Ok, Here Goes

TKelley · 10-10-2004

I'm new here, and new to WiFi.

What I have is the same problem I see a lot of other people having, but nothing I try seems to work. I'll lay it out here and hopefully someone will have some suggestions.

My brother lives approx. .75mi across a field from me. There are some trees in his yard that obscure a lot of the view of his roof (I'm uphill from him), but looking through binoculars I can see his roof from my front yard through his trees.

Here's the equipment we bought to try to make a connection. Belkin 802.11b/g NIC, Jefa Tech 16db patch antenna, Linksys wireless router (I dont have the model handy at the moment), and a 24db parabolic grid antenna. We've tried several configurations, but the most recent was the patch hooked directly to the router with an adapter sitting on his roof. The grid antenna hooked to my NIC card with 40ft of RG58 cable. We get no signal at all.

Now, when I have the equipment here (i know this is kind of a bad example because the distance is considerably less, but it verifies that the equipment works.) I have the router in my house with only the rubber duck antennas on it, and 80 to 100ft away in my garage I have my NIC hooked to the patch antenna via the same 40 ft of RG58, and signal is excellent.

Now the real problem, the calculations are greek to me. To those who understand it that will be hard to understand why someone couldnt get it, but for me it may as well be written in chinese. Maybe someone could tell me if theres a better hardware choice as far as antennas, or cable (I do have some LMR-400 here but only enough for one house at the moment) or describe in laymans terms how to figure by how far I need to clear the hill so I have a better view of his house (if need be). At this point anything would be a great help. I'd just like some more info from people who have had similar experience before dropping any more money.

Thanks
T

King_Ice_Flash · 10-10-2004

.75 miles is a really short distance if you have line of site. Make sure your cables are not shorted or broke whith an ohm meter. Trees in the way will stop signal. Try out the antennas with clear line of site. (You already said you had tried it with the stock antennas, and it worked, this would have been my first suggestion).

RG-58 cable will not work for 40 feet. Use LMR-400.

wrzwaldo · 10-10-2004

Some great calcs at this site. I'm with the king on this one, lose the RG-58!

10-10-2004	#1 (permalink)
TKelley Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1	Ok, Here Goes I'm new here, and new to WiFi. What I have is the same problem I see a lot of other people having, but nothing I try seems to work. I'll lay it out here and hopefully someone will have some suggestions. My brother lives approx. .75mi across a field from me. There are some trees in his yard that obscure a lot of the view of his roof (I'm uphill from him), but looking through binoculars I can see his roof from my front yard through his trees. Here's the equipment we bought to try to make a connection. Belkin 802.11b/g NIC, Jefa Tech 16db patch antenna, Linksys wireless router (I dont have the model handy at the moment), and a 24db parabolic grid antenna. We've tried several configurations, but the most recent was the patch hooked directly to the router with an adapter sitting on his roof. The grid antenna hooked to my NIC card with 40ft of RG58 cable. We get no signal at all. Now, when I have the equipment here (i know this is kind of a bad example because the distance is considerably less, but it verifies that the equipment works.) I have the router in my house with only the rubber duck antennas on it, and 80 to 100ft away in my garage I have my NIC hooked to the patch antenna via the same 40 ft of RG58, and signal is excellent. Now the real problem, the calculations are greek to me. To those who understand it that will be hard to understand why someone couldnt get it, but for me it may as well be written in chinese. Maybe someone could tell me if theres a better hardware choice as far as antennas, or cable (I do have some LMR-400 here but only enough for one house at the moment) or describe in laymans terms how to figure by how far I need to clear the hill so I have a better view of his house (if need be). At this point anything would be a great help. I'd just like some more info from people who have had similar experience before dropping any more money. Thanks T

10-10-2004	#2 (permalink)
King_Ice_Flash Alien Paranoid Stumbler Join Date: May 2003 Location: WI Posts: 2,625	.75 miles is a really short distance if you have line of site. Make sure your cables are not shorted or broke whith an ohm meter. Trees in the way will stop signal. Try out the antennas with clear line of site. (You already said you had tried it with the stock antennas, and it worked, this would have been my first suggestion). RG-58 cable will not work for 40 feet. Use LMR-400. __________________ "Yeah," said a voice from under the table, "you go to pieces so fast people get hit by the shrapnel." Last edited by King_Ice_Flash : 10-10-2004 at 08:41 PM.

10-10-2004	#3 (permalink)
wrzwaldo I amuse you? Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 9,127	Some great calcs at this site. I'm with the king on this one, lose the RG-58! Last edited by wrzwaldo : 10-10-2004 at 09:21 PM.

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