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August 18th, 2006 02:00
Wireless Router
My daughter has a high speed modem connection at her Grandmother's, right next door. She has a Dell Inspiron1150 notebook. My daughter wants to use her grandmother's internet connection(because Granny pays the bill) from her house which is right beside Granny's. Her Dell has a WiFi card in it I think. Can this be done with just a router? If not, how can we do this if we can at all? Its probably 125 ft. or so between homes. Im very ignorant about the use of routers or wireless because I've never done it, so any and all instruction would be appreciated. Her boss let her borrow a router but I'm not sure if this can be done frome house to house.Thanks
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volcano11
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August 18th, 2006 03:00
The only way to do it is with a wireless router. But, note that under ideal line of sight conditions the maximum distance for transmission and reception of the wireless signal is about 300 feet. Any intervening objects like walls, trees, fences, etc. will reduce that distance. In my neighborhood, I can pick up the wireless signal from my neigbors in parts of my house that are closest to the neighbors at a distance of about 150 feet. The signal is sometimes strong enough for successful internet connections, but varies in strength so that sometimes I lose the connection. Thus it is not the most reliable of connections. Obviously my neighbor is not running a secure connection, otherwise I wouldn't be able to connect at all. I have warned him about this and explained how easy it is to use his network, and have even offered to help him secure the network, but he seems oblivious to the dangers. Nevertheless, what I am saying is that with a wireless router at Granny's your daughter may or may not be able to get a sucessful, reliable internet connection from your house. Besides the distance and intervening objects, other factors, like the type of material making up the objects and their density will also play a role. In addition, to protect yourselves from intrusion onto the network, you should make sure it is secure by enabling WPA (preferred) or WEP encryption. The first thing to do, of course is see if you can get it to work and then figure out where the reception is best between the two houses.
Steve
Vstout
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August 18th, 2006 09:00
helmecj01
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2.4K Posts
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August 18th, 2006 11:00
some more information
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/howto/071906wireless1.htm
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/howto/080106_wireless2.htm
From chrisw
Entropy42
529 Posts
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August 18th, 2006 13:00
There are ways to get significantly improved wireless range with directional antennas, but they tend to require a decent amount of technical knowledge. They also would require fixed installation at both endpoints, you would not be able to provide access directly from Granny's house to the laptop, but something like Granny's House -> Fixed Router/Bridge in Daughter's House -> Daughter's laptop.
Also, 125 feet is well within the range of all forms of Ethernet, so a wired connection between houses is possible. That said, for durability and lightning protection reasons, copper Ethernet outdoors is generally considered a Bad Idea, and fiber optic Ethernet is definately "hardcore power user" territory. :(
It can be done, there are numerous good solutions, but none are easy.
Edit: The one exception would be that if your daughter just wants to use the laptop in the yard/on the deck/porch in good weather and those areas are within line of sight to grandma's house, you may just be able to stick the router in grandma's window and it will work. But an indoor -> indoor connection between houses will not work well if it works at all.
Message Edited by Entropy42 on 08-18-200609:40 AM