[AT] OT - Laptop reccomendations - question on wireless routers...

[Henry Miller]

On Monday 03 July 2006 18:31, Cecil Bearden wrote:
> If someone has some advice on this I could sure use it..   I am getting
> broadband installed, but I want to do a little more with it.  I need to put
> those internet cameras in  my lambing barns so I can watch the ewes without
> having to always go out at all hours oaf the night.   My house is wrapped
> in aluminum foil to keep the alien heat out, and I have a steel roof.  The
> barns are all steel also and my shop is a steel building.  The new Linksys
> router is a 8.11N style that is supposed to have 4 times the range...
>
> I want to put the Broadband antenna on a pole and have a router next to it.
> Then link my laptop in the house, the old one in the barn, and the cameras
> in the sheep barns and also another computer we use in the truck.
>
> How do I do it??

Pretty much just like you said.   Put an antenna on a pole, on your roof, and 
another in the barn.   Just make sure lightening won't get you.

Before you do this, you can buy (at walmart) wireless repeaters.   Some have a 
connection for an external antenna, which would simplify setup - if you can 
get a signal through all that metal.   People have mixed luck with these 
things, but when it works it is easy.

WATCH the lightenting problem.  It may be worthwhile to get professional grade 
gear just so you can get this protection (unless you want to make your own 
antenna you pretty much need professional grade antennas to do this, also a 
lot of home gear isn't designed for this setup)   Google wireless ISP 
(supplies) for some sources.

You want to put the equipment in a little waterproof copula on the roof, near 
the antenna if you can.    Wireless signals do not travel well in wires at 
the frequencies involved.

You may need to cut down trees.    You don't need line of sight, you need cone 
of sight (look up Fresnel zone), meaning a tree that doesn't look like it is 
in the way (and sometimes even the ground) can still block the signal.   
However mostly this is a worry if you are trying to get more than a mile 
range, so just be aware that this could be an issue if you have problems.

Did I mention watch the lightning problem?