Wireless range - what are realistic expectations?

I'm planning on setting up a wireless network, where the router would be
in my apartment and one of the computers would be in the basement. The
distance is about 30 m (90 ft), and between the two locations there is a
pretty thick and solid concrete floor and a couple of walls. Do regular
consumer wifi products handle this, or do I have to think about another
solution?

Martin Magnusson wrote:
> I'm planning on setting up a wireless network, where the router would be
> in my apartment and one of the computers would be in the basement. The
> distance is about 30 m (90 ft), and between the two locations there is a
> pretty thick and solid concrete floor and a couple of walls. Do regular
> consumer wifi products handle this, or do I have to think about another
> solution?

You definitely have to think about another solution. First the distance
itself is on the outer limits of connectivity even in a completely
unobstructed room. But to add to that, you'll have the walls and the
floor to contend with.

Think about routing Ethernet cabling to your remote location. An
alternative might be to use your telephone system, over a system called
Home Phone Network Architecture (Home PNA). If you have a phone line
wired to the basement, then you can use the Home PNA.

Yousuf Khan

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 13:52:32 -0400, Yousuf Khan <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Martin Magnusson wrote:
>> I'm planning on setting up a wireless network, where the router would be
>> in my apartment and one of the computers would be in the basement. The
>> distance is about 30 m (90 ft), and between the two locations there is a
>> pretty thick and solid concrete floor and a couple of walls. Do regular
>> consumer wifi products handle this, or do I have to think about another
>> solution?
>
>You definitely have to think about another solution. First the distance
>itself is on the outer limits of connectivity even in a completely
>unobstructed room. But to add to that, you'll have the walls and the
>floor to contend with.
>
>Think about routing Ethernet cabling to your remote location. An
>alternative might be to use your telephone system, over a system called
>Home Phone Network Architecture (Home PNA). If you have a phone line
>wired to the basement, then you can use the Home PNA.
>
> Yousuf Khan

Good points. Also, you should realize that most of the wireless
signal goes perpendicular to the antennas -- yet, here, you're going
to want some of it going DOWN to the basement. You might be able to
get that to work by angling the antennas at 45 degrees from vertical.

However, as Yousuf points out, wireless is very sensitive to
intervening structures. Experiment with the location of your router
-- I have a friend who had to put his router on a shelf in the hall,
since his air conditioner ducts were between the second computer and
the initial site of the router. Make sure you have a long enough
ethernet cable for the router -- if you are buying one, a 25' cable
is not significantly more than a 6' cable.

Terry
My website: http://www.terrystockdale.com
My weekly newsletter: http://www.terryscomputertips.com

In article <qLOdnXmudbv85XvfRVn-(E-Mail Removed)>, Yousuf Khan wrote:
> Think about routing Ethernet cabling to your remote location. An
> alternative might be to use your telephone system, over a system called

Another alternative would be Homeplug. (Bridges ethernet over the
power lines.)

--
Roger Blake
(Subtract 10 for email.)

"Yousuf Khan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:qLOdnXmudbv85XvfRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
> You definitely have to think about another solution. First the distance
> itself is on the outer limits of connectivity even in a completely
> unobstructed room. But to add to that, you'll have the walls and the floor
> to contend with.
>
> Think about routing Ethernet cabling to your remote location. An
> alternative might be to use your telephone system, over a system called
> Home Phone Network Architecture (Home PNA). If you have a phone line wired
> to the basement, then you can use the Home PNA.

Not only that, but if you have phone wired to the basement you might just
have a conduit running up to the house. In which case, put in a piece of
cat-5 or better cable in the conduit, it will likely fit. If you must be
wireless in the basement, just buy another AP. You might have an extra
conduit anyway, I often find extra conduit when cabling-it makes it nice.

--Dan

Roger Blake wrote:
> In article <qLOdnXmudbv85XvfRVn-(E-Mail Removed)>, Yousuf Khan wrote:
> > Think about routing Ethernet cabling to your remote location. An
> > alternative might be to use your telephone system, over a system called
>
> Another alternative would be Homeplug. (Bridges ethernet over the
> power lines.)

Yup, I guess it depends on how expensive Homeplug is compared to Home
PNA.

Yousuf Khan