Best way to improve signal ?

I am about to install a linksys wrt54g router and try and use it about
100 ft away in the garden through several brick walls.
i dont think i stand a chance.

how can i boost the signal ?

should i buy an external antenna or a repeater or another access point
?

any help appreciated,

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I am about to install a linksys wrt54g router and try and use it about
> 100 ft away in the garden through several brick walls.
> i dont think i stand a chance.
>
> how can i boost the signal ?
>
> should i buy an external antenna or a repeater or another access point
> ?
>
> any help appreciated,
>
>
>
External antennas will be your best bet. Directional would be best. There
are even plans for home built ones on the internet.
AG

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> I am about to install a linksys wrt54g router and try and use it about
> 100 ft away in the garden through several brick walls.
> i dont think i stand a chance.

The brick walls might present a problem.
You can start with simple reflectors.
http://www.freeantennas.com EZ10, or the original parabolic.
That's free, and easy to try.

Postion the wrt54g near a window, even if it isn't line of site.
External antennas could be mounted outside the brick walls. Homebuilt
patch antennas are moderately directional, but more important is that they
are cheap, and can be placed fairly inconspicuously outside the brick
walls.
http://www.geocities.com/lincomatic/...chantenna.html

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 21:45:03 +0000 (UTC),
(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>> I am about to install a linksys wrt54g router and try and use it about
>> 100 ft away in the garden through several brick walls.
>> i dont think i stand a chance.
>
>The brick walls might present a problem.
>You can start with simple reflectors.
>http://www.freeantennas.com EZ10, or the original parabolic.
>That's free, and easy to try.
>
thanks,

anyone in the UK wish to sell me one of these parabolic antennaes ??

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 21:14:07 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>I am about to install a linksys wrt54g router and try and use it about
>100 ft away in the garden through several brick walls.
>i dont think i stand a chance.

Rule of thumb. 1 wall is usually no problem. 2 walls are a crap
shoot. 3 walls, forget it. Can you go OVER the walls with a tall
pole and antenna on top?

>how can i boost the signal ?
>
>should i buy an external antenna or a repeater or another access point

Let's do it by the numbers and you decide.

Double your tx power is +3dB. Inverse square law says that will give
you 1.4 times the range. Doubling your tx power will only have an
effect in one direction. You will need to double your tx power at the
other end for this to be useful.

Adding a repeater at midpoint will work well, but will reduce your
thruput. The repeater works on a single frequency and is therefore
half-duplex. Therefore, everything is store and forward which implies
added latency, longer delays, and possible problems with streaming
content or VoIP. If these are an issue, forget the repeater.
Otherwise, it does cut thruput in roughly half. It's also a bit
expensive.

Another way is a bigger antenna. Typical panel antennas are +8dBi or
+12dBi. Assuming -3dB coax and connector losses, that will give you
about +6dB gain. That works out to twice the range with the added
benifit of being benificial in both directions. No need to do
anything at the other end of the link. Here's one good way to do it
cheaply.
http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/Ez-10/

I dunno if any amount of gain is going to help you drill through 3
brick walls. My guess is that it won't help. However, one test is
worth a pound of speculation, so try it anyway. If you have some
semblence of a useable signal, keep going and play with the antennas.
If that doens't yield results, then you should try moving the
antennas. Last resort is the repeater.


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

On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 00:02:30 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 21:14:07 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
>>I am about to install a linksys wrt54g router and try and use it about
>>100 ft away in the garden through several brick walls.
>>i dont think i stand a chance.
>
>Rule of thumb. 1 wall is usually no problem. 2 walls are a crap
>shoot. 3 walls, forget it. Can you go OVER the walls with a tall
>pole and antenna on top?
>

i can go round the walls with an antenna.
i can put the antenna on the outside of the house and feed a cable
from there to the router.

i am buying a linksys wrt54g . can you recommend a reasonably priced
antenna i could use with this.

i am not able to make one.

On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 13:49:27 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 00:02:30 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 21:14:07 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>
>>>I am about to install a linksys wrt54g router and try and use it about
>>>100 ft away in the garden through several brick walls.
>>>i dont think i stand a chance.

>>Rule of thumb. 1 wall is usually no problem. 2 walls are a crap
>>shoot. 3 walls, forget it. Can you go OVER the walls with a tall
>>pole and antenna on top?

>i can go round the walls with an antenna.
>i can put the antenna on the outside of the house and feed a cable
>from there to the router.

Can you put the router on the outside in a water proof box instead of
the antenna? Coax cable losses are very high at 2.4GHz. I would
guess that you should not use more than 25ft of LMR-400 coax.

