Radio-LAN with 50m range...

Lemma · Last edited by Lemma on Fri Feb 09, 2007 2:44 pm; edited 1 time in total

Hi
I am trying to find a unit (or a set of units) that will give me a radio-LAN covering about 50m side to side. I have been looking at the Netgear rangemax but there seem to be a shortage of drivers there... The 50m are between two houses so the signal must be strong enough to travel through ~3 walls (the buildings are made of wood, old houses...). Any suggestions?

I have been thinking about a CAT 6 also, but I do not like the idea of all that digging and drilling...
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Monkeh · Veteran Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 1656 Location: England

The Netgear Rangemax WPN311 and WPN511 (PCI and Cardbus) are Atheros chipsets, which work quite reliably.

What you really need is pair of point to point antennas, these would probably work nicely: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=239018

attrezzo · n00b Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Posts: 31

Teh install depends a bit on how you want the cards to react on both ends. Do you want point to point. As in a straight shot from point A to point B? Cause if that's the case you could probably go the cheaper route and by a directional antenna, it's also bit more secure as your not blasting your wireless signal to kingdom come.
Do you wanna do this with off the shelf access point type solutions like a linksys, d-link, or netgear solution, or is it ok to do a Computer thing?
Reason I ask that is if you are set on using off the shelf access points and you DON'T want to use directional antennas, you'll have to buy a pretty powerful chipset, usually the atheros chips are the best for hardcore power, ubiquiti mini-pci cards are an example 400mW transmit power! So something like that although I'm not aware of any off the shelf solutions for power like that, you may be able to get by with about 100mW depending on how much water/metal there is between you and the destination.
If however, you wouldn't mind using a computer doubly as an ap and a workstation then you could get a higher powered card easier and for a bit less cost. But keep in mind the more unabaited uni-directional power the easier you are to attack. A theif can get alot more from you sitting a mile away than he can if he's in a car outside your front door. Even if it's WPA, and especially if you're using WEP.
So, I'd suggest a directional antenna to start and then scale your power from there till you get the connection conditions you want so you don't overkill and make yourself a target.

Lemma · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:44 am Post subject:

Ok, I have found a solution that I think will suffice.

* A ADSL/router/4port switch/802.11g, unidirectional
* A bi-directional unit, ZSR1124WE

Both have antennas that can be exchanged and it is fairly cheap (1300 sek, ~ 180 USD).

Thx for the help, input is always good and this forum is awsome! (The best reason for using gentoo in my book).
_________________
Always make it as simple as possible, but no simpler
/Einstein

Monkeh · Veteran Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 1656 Location: England

For starters, I wouldn't buy D-Link. If I were you, I'd pick up two cheap PCI cards (anything Atheros based will work) and a pair of cheap, external, directional antennas. Mount them outside, run the cable through a window, and just run an unsecured link with a VPN over the top (making sure to leave nothing but the VPN open to the wireless link).

ronmon · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 12:36 pm Post subject:

Just build a cantenna for each end. You'll have range to spare. You can get the connectors and pigtails here.
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Lemma · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 2:21 pm Post subject:

Monkeh · Veteran Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 1656 Location: England

D-Link are a bad idea, full stop. I've had really bad experiences, and they have a habit of hammering stratum 1 NTP servers without permission..

You might want to look into getting a soekris, or a wrap. With an ADSL modem (PCI or ethernet) and one or two atheros cards, you've got a router and wireless AP, with whatever software you like (up to and including Gentoo).

Lemma · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 4:04 pm Post subject:

Monkeh · Veteran Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 1656 Location: England

Lemma · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:29 am Post subject:

Monkeh · Veteran Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 1656 Location: England

Linksys should be pretty good, can't say about anything else.. I'm a DIY man.

Lemma · Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 8:55 am Post subject:

The Linksys WRT54GL seem to be a very good choise. Cheap, two detachable antennas and (with modified firmware) the possibility of modifying the output signal strength to fit my needs. With this device I get something I can play with as much as I want and have time to do ;-)

.
_________________
Always make it as simple as possible, but no simpler
/Einstein

Monkeh · Veteran Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 1656 Location: England

Yep, that should do you nicely.