Wireless Access Challenge! Routers, Bridges, Powerline Ethernet - Oh My!

I'm trying to get broadband to my house. I just moved in to find that
my neighbor can get DSL, but I cannot. We're on different phone
circuits and I've tried everything to get my line approved for DSL.
My neighbor is cool with letting me have my previous DSL service
transferred to his house, but I'm having trouble getting a wireless
connection to work, and need some help with configuration suggestions.

My neighbor's office is at the far end of his house from me, and I
bought a Linksys wireless G router and tested the signal from this
location. I found that I was getting no signal from my house when the
router was in his office. I did find, however, that I could get "low"
signal when I moved the router to the side of his house closer to
mine. I need to figure out how to get a reliable wireless conncetion
in my house. I've considered a few options, but I'd like to hear
opinons on the best way to do this from the group.

General Problems: My neighbor doesn't want to drill holes, run
cables, etc. I feel uncomfortable asking for him to do this for me
anyway. I also can't set up the DSL connection anywhere else but the
far end of his house. Need some way of getting the signal to the
close end of his house.

Must Haves:
- Wireless Access within my home

Nice to haves:
- It would be ideal if I could have some sort of bridge, so my home
would be on it's own wireless network, then I could have another
wireless connection from my home to my neighbor's home.

Some Options I've Considered:
- Access Point Bridges. Wireless Router in Office, AP (bridge) in
neighbor's house on close side, AP (bridge) in my office. Lots o'
hardware, though.
- Dlink 800AP+ Range Extender. Downside is no 802.11G. Also, lack of
remote management of the repeating node.
- Powerline AP. Standard DSL router, with an ethernet over powerline
connection to a wireless access point at the side of the house closest
to me.
- Antenna. Talk him into an antenna on his roof, which I have easy
line of sight to. Corresponding antenna in my office.

Thoughts?

DrewJ <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> - Dlink 800AP+ Range Extender. Downside is no 802.11G. Also, lack of
> remote management of the repeating node.

First off, forget the "need" for 802.11G. If all you are doing is
accessing a DSL line, a strong 802.11b signal is going to be fine.

> - Powerline AP. Standard DSL router, with an ethernet over powerline
> connection to a wireless access point at the side of the house closest
> to me.

That might work. Again, you aren't talking a need for speed.
There aren't any phones at the other end of the building?
Is the DSL on a separate phone line from the rest of the house?
Maybe you could spring for a professionally installed phone or ethernet
run to the other end of the building.

You just need a little bit of space, maybe in the attic or a closet, to put
the DSL modem and a wireless bridge. Professionally installed, he'd never
notice.

http://www.nodomainname.co.uk/Equati..._broadband.htm
has some photos of the "stuff" inside the donor house.


> - Antenna. Talk him into an antenna on his roof, which I have easy
> line of sight to. Corresponding antenna in my office.

That's the ticket. If you can mount something discrete on the roof at
the office end of his house, pointed toward your house, you are almost
home. Commercial antennas are in the $100 range, a wireless bridge in
a weatherproof box might be all you need, raised above the roofline at
each end.

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

> My neighbor's office is at the far end of his house from me, and I
> bought a Linksys wireless G router and tested the signal from this
> location. I found that I was getting no signal from my house when the
> router was in his office. I did find, however, that I could get "low"

If all you have done is move the AP around the house so far and can get
a low signal, all you now need to do is get a better strength signal.

Enter the ANTENNA!

Try something like www.freeantennas.com or read my experiences which
were similar www.nodomainname.co.uk/cantenna/cantenna.htm.

FWIW, this rocks and worked from an AP about 200m away, through trees
and walls. Only just but enough to prove a point.

http://www.nodomainname.co.uk/Antenn...ith%20conical%
20horn

David.