Long Range AD-HOC

hello, all.

well let me be frank, im trying to setup a long range ad-hoc link between my robot and laptop, the robot has a fully functional xp and normal i/o setup.

how would i go around planning this out? would it be best to have a strong wifi signal coming form my router for infrastructure, or should i forget about my router and just beef up the wifi on the robot and laptop?

my yard is about 2 acres so thats about 295' x 295' (90 meters by 90 meters), so lets say about a project link of 400 feet minimum (its about

425 for the diag, but lets just round to 400 feet), this is valid for ad-hoc selection.

now if it is advised for me to use my router for infrastructure linking, then the router is in the middle of the yard, so thats about a

200 foot wifi link coming from my router (its 150 feet but i added 50 feet to get to the corners of the yard)

which method would be the best to go for?

400 foot ad-hoc link no router 200 foot normal wifi with router

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seesoe hath wroth:

8086 XP's are long dead and what manner of I/O is considered normal?

Carefully.

Either ad-hoc (no router) or infrastructure (with router) will work. In effect, your wireless is an extension cord for ethernet. Anything you can do via ethernet, you can do via wireless.

400ft will require a better than average antenna. The type of antenna is determined by it's pattern and gain. If your access point were located in the middle of the yard, an omnidirectional antenna would be suitable. If it were located at a corner, a 90 degree sector antenna would be best. If located on the size of the yard, a 150 degree sector would work but not cover the adjacent corners too well. All this assumes that there are no obstructions in the yard, which will be a problem. The robot should have a fairly low gain (6dBi) omni directional antenna as you can't be sure where it will be pointed. You can also use multiple access points, but that has problems as not all wireless devices can do seamless roaming.

That really depends on what else is in the yard. If there are obstructions, you'll need to deal with them somehow. Perhaps a repeater. Personally, I would suggest using the infrastructure method, as it gives you considerably more flexibility in locating the control computer and positioning the antenna that talks to the robot.

Also, you might want to get the shift key on your keyboard repaired.