Hello, We are trying to set up a simple wireless network at a fishing lodge, between 2 buildings about 250 feet apart, and we are not sure what will be required to do this.
Any information anyone can give me would be great!
Got power to the outbuilding? How bout spare wires in the utility cable (if you have one)?
If they are on the same transformer (chances are they are), look into power line networking.. Usually pretty cheap, will go much faster than most internet pipes, and be rather low cost.. Think one AP in the house, another in the outbuilding (under $75 each), and the powerline network stuff (about $150) lets you use the existing power line to network on.. Will usually only be about 14M, but thats way faster than most input (cable/dsl) about
5M....Do that on steel hulled boats all the time...You could do it wireless, but you may want to look for the ease/much lower cost of network over power lines..
You can do this with two CompUSA brand 802.11g routers (I purchased these for less than $10 after rebate earlier this year) configured as WDS repeaters. If you don't have good enough line of site between the two buildings for these devices to work with their regular antennas, you can get one (or two) directional panel antennas. I bought a bunch these used on ebay for $5 each + shipping a while back. The most expensive part was the cable from the antenna to the router. Make sure you use the lowest loss cable and don't exceed 10 ft between the antenna and the router (my cost ~ $12 each).
Using this setup, I have a solid link running for over 2,000 ft across a lake, with 20-30 ft. of foliage between the shore and the buildings at each end. Eventhough the antennas are directional, there is enough leakage on the side nodes so that a regular laptop has good coverage near each end.
Mike Schumann
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