Adding an external outdoor antenna to an AP?

Hi there,

I'm involved in the management of a little resort and I'd like to
provide WiFi to our guests. I'd like to place an access point inside
our central administration building, connect our ADSL connection to it
and then place and antenna on the roof of the same (one-story)
building. I figure this should provide a radius of coverage that would
satisfy 80% of our guests in cottages around the main building.

Can anyone recommend a make / model of wireless router where I can
detach the antenna, attach a piece of coax and attach an external
omni-directional antenna? How long of a piece of coax can I use? Any
and all tip / suggestions are appreciated.

Email address is a spam trap, please reply here or to geoff at glave
dot org.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> Hi there,
>
> I'm involved in the management of a little resort and I'd like to
> provide WiFi to our guests. I'd like to place an access point inside
> our central administration building, connect our ADSL connection to it
> and then place and antenna on the roof of the same (one-story)
> building. I figure this should provide a radius of coverage that would
> satisfy 80% of our guests in cottages around the main building.

it is probably better to put a separate AP up there, on an Ethernet cable.

or if you want a box off the shelf, cisco among others make weatherproof
units (1300 series i think). Advantage here is it is going to be
weathertight

which ever way you go be aware that any electrical connection from a high
point outside the building could bring a lot of energy from a lightning hit
into the building and has the potential to fry your attached equipment (and
other issues like fires and so on)

>
> Can anyone recommend a make / model of wireless router where I can
> detach the antenna, attach a piece of coax and attach an external
> omni-directional antenna?

dont know for consumer stuff, but several cisco boxes have this.

How long of a piece of coax can I use? Any
> and all tip / suggestions are appreciated.

problem is you get a lot of loss in the co-ax, whereas ethernet cable doesnt
have the same problems.

>
> Email address is a spam trap, please reply here or to geoff at glave
> dot org.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Cheers,
> Geoff Glave
> Vancouver, Canada
--
Regards

Stephen Hope - return address needs fewer xxs

On 7 Jul 2005 17:21:35 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

<snip>

>Can anyone recommend a make / model of wireless router where I can
>detach the antenna, attach a piece of coax and attach an external
>omni-directional antenna? How long of a piece of coax can I use? Any
>and all tip / suggestions are appreciated.
<snip>

>Thanks in advance.
>
>Cheers,
>Geoff Glave
>Vancouver, Canada

Linksys WAP54G and (I think) WRT54G models have detachable antennas. For the
past year or so I've maintained a thousand foot link between a WAP54G and a
Senao NL-2611CB3+ DELUXE. (Senao in AP mode, WAP54G in Client mode)

On the WAP54G I use 50 feet of LMR-400 coax to connect the AP to the 24 dBi
parabolic wire-mesh antenna I have mounted up above the roof.

The Senao is pretty similar, but a shorter length of coax (10 feet) conected to
a 14 dBi Backfire parabolic.

It's probably not the best system in the world, but it works.

www.fab-corp.com carries a lot of the stuff you'd need for adding an external
antenna to a WAP. Thier shipping prices can be a bit high for individual items,
but overall they are pretty good.

Of course, being that you are a business, I'd highly suggest equipment a bit
more reliable than Linksys or Senao. Maybe a nice Cisco. My experiance with the
consumer level hardware is that it needs to be reset (powered off/on) every
couple of weeks. Not a big deal for a home user, but it's the kind of thing that
would probably annoy a customer.

FAB-Corp could probably suggest some decent hardware configurations.

cc'd to email address provided

You lose most of what you gain with any usable length of antenna cable.
Much more efficient to move the whole access point to the antenna
location and stretch cat 5 to it, rather than coax.


> On 7 Jul 2005 17:21:35 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> >
>>Can anyone recommend a make / model of wireless router where I can
>>detach the antenna, attach a piece of coax and attach an external
>>omni-directional antenna? How long of a piece of coax can I use? Any
>>and all tip / suggestions are appreciated.
>

On Sat, 09 Jul 2005 04:02:27 -0500, Airman Thunderbird
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>You lose most of what you gain with any usable length of antenna cable.
>Much more efficient to move the whole access point to the antenna
>location and stretch cat 5 to it, rather than coax.