>i am buying a linksys wrt54g . can you recommend a reasonably priced
>antenna i could use with this.
>i am not able to make one.

I don't know the suppliers in Holland. This can also become
expensive. 25ft of LMR-400 coax "jumper cable" with a reverse-TNC on
one end, and a Male "N" connector on the other, and an antenna.

The jumper is about $40 from:
http://www.fab-corp.com/A1.htm
Look for "LMR-400 NM/NF 25 Foot Jumper" This is basically an
extension cable. You didn't specify the length so adjust the length
and price according to what you need.

You will need to a pigtail or adapter to go between the jumper cable
and the radio.
http://www.fab-corp.com/K1.htm
Look for "48 inch Reverse Polarity SMA Male - N Male LMR400" $24

If you can live with the stiff cable going directly to the WRT54G,
then use an adapter, which is much cheaper.
http://www.fab-corp.com/V1.htm
Look for "RP-TNC Male to N Female Adapter" $5

Be very careful to observe male female polarity so you don't waste
money on adapters. Also, try to combine the pigtail and the jumper
int a single LMR-400 cable with a Reverse-TNC on one end and a Male N
connector on the other. This may become a special order but might be
cheaper.

I would recommend an 8dBi panel (or patch) antenna. I've been using
Maxrad panels with good success.
http://www.fab-corp.com/J1.htm
Look for MAXRAD WISP 9 dBi Panel Antenna at about $25. Note that this
antenna has a short pigtail attached with an N female connector at the
end.

Other vendors are:
http://www.electro-comm.com

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

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> anyone in the UK wish to sell me one of these parabolic antennaes ??


I consider David Taylor's web page to be good reading, and contains some
specific recommendations for the UK.

< http://www.nodomainname.co.uk/cantenna/cantenna.htm >



--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 10:09:07 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 13:49:27 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
>>On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 00:02:30 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
>><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>>On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 21:14:07 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>>
>>>>I am about to install a linksys wrt54g router and try and use it about
>>>>100 ft away in the garden through several brick walls.
>>>>i dont think i stand a chance.
>
>>>Rule of thumb. 1 wall is usually no problem. 2 walls are a crap
>>>shoot. 3 walls, forget it. Can you go OVER the walls with a tall
>>>pole and antenna on top?
>
>>i can go round the walls with an antenna.
>>i can put the antenna on the outside of the house and feed a cable
>>from there to the router.
>
>Can you put the router on the outside in a water proof box instead of
>the antenna?

dont think so.

> Coax cable losses are very high at 2.4GHz. I would
>guess that you should not use more than 25ft of LMR-400 coax.
>
I may only need 10 feet.

>>i am buying a linksys wrt54g . can you recommend a reasonably priced
>>antenna i could use with this.
>>i am not able to make one.
>
>I don't know the suppliers in Holland. This can also become
>expensive. 25ft of LMR-400 coax "jumper cable" with a reverse-TNC on
>one end, and a Male "N" connector on the other, and an antenna.
>
>The jumper is about $40 from:
>http://www.fab-corp.com/A1.htm
>Look for "LMR-400 NM/NF 25 Foot Jumper" This is basically an
>extension cable. You didn't specify the length so adjust the length
>and price according to what you need.
>
>You will need to a pigtail or adapter to go between the jumper cable
>and the radio.
>http://www.fab-corp.com/K1.htm
>Look for "48 inch Reverse Polarity SMA Male - N Male LMR400" $24
>
>If you can live with the stiff cable going directly to the WRT54G,
>then use an adapter, which is much cheaper.
>http://www.fab-corp.com/V1.htm
>Look for "RP-TNC Male to N Female Adapter" $5
>
>Be very careful to observe male female polarity so you don't waste
>money on adapters. Also, try to combine the pigtail and the jumper
>int a single LMR-400 cable with a Reverse-TNC on one end and a Male N
>connector on the other. This may become a special order but might be
>cheaper.
>
>I would recommend an 8dBi panel (or patch) antenna. I've been using
>Maxrad panels with good success.
>http://www.fab-corp.com/J1.htm
>Look for MAXRAD WISP 9 dBi Panel Antenna at about $25. Note that this
>antenna has a short pigtail attached with an N female connector at the
>end.
>
>Other vendors are:
> http://www.electro-comm.com

thanks, i am brand new at this and I can see there are a lot of very
helpful people here.

On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 17:52:40 +0000 (UTC),
(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>> anyone in the UK wish to sell me one of these parabolic antennaes ??
>
>
>I consider David Taylor's web page to be good reading, and contains some
>specific recommendations for the UK.
>
>< http://www.nodomainname.co.uk/cantenna/cantenna.htm >

thanks for the link. nice to get some local knowledge too.