Jenny asks:
We have an adobe-walled (read: thick) house with a small guest house kind of far from the main house that I want to use as an office. Is there a wireless router that will give us our cable internet access from our main house to the casita .5 acre away?
Well, let's see. Half an acre equates to about 150 feet, correct?
A general rule of thumb in home networking suggests 802.11b and 802.11g wireless access points range from 150 feet indoors and 300 feet outdoors. Another good rule of thumb is that each thick wall you hit, youl'll be decreasing that signal up to 25%. There are also the 802.11a technologies, but we suggest you stray away from that because it runs at about 1/3 of the signal of any of the b/g WAP options.
Looking at everything together, we would suggest the router be placed by a window facing your outside guest house, if possible. Only then would you receive a decent signal.
Some of our recommendations include:
Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router
Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station
D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router
Of course, having additional wireless access points or routers chained together will also increase your range greatly, but as long as you have an open area for the signal to travel, one router should have no problem giving your guest house a usable signal.
Photo via PCWorld.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
If you go with the linksys you can flash it with opensource firmware that will allow you to boost the signal some. It won't double the range or anything, but it could give you just a little extra distance.
view darwin's profile
I am only really familiar with Linksys, as that is what I personally use, so with that out of the way, let me continue.
My parents live in a 5600 sq ft Concrete Form (Foam outside, concrete inside) house. And for some reason the signal SUCKS unless you are within less than say 100 feet of the router, sometimes it sucks even when you are withing 100 feet.
So what I got them for their house was a:
(From Linksys site)
Wireless-G Range Expander
Expand The Range Of Your Wireless Network!
WRE54G
* The easiest way to expand your wireless network's coverage or extend the signal into hard-to-reach areas
* Save on wiring costs -- no wired connection to your network necessary
* Easy installation -- one-touch auto configuration
* Compatible with both Wireless-G and Wireless-B networking devices
I am sure others have this same sort of thing, but this is an easy fix for you to put in your office. Or, they have "High Gain Antenna's" that replace your normal ones. With both of these, there would definitly not be a connection issue.
However I also agree, put it as close to a window facing the outer building as possible.
view Tyler's profile
Bountiful makes the strongest routers allowed by law:
http://www.amazon.com/1000-MW-Wireless-Router-b%2Bg/dp/B00154CXCI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1208452233&sr=8-5
view Suzanne's profile
I also like the idea of wireless mesh networks. Check out http://www.meraki.net. They have some very reasonably priced equipment.
I'm also sure the Apple, Linksys and DLink access points also support their own mesh networking. That is, you put an access point in the main house (as close to a window as possible) and in the guest house (as close to the window as possible). In the configuration of the access point in the guest house set it as an extender. This will help extend the network.
As previously mentioned, you can replace the antennae on your access point with high gain antennas to also help. The fewer obstacles between the main house and guest house the better.
view iBog's profile
A friend of mine had a device like that and told me that it doesn't work as it said to be working.
_______
California Lemon Law Lawyers
view andreea123's profile