Sorta, maybe. It depends on the length and type of coax cable. Even
the cheapest junk coffee can antenna will give you 8dBi of gain. In
order to lose an equal amount in decent coax (LMR-400 at 0.7dB/ft),
you would need to run about 90ft of coax. Anything less than 90ft of
LMR-400 and this would be a net gain. As a rule-of-thumb, 6dB loss is
equal to cutting your coverage range in half.

There are places and systems where coax cable makes sense, but if
running a self contained radio and antenna combination is possible,
using PoE (power over ethernet) is usually much better than lossy
coax.


--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558

stephen wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>
>>Hi there,
>>
>>I'm involved in the management of a little resort and I'd like to
>>provide WiFi to our guests. I'd like to place an access point inside
>>our central administration building, connect our ADSL connection to it
>>and then place and antenna on the roof of the same (one-story)
>>building. I figure this should provide a radius of coverage that would
>>satisfy 80% of our guests in cottages around the main building.
>
>
> it is probably better to put a separate AP up there, on an Ethernet cable.
>
> or if you want a box off the shelf, cisco among others make weatherproof
> units (1300 series i think). Advantage here is it is going to be
> weathertight
>
> which ever way you go be aware that any electrical connection from a high
> point outside the building could bring a lot of energy from a lightning hit
> into the building and has the potential to fry your attached equipment (and
> other issues like fires and so on)
>
>
>>Can anyone recommend a make / model of wireless router where I can
>>detach the antenna, attach a piece of coax and attach an external
>>omni-directional antenna?
>
>
> dont know for consumer stuff, but several cisco boxes have this.
>
> How long of a piece of coax can I use? Any
>
>>and all tip / suggestions are appreciated.
>
>
> problem is you get a lot of loss in the co-ax, whereas ethernet cable doesnt
> have the same problems.
>
>
>>Email address is a spam trap, please reply here or to geoff at glave
>>dot org.
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Geoff Glave
>>Vancouver, Canada
I did something similar to this at a marina last summer. Worked quite
well. Info at this link:

http://members.cox.net/tulsaalstons/...%20Network.htm

Bob

stephen wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>
>>Hi there,
>>
>>I'm involved in the management of a little resort and I'd like to
>>provide WiFi to our guests. I'd like to place an access point inside
>>our central administration building, connect our ADSL connection to it
>>and then place and antenna on the roof of the same (one-story)
>>building. I figure this should provide a radius of coverage that would
>>satisfy 80% of our guests in cottages around the main building.
>
>
> it is probably better to put a separate AP up there, on an Ethernet cable.
>
> or if you want a box off the shelf, cisco among others make weatherproof
> units (1300 series i think). Advantage here is it is going to be
> weathertight
>
> which ever way you go be aware that any electrical connection from a high
> point outside the building could bring a lot of energy from a lightning hit
> into the building and has the potential to fry your attached equipment (and
> other issues like fires and so on)
>
>
>>Can anyone recommend a make / model of wireless router where I can
>>detach the antenna, attach a piece of coax and attach an external
>>omni-directional antenna?
>
>
> dont know for consumer stuff, but several cisco boxes have this.
>
> How long of a piece of coax can I use? Any
>
>>and all tip / suggestions are appreciated.
>
>
> problem is you get a lot of loss in the co-ax, whereas ethernet cable doesnt
> have the same problems.
>
>
>>Email address is a spam trap, please reply here or to geoff at glave
>>dot org.
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Geoff Glave
>>Vancouver, Canada
I did something similar to this at a marina last summer. Worked quite
well. Info at this link:

