater range or if a card with an external antenna would make the critical difference and allow me to connect to an AP 1000 feet or a little more away.How much extra distance can you expect to be able to receive signals with an external antenna?What would be the simplest card and antenna be for doing this?I realize if the Starbucks didn't have a G access point ,having a G card would not help,but if it did have a G AP would a G card have greater range than a B or is it just a matter of bandwidth?

If this worked I would get a monthly or year contract with T-Mobile with the idea of using it as my primary ISP i.e. serveral hours a day,every day.The monthly service is derscribed as unlimited access,but does anyone know if they have some limit since the idea is to connect when you're in an airport or coffee shop,so I'm wondering if my intended use would be deemed abuse.

Thanks.

Reply to
crossbar5
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"G" wouldn't give more distance. Do it the scientific way, try it and see. Buy or borrow a good sensitive wireless card with external antenna jack, plug in a 19dbi panel antenna or 24dbi grid and see what you can see. My guess is that it won't work since I'm sure they don't have the AP hanging outside, so line of sight isn't there. But stranger things have happened.

Reply to
Rôgêr

T-moble and Sprint have flat-rate per month wireless internet service. I know a couple people that use it on Treo PDAs (Palm Pilot) and love it. One of these guys has the Treo cabled to his laptop and gets about 60kbits/sec. Modem speed. The Treo is really a nice PDA/cell phone. Obviously you've got to see it you've got coverage in your area.

The alternative is "g" APs in mesh operation.

Read the specs on the APs, look for trasmitter power. Linksys has classically been low, Cisco high.

Reply to
Al Dykes

How far can you get signal? What kind of signal level does NetStumbler show for tmobile from the house, if any? If you can get signal half way between you and Starbucks, then you might have a shot with a simple antenna.

What cards do you have? Some cards can have external antennas attached, it's just not obvious.

A friend of mine is shooting a couple of blocks to a UPS store, using a USB-WiFi dongle in a coffee can. He is quite satisfied with the connection. I don't know how close he is to line of sight. He's on a second floor, and has a pretty good view from a window in the direction of the store, but I've never asked if he can actually see it.

There are postings about reflections that work almost as well as line of sight.

NETGEAR MA111 Wireless USB Network Adapter, 802.11b $9.99

If you don't have at least a window view in the right direction, you might want to look at some outdoor mounting of a WiFi bridge. Some very long links are possible, given the right antenna, and 1,000 feet is not long.

Check to see if Boingo has the same site listed. They might be cheaper.

Reply to
dold

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