# Long range WIFI



## mikellmikell (Nov 9, 2005)

Well I have the place covered with WIFI except to my power plant that is about 1000' away.

So fill me in on the details

Power plant will have a computer and 4 security cameras hooked to it.

Do I need a parabolic antenna and router at each end ? or can I aim the antenna at the power plant at my outdoor WIFI antenna and expect it to send and recieve well enough becaused the antenna if focused.

My main antenna is a 360 pole type

This is what I'm looking at

http://www.cyberguys.com/product-details/?productid=52239&core_cross=SEARCH_SKU

http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-WIFI-kit-GR...411?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a11aa75eb


I want to learn this along the way

Thanks


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Google cantenna


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## Bandit (Oct 5, 2008)

Also a lot of tips and ideas of how to on any of the RV Forums .
It looks like the Max. antenna distance is 900 ft. for a solid signal ?
Here are some ideas on how to go 1500 ft.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24250901/gotomsg/24251095.cfm#24251095

I hope some of this helps ?


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## mikellmikell (Nov 9, 2005)

I have the cameras and a pallet of computers. I picked up the stuff to tie them together today off EBay for less than 20$. The antenna says 6 miles but I have lots of trees in the 800' but I'll give it a try. I have 45 acres and need WIFI on all of it anyway for campers $$$ this weekend is going to be a nearly $10k weekend.


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## Bandit (Oct 5, 2008)

I have 45 acres and need WIFI on all of it anyway for campers $$$ this weekend is going to be a nearly $10k weekend.
WOW , Good for You on the busy weekend , We do camp and it is a real pain to only have " decent wi-fi service " in the sites near the office/store and the pavilion /recreation center/ beach.
Can You mount several repeaters to keep everyone happy , and coming back ?
Something like this
http://www.whotspot.com/m_camping.htm
When We camped at the KOA in Black Canyon City Az. they offered free Wi-Fi but changed the access code every day .


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## Bandit (Oct 5, 2008)

While trying to help You and expand My knowledge , I did a little " Googling " for CampGround Wi-Fi's and found this .
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=317886
I have to agree with the posters here , it ain't going to be cheap to get a good signal throughout the campground that will satisfy everyone . Is Your consultant friend past His 2 yr. No Compete Clause yet ?
We have been to campgrounds where the signal was aimed at the " Seasonal's " but they had picnic tables just outside the recreation building for the rest of us .


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

mikellmikell said:


> I have lots of trees in the 800'


800' is a piece of cake even without directional antennas, but the trees are going to kill you. It might work fine while the trees aren't growing, but for the other half of the year you'll have multipath distortion -- even if you have lots of signal strength, it'll be all messed up and the radios won't be able to make sense of it. You can cut through that with circular-polarized antennas on both ends. Dual-polarized might work too, but I haven't tried it.


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## mikellmikell (Nov 9, 2005)

circular polarized antenna???

Thanks

mike


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

mikellmikell said:


> circular polarized antenna???


Antenna polarization is too big a topic to go into here, except to say that it makes a huge difference in antenna performance. There's lots of info on the web if you want to read up on it.

A couple of these will go through your trees:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290576568031

While we're talking about antennas, a couple points about coax cable. At 2.4ghz, signal loss is a huge factor. Some of the cables that are sold for wifi use have attenuation close to 1dbi per foot at 2.4ghz, which means you lose half the signal every 3 ft. So keep coax cables as short as practical, and pay attention to the type of cable you use. If it's not stated, ask; if the seller doesn't know, go elsewhere. Then look up the attenuation before you buy; there are many charts and calculators on the web. The best cable that's small and flexible enough to be easy to use for short runs is LMR-240, at about 0.12dbi/ft attenuation. LMR-195 is good too, at 0.18dbi/ft.


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## mikellmikell (Nov 9, 2005)

So 2 of the antennas will do it with a good quality cable


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

mikellmikell said:


> So 2 of the antennas will do it with a good quality cable


With the 12dbi version (same antenna with a different backplane -- the one that seller has is 10dbi) I run a 1.8 mile link that goes through a couple large pine trees, with 20+ mbit throughput. Just to test, I shot a link at a different point through 12 large pines and some smaller stuff over about a 1/4 mile span near the middle; the radios I was using were limited to about 1.5 mbit at that range, so I don't know how fast it could've gone, but it did the 1.5 with no problem.

So I'd expect them to work fine for your 800 ft. of trees over that short a distance.

What are you using for radios?


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## mikellmikell (Nov 9, 2005)

I haven't picked up anything yet I'm just starting to piece things together


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