http://members.cox.net/tulsaalstons/...%20Network.htm

Bob

stephen wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>
>>Hi there,
>>
>>I'm involved in the management of a little resort and I'd like to
>>provide WiFi to our guests. I'd like to place an access point inside
>>our central administration building, connect our ADSL connection to it
>>and then place and antenna on the roof of the same (one-story)
>>building. I figure this should provide a radius of coverage that would
>>satisfy 80% of our guests in cottages around the main building.
>
>
> it is probably better to put a separate AP up there, on an Ethernet cable.
>
> or if you want a box off the shelf, cisco among others make weatherproof
> units (1300 series i think). Advantage here is it is going to be
> weathertight
>
> which ever way you go be aware that any electrical connection from a high
> point outside the building could bring a lot of energy from a lightning hit
> into the building and has the potential to fry your attached equipment (and
> other issues like fires and so on)
>
>
>>Can anyone recommend a make / model of wireless router where I can
>>detach the antenna, attach a piece of coax and attach an external
>>omni-directional antenna?
>
>
> dont know for consumer stuff, but several cisco boxes have this.
>
> How long of a piece of coax can I use? Any
>
>>and all tip / suggestions are appreciated.
>
>
> problem is you get a lot of loss in the co-ax, whereas ethernet cable doesnt
> have the same problems.
>
>
>>Email address is a spam trap, please reply here or to geoff at glave
>>dot org.
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Geoff Glave
>>Vancouver, Canada
I did something similar to this at a marina last summer. Worked quite
well. Info at this link:

http://members.cox.net/tulsaalstons/...%20Network.htm

Bob

stephen wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>
>>Hi there,
>>
>>I'm involved in the management of a little resort and I'd like to
>>provide WiFi to our guests. I'd like to place an access point inside
>>our central administration building, connect our ADSL connection to it
>>and then place and antenna on the roof of the same (one-story)
>>building. I figure this should provide a radius of coverage that would
>>satisfy 80% of our guests in cottages around the main building.
>
>
> it is probably better to put a separate AP up there, on an Ethernet cable.
>
> or if you want a box off the shelf, cisco among others make weatherproof
> units (1300 series i think). Advantage here is it is going to be
> weathertight
>
> which ever way you go be aware that any electrical connection from a high
> point outside the building could bring a lot of energy from a lightning hit
> into the building and has the potential to fry your attached equipment (and
> other issues like fires and so on)
>
>
>>Can anyone recommend a make / model of wireless router where I can
>>detach the antenna, attach a piece of coax and attach an external
>>omni-directional antenna?
>
>
> dont know for consumer stuff, but several cisco boxes have this.
>
> How long of a piece of coax can I use? Any
>
>>and all tip / suggestions are appreciated.
>
>
> problem is you get a lot of loss in the co-ax, whereas ethernet cable doesnt
> have the same problems.
>
>
>>Email address is a spam trap, please reply here or to geoff at glave
>>dot org.
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Geoff Glave
>>Vancouver, Canada
I did something similar to this at a marina last summer. Worked quite
well. Info at this link:

http://members.cox.net/tulsaalstons/...%20Network.htm

Bob

stephen wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>
>>Hi there,
>>
>>I'm involved in the management of a little resort and I'd like to
>>provide WiFi to our guests. I'd like to place an access point inside
>>our central administration building, connect our ADSL connection to it
>>and then place and antenna on the roof of the same (one-story)
>>building. I figure this should provide a radius of coverage that would
>>satisfy 80% of our guests in cottages around the main building.
>
>
> it is probably better to put a separate AP up there, on an Ethernet cable.
>
> or if you want a box off the shelf, cisco among others make weatherproof
> units (1300 series i think). Advantage here is it is going to be
> weathertight
>
> which ever way you go be aware that any electrical connection from a high
> point outside the building could bring a lot of energy from a lightning hit
> into the building and has the potential to fry your attached equipment (and
> other issues like fires and so on)
>
>
>>Can anyone recommend a make / model of wireless router where I can
>>detach the antenna, attach a piece of coax and attach an external
>>omni-directional antenna?
>
>
> dont know for consumer stuff, but several cisco boxes have this.
>
> How long of a piece of coax can I use? Any
>
>>and all tip / suggestions are appreciated.
>
>
> problem is you get a lot of loss in the co-ax, whereas ethernet cable doesnt
> have the same problems.
>
>
>>Email address is a spam trap, please reply here or to geoff at glave
>>dot org.
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Geoff Glave
>>Vancouver, Canada
I did something similar to this at a marina last summer. Worked quite
well. Info at this link:

http://members.cox.net/tulsaalstons/...%20Network.htm

Bob