Need hardware recommendation

cyberd0g · 12-29-2004

I am trying to connect my house to another house about 3 houses down. I will be connecting it to a BSD router with a Linksys WMP54G. If I go the antenna way. I was going to get a 14dbi Yagi type antenna with 40' of LMR400. I am worried that the Linksys radio won't have enough power to actually make a difference with that much cable. I am also looking at a 1 Watt Amp from Hypertech and just using that with a small antenna (rubber duck). Any suggestions before I go out spending this kind of money? Note the access point will not have any antenna/amp on it. It is a Linksys WRT54G.

Thanks for the help!

wrzwaldo · 12-29-2004

What have you done so far in the line of calculating your link budget? The yagi and amp seem to be a bit of overkill.

cyberd0g · 12-29-2004

I'm willing to spend around $200 to get a good signal, although I'd rather go a bit cheapers with just an antenna.

Thorn · 12-29-2004

My advice is the same as usual:

1. "Do the math." You don't know what you need until you compute all the factors.

2. Stay far away from amps unless you know what you are doing. They are potentially dangerous and in this kind of setup they are overkill. It is the old analogy of using an elephant gun to kill a mosquito.

3. A 14dBi antenna is probably overkill, too. Again, you need to compute the factors before you can make that kind of decision.

The Others · 12-29-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberd0g

I'm willing to spend around $200 to get a good signal, although I'd rather go a bit cheapers with just an antenna.

The link budget has nothing to do with dollars. Do a quick search to work out what it is.

cyberd0g · 12-29-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Others

The link budget has nothing to do with dollars. Do a quick search to work out what it is.

ahh thanks, let me get all that stuff together and I will post back.

The Others · 12-29-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberd0g

ahh thanks, let me get all that stuff together and I will post back.

You've got to be thinking about power, distance, cables, loss of power, etc, etc. This is the budget. Don't forget to include physical obstructions too. Here is a nice guide:

http://www.solwise.co.uk/los.htm

Beermuppet, a NS.org forum member, made a really good excel spreadsheet to simplify it all. I forget where it is, but, searching through his site www.computerguy.co.uk should find it.

cyberd0g · 12-29-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Others

You've got to be thinking about power, distance, cables, loss of power, etc, etc. This is the budget. Don't forget to include physical obstructions too. Here is a nice guide:

http://www.solwise.co.uk/los.htm

Beermuppet, a NS.org forum member, made a really good excel spreadsheet to simplify it all. I forget where it is, but, searching through his site www.computerguy.co.uk should find it.

I am going to have lots of obstructions such as 2 buildings. How much would it hurt to get it amplified since line of sight is out of question.

Thorn · 12-29-2004

What is the unintentional near field for your proposed setup? If you can't answer that right off the bat, you don't know what you are doing and could be endangering the health of yourself or other people. Microwaves are not something to ignore, especially if you value having your eyeballs and testicles intact. (The two areas most susceptible to RF damage.)

At the risk of repeating myself:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thorn

2. Stay far away from amps unless you know what you are doing. They are potentially dangerous ...

Even with an amp, it may not work if the interveining areas soak up too much RF. On the other hand, you may have enough multi-path that you don't need an amp, but again, you won't know any of this unless you sit down and do the math for the link budget.

streaker69 · 12-29-2004

Quote:

Microwaves are not something to ignore, especially if you value having your eyeballs and testicles intact.

If you get that warm fuzzy feeling down there, you're probably either standing too close, or outputting too much power.

12-29-2004	#1 (permalink)
cyberd0g Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: New Orleans, LA Posts: 13	Need hardware recommendation I am trying to connect my house to another house about 3 houses down. I will be connecting it to a BSD router with a Linksys WMP54G. If I go the antenna way. I was going to get a 14dbi Yagi type antenna with 40' of LMR400. I am worried that the Linksys radio won't have enough power to actually make a difference with that much cable. I am also looking at a 1 Watt Amp from Hypertech and just using that with a small antenna (rubber duck). Any suggestions before I go out spending this kind of money? Note the access point will not have any antenna/amp on it. It is a Linksys WRT54G. Thanks for the help! __________________ ******************** Bret Esquivel cyberdog@immense.net http://www.immense.net ********************

12-29-2004	#3 (permalink)
cyberd0g Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: New Orleans, LA Posts: 13	I'm willing to spend around $200 to get a good signal, although I'd rather go a bit cheapers with just an antenna. __________________ ******************** Bret Esquivel cyberdog@immense.net http://www.immense.net ********************

12-29-2004	#4 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,361	My advice is the same as usual: 1. "Do the math." You don't know what you need until you compute all the factors. 2. Stay far away from amps unless you know what you are doing. They are potentially dangerous and in this kind of setup they are overkill. It is the old analogy of using an elephant gun to kill a mosquito. 3. A 14dBi antenna is probably overkill, too. Again, you need to compute the factors before you can make that kind of decision. __________________ Thorn "Read Altas Shrugged. Compare it to today. Repeat as necessary" Last edited by Thorn : 12-29-2004 at 09:38 PM.

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12-29-2004	#2 (permalink)
wrzwaldo I amuse you? Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 9,147	What have you done so far in the line of calculating your link budget? The yagi and amp seem to be a bit of overkill.