How far can I

Reach license free? In the US, what sort of distance is possible (line of
sight) with license free (2.5 ghz and/or 5 ghz) wireless networking
equipment? I've been looking at repeaters, antennaes, radios and all sorts
of gear at e-tailers like netnimble.net and ydi.com. I've quickly
discovered that I haven't got a clue what I need.

I have two networks that need to add clients that are off-site. One only
needs to reach about 300 meters and line-of-sight can probably be achieved
from the building tops. The other needs to reach about 3.5 miles and I
don't have a perfect line of sight (there are a couple of trees that could
interfere and an elevation difference of maybe +50 feet to the client).
Without a perfect line-of-sight, am I going to have to use an amplifier that
will put me out of the range of products that are considered "license free"?

In article <NX1Ya.52411$(E-Mail Removed) >,
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> Reach license free? In the US, what sort of distance is possible (line of
> sight) with license free (2.5 ghz and/or 5 ghz) wireless networking
> equipment? I've been looking at repeaters, antennaes, radios and all sorts
> of gear at e-tailers like netnimble.net and ydi.com. I've quickly
> discovered that I haven't got a clue what I need.
>
> I have two networks that need to add clients that are off-site. One only
> needs to reach about 300 meters and line-of-sight can probably be achieved
> from the building tops. The other needs to reach about 3.5 miles and I
> don't have a perfect line of sight (there are a couple of trees that could
> interfere and an elevation difference of maybe +50 feet to the client).
> Without a perfect line-of-sight, am I going to have to use an amplifier that
> will put me out of the range of products that are considered "license free"?
>

With clean line of sight, and the right antennas, you can easily cover
those distances with license-free gear. Trees may, or may not,
interfere. Bet on the former and start looking for a relay point that
has clean line of sight to both end points.

Regardless, you're going to want to do a cursory site survey at least,
to ensure that there aren't overwhelming sources of RF interference,
etc.

"i'm_tired" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<NX1Ya.52411$(E-Mail Removed). net>...
> Reach license free? In the US, what sort of distance is possible (line of
> sight) with license free (2.5 ghz and/or 5 ghz) wireless networking
> equipment? I've been looking at repeaters, antennaes, radios and all sorts
> of gear at e-tailers like netnimble.net and ydi.com. I've quickly
> discovered that I haven't got a clue what I need.
>
> I have two networks that need to add clients that are off-site. One only
> needs to reach about 300 meters and line-of-sight can probably be achieved
> from the building tops. The other needs to reach about 3.5 miles and I
> don't have a perfect line of sight (there are a couple of trees that could
> interfere and an elevation difference of maybe +50 feet to the client).
> Without a perfect line-of-sight, am I going to have to use an amplifier that
> will put me out of the range of products that are considered "license free"?

You won't need an amp. You will need good antennas to make the 3.5
mile link.

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects..._ap/index.html

Also have a look at:

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

There are other sites and one in particular which has a .pdf file
explaining all the details but which unfortunately is not in my links
on this account. I expect someone will drop a link to it. Can't find
the link now sorry.

-m-

i'm_tired wrote:

> Reach license free? In the US, what sort of distance is possible (line of
> sight) with license free (2.5 ghz and/or 5 ghz) wireless networking
> equipment? I've been looking at repeaters, antennaes, radios and all sorts
> of gear at e-tailers like netnimble.net and ydi.com. I've quickly
> discovered that I haven't got a clue what I need.
>
> I have two networks that need to add clients that are off-site. One only
> needs to reach about 300 meters and line-of-sight can probably be achieved
> from the building tops. The other needs to reach about 3.5 miles and I
> don't have a perfect line of sight (there are a couple of trees that could
> interfere and an elevation difference of maybe +50 feet to the client).
> Without a perfect line-of-sight, am I going to have to use an amplifier that
> will put me out of the range of products that are considered "license free"?

It's not that complicated. Put the equipment up on the roof for a test
and see. As Neb said, the 3.5 mile link can probably be done with decent
antennas, don't bother with amps, boosters and the like. The elevation
difference isn't relevant, it's line of sight that matters. A couple of
trees is probably not going to break this link unless they're killer
trees up close and personal, but you'll only know by trying. If you have
a couple of 19dbi (maybe less) antennas, I'd think you can make that
link work.