Need help wth Bridge for hotspots

I need some help with a setup that I am trying to use on my boat. I have
cable internet at the marina and I use a cable modem hooked to a Linksys
WRT54G wireless hub and router. I use two notebooks with wireless cards.
This setup works well.



I would like to have an external antenna high up on the boat to pull in
hotspots when I am traveling. I have been told the way to do this is with a
high powered bridge. I have installed a Senao/EnGenius 2611CB3Plus(Deluxe)
200mw bridge on the flybridge and plugged it into the Lynksys. I had to
change the default address but after I did that I can communicate with the
bridge. The problem is that there is no way to direct the bridge to a
particular hotspot. Is there a high powered bridge that will work this way
or am I going about this the wrong way?

I know a directional antenna would be helpful but I want to try and do this
with an omni directional antenna with a yagi as a back up. 110 volts is not
a problem. I would appreciate any help you can provide.

thanks

Frank

On Sun, 7 Aug 2005 21:43:08 -0400, "Frank" <fburrows(remov)@mail.com>
wrote:

>I would like to have an external antenna high up on the boat to pull in
>hotspots when I am traveling. I have been told the way to do this is with a
>high powered bridge.
>I have installed a Senao/EnGenius 2611CB3Plus(Deluxe)
>200mw bridge on the flybridge and plugged it into the Lynksys. I had to
>change the default address but after I did that I can communicate with the
>bridge.

So far, so good. You might have problems if the two radios end up on
the same channel (1, 6, or 11).

>The problem is that there is no way to direct the bridge to a
>particular hotspot.

Well, no. The 2611CB3Plus requires that you type in the MAC address
of the access point to which you're connecting, the SSID, and the
channel number. Unlike most client adapters, it has no provision for
scanning for available access points. It wasn't really made for
roaming and was primarily intended for point to point links, where the
other end is known and does not change.

>Is there a high powered bridge that will work this way
>or am I going about this the wrong way?

For high power, I don't know. I'll see what Google finds.

Have you looked into commercial providers?
http://www.idockusa.com
http://yachtspots.com
http://www.air2access.com
(etc)
These tend to be localized, but do have their hardware act together.

My ancient DLink DWL-900AP+ has a "scan for access points" feature.
However, it requires that you pre-select the radio channel. That's
kinda a problem if you don't know what it might be. It's also not
high power.

You could just setup an ordinary wireless client on one of your
desktops and install Netstumbler to search for access points.
Scribble down the numbers (MAC, SSID, channel) and plug them into your
existing 2611CB3Plus. Not the most graceful method, but functional.

>I know a directional antenna would be helpful but I want to try and do this
>with an omni directional antenna with a yagi as a back up. 110 volts is not
>a problem. I would appreciate any help you can provide.

Don't use high gain omni antennas on a boat. The -3dB vertical
radiation angle is rather small. For example, a 12dBi omni antenna
has a vertical beam width of only about 5 degrees. Your vessel needs
only to roll about 2.5degrees from vertical and the signal is totally
gone. Similar gain antennas in the form of yagi, panel, or dish
antennas will have much larger beam widths, which can accommodate more
rolling. Methinks a sealed panel antenna is the most common solution
for boating.


--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff:

Is there a bridge better suited for my application? I can probably return
the Senao and replace it with a lower powered one. I also have a D-Link
DWL-G810 that I was going return because it was low power. I think they make
a signal booster that I could add later to the bridge to increase the
output.

Would this work

Frank

"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sun, 7 Aug 2005 21:43:08 -0400, "Frank" <fburrows(remov)@mail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>I would like to have an external antenna high up on the boat to pull in
>>hotspots when I am traveling. I have been told the way to do this is with
>>a
>>high powered bridge.
>>I have installed a Senao/EnGenius 2611CB3Plus(Deluxe)
>>200mw bridge on the flybridge and plugged it into the Lynksys. I had to
>>change the default address but after I did that I can communicate with the
>>bridge.
>
> So far, so good. You might have problems if the two radios end up on
> the same channel (1, 6, or 11).
>
>>The problem is that there is no way to direct the bridge to a
>>particular hotspot.
>
> Well, no. The 2611CB3Plus requires that you type in the MAC address
> of the access point to which you're connecting, the SSID, and the
> channel number. Unlike most client adapters, it has no provision for
> scanning for available access points. It wasn't really made for
> roaming and was primarily intended for point to point links, where the
> other end is known and does not change.
>
>>Is there a high powered bridge that will work this way
>>or am I going about this the wrong way?
>
> For high power, I don't know. I'll see what Google finds.
>
> Have you looked into commercial providers?
> http://www.idockusa.com
> http://yachtspots.com
> http://www.air2access.com
> (etc)
> These tend to be localized, but do have their hardware act together.
>
> My ancient DLink DWL-900AP+ has a "scan for access points" feature.
> However, it requires that you pre-select the radio channel. That's
> kinda a problem if you don't know what it might be. It's also not
> high power.
>
> You could just setup an ordinary wireless client on one of your
> desktops and install Netstumbler to search for access points.
> Scribble down the numbers (MAC, SSID, channel) and plug them into your
> existing 2611CB3Plus. Not the most graceful method, but functional.
>
>>I know a directional antenna would be helpful but I want to try and do
>>this
>>with an omni directional antenna with a yagi as a back up. 110 volts is
>>not
>>a problem. I would appreciate any help you can provide.
>
> Don't use high gain omni antennas on a boat. The -3dB vertical
> radiation angle is rather small. For example, a 12dBi omni antenna
> has a vertical beam width of only about 5 degrees. Your vessel needs
> only to roll about 2.5degrees from vertical and the signal is totally
> gone. Similar gain antennas in the form of yagi, panel, or dish
> antennas will have much larger beam widths, which can accommodate more
> rolling. Methinks a sealed panel antenna is the most common solution
> for boating.
>
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
> 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
> AE6KS 831-336-2558