Wireless router recommendation

[Poimen]

I just had high speed internet installed at my location. I live on the church property and want to send a wireless signal from the church office to the parsonage. The problem is that the house is 250' away. Is there anything on the market that would be powerful enough for me to get a decent signal?

Please note that it is not possible to get the internet hookup in the house. It will only work if I send a wireless signal from the office.

 

[VictorBravo]

There are directional antennae that allow you to focus the beam for extended range. Also, there are repeaters that extend range as well. I've also heard of infrared wireless data relays.

Here is an example of some stuff I saw on line. You could probably get by with a run of the mill high-gain antenna at both ends, pointed at each other.

http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wireless/long-range-wifi-antenna.php

The best idea is to check with a local computer store or Radio Shack for options. They shouldn't be too expensive for only 250 feet.

 

[VictorBravo]

And if you feel adventursome, build a Yagi antenna out of a Pringles can!

http://3nw.com/pda/wireless/wi_fi_pringles_can_yagi_antenna.htm

The author claims that signals could transmit up to 10 miles.

 

[jfschultz]

You might check out one of the new 802.11n standard routers, such as the Airport Extreme. They have double the range of the earlier WiFi routers.

 

[jbergsing]

A better way to get that to the house with a strong signal would be to run a network cable over to the house and utilize a wireless range expander (if needed). You would, of course, need to use a basic router (which you should be using anyway) near the cable modem. At least, this is how I'd do it.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/wifi_range_extender_antennas.php

Get the directional antennas. You'll need the antennas and a wireless bridge:
Amazon.com: Linksys WET54G Wireless-G Ethernet Bridge: Electronics

So the set up would be

Your internet connection -> wireless router -> Directional Antenna 1 (Church Office) -> Directional Antenna 2 (Parsonage -> Wireless Bridge -> Your PC.

You can forego the bridge if you can find a wireless adapter that goes to your PC that can connect to the hi-gain antenna.

 

[dalecosby]

I have had successful links between 8 city blocks so it can work. It is just a matter of getting the right gear.

I haven't tried the new 803.11n Airport extreme but it is supposed to get better range.

I would go with the same config mentioned:

Your internet connection -> wireless router -> Directional Antenna 1 (Church Office) -> Directional Antenna 2 (Parsonage -> Wireless Bridge -> Your PC.

That is essentially the way we did it bit we had rather expensive outdoor gear.If you can set up by a window that will be best.

 

[Poimen]

It looks like the signal will be strong enough to reach the house with just a wireless router. There is nothing blocking it and I was able to get good access near the house.

One more question: how do I secure the network with a password?

 

[jfschultz]

It looks like the signal will be strong enough to reach the house with just a wireless router. There is nothing blocking it and I was able to get good access near the house.

One more question: how do I secure the network with a password?

Good news.

This varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, but usually there is either a management application or web browser pages to configure the router. I would suggest setting up two features.

1) MAC access control - This is a list of a hardware IDs for the WiFi devices that are allowed access.

2) WPA encryption - This requires setting a password. Usually once you do the network setup on the WiFi device the password does not need to be entered every time you start the system. (WEP is an older and less secure encryption.)

 

[Calvibaptist]

You can also usually set the Router to not broadcast the SSID (which basically is the name of the router that appears when people search for a signal). This way, no one around will even know there is a wireless signal to try to hack into. This setting is usually easily done through the web browser configuration page.