Stupid Wifi Propagation Q ;-)

lbrty4us · 2005-02-01T21:59:01+00:00

I've read enough abt wifi propagation technicals to go blind, butcannot find any hands-on insight regarding:What practical outdoor LOS ranges have been reliably obtained with802.11g beyond the usual 1,000 ft, if any, using only a high-gaindirectional ant at the AP & no extra CPE (i.e., only a laptop 100mw PCIcard & its typical display-cover-mounted diversity ant)? With and/orwithout a bidirectional amp at the AP?ISTM that with, say, a 17db narrow-beam ant exhibits its gain in bothdirections, the major factor wld be the noise floor (s/n ratio),ignoring other propagation issues for the moment? I'm in a rural areaon a hill without much noise & wish to experiment, but wld like to knowwhat general firsthand results hv been before buying a costly ant toreinvent a wheel.The overall interest is creation of a distant hotspot (no nearbycoverage), at a location where nothing may be installed. I knowthere's no such thing as "a simple question" in RF propagation & amonly looking for seasoned generalizations to decide whether furtherpursuit & survey is worthwhile.