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After researching wifi yagi antennas, I feel like I'm ready to buy one, but have a few questions I'd like to ask experienced users before I go for it.

The main purpose for buying it is to share my friends bandwidth who lives about a quarter mile away (several houses down the block). If I'm able to connect to his AP and we can share the connection, we agreed to upgrade to business class speed (5x the download speed!!) and split the bill (sort of like splitting the bill with roommates, only he lives a little further away).

Question 1: If the antenna is placed on my roof facing his house, will it be strong enough to reach his AP? From what I read I think this is sort of a trick question, but there are minimal interferences in the neighborhood and this would go over the tops of most houses (would only go through one 2 story house). Are the chances high that the signal would reach his house?

Question 2: How safe is it having the antenna running 24/7 on the roof? I have 2 toddlers and am concerned how much power will be given off. I saw some of the output powers listed on this site and 578mW definitely sounds unhealthy. Is it safe as long as its placed on the roof outside? If the AP is fairly close, will the output be less or will it still use the full output power?

Question 3: Will this antenna be sufficient for safely connecting to my friends house?

The house in the middle will cause problems, you'll also need an antenna on his house. Also need to make sure you're within legal limits for unlicensed wifi.

1: No way to tell exactly without a site survey, but Barry is probably correct that the house in-between will cause an issue.
2: It's safe enough as long as the kids aren't standing directly in front of the output end for more than a few minutes.
3: See #1.

Of course, the real question you should be asking is: "If the ISP finds out about the 'sharing' and 'splitting the bill' how much of a fine and jail time does the typical Theft of Services charge carry in my jurisdiction?" Hint: Most Terms of Service do preclude such "sharing" outside of a residence, and in most places it is a misdemeanor charge equivalent to stealing cable TV service.

my question is this:.. can you get any decent broadband in your area and at what price?