Signal Strength of Access Points

[merkel04]

I have a few questions....

Lets say I wanted to expand my internet access to someplace miles away, and have it be available all the way there. Can I just put access points in line from point A to point B and have the connection basically jumping from one access point to the other?
Would this destroy connection/downloads speeds?
And how far would it be possible to expand my wireless connection using just standard access point? (Lets say i have the abilility to place them anywhere.)

Thanks alot, I would appreciate anyones input on this.

-Brian

[Midknyte]

http://www.ezlan.net/

look at the section about extending your wireless network.

Are you serious about doing this or is it just theory?

[kwebb]

Each repeater hop will cut your effective throughput by one half. You'll also have a limitation in the firmware for number of hops allowed. Cisco for instance is, or used to be when I was installing them, 3 hops. My guess is the SOHO AP's that will repeat would limit to one hop.

[merkel04]

Alright so access points are definently not the way to go. How could this be made possible? And I am serious about doing this. I think it would be great to extend my wireless network to un heard of lengths lol. Anyways, any ideas of how I could extend my network using only wireless products would be great to hear.
thanks again

[Midknyte]

that's just not realistic. even cellphones have towers physically connected to the backbone every so many miles. you would need to set up waps with wired links all along the path. the theory would be similar. as you lose signal to one WAP, the next WAP pics you up.

you might as well get a cellphone modem at that rate. Sony Ericsson and others make some. Tmobile, etc. has rate plans for that.

[merkel04]

So in order to create wireless access anywhere, I would still need to have a wired link to the main network in order to keep speed and connectivity throughout, correct?

[merkel04]

Do you know where I can find information on products that extend the range alot farther than just standard access points? And how far can cellphone towers give reception up to?

[kwebb]

With long distance point to point the factor you have to deal with the most is line of site. You can go for many miles with the right equipment and line of site. The problem when you start talking about miles is the height you need to get up to. At 7 miles with both sides at sea level you'll need about a 60 to 70 foot tower on each end. It's not just about being able to see the other side, you also need fresnel zone clearance. You could bridge from point at to b, then use another bridge at b and bridge to c, and so on. You'd be dealing with the same bandwidth problems per hop but there wouldn't be a software limitation. There are a few scenarios based on need and environment. Oh, and your talking about unlicensed bands by the way. Interference with Wireless WAN's is a constant and never ending concern.

[Midknyte]

i'm using cellphone towers as an example, not to use on your wifi network. I try to make analogies when I can.

Listen to Kwebb on this. He knows his stuff. :cool:

[merkel04]

I thought that Wireless G operates on a different frequency than B and almost fixed interferance problems

[merkel04]

I know your just using an analogy, just got my curiousity flowing on cellphone towers lol. Lets say I had the ability to setup WIFI towers, just like cellphone towers. With a direct wired link to the main network. With that ability I could technically expand to a countless number of areas. If im getting this correctly. (Witouth having to worry about loss of speed)

[Midknyte]

B and G are both 2.4GHz.

By setting up towers with direct connect back to the main network, you would eliminate repeaters. each wap would give you full bandwidth (as full as can be expected) to the backbone.

at that point security would become a major issue as well. you don't want people getting to your data or stealing bandwidth.

Again, I don't think this is realistic and you would probably have to get a consultant. There are rules and regulations for this, as Kwebb stated.

[kwebb]

What you might be thinking about is .11a which operates at 5 Ghz. Still an unlicensed band but not as crowded as the 2.4 Ghz spectrum. Much more expensive usually as well. High end gear. For instance you can buy a couple of bridge from Proxim's Tsunami line that have two radios in each bridge, one for transmit, one for receive. Their top of the line bridge are full duplex 480 Mb. So basically gigabit wireless when you talk aggregrate numbers. Sweet. I've never put up any of those but have put up a few 50 Mb Full Duplex Point to point links with Tsunami equipment. Useless information but thought you might get a kick out of gigabit wireless. Of course those bridge cost close to 100K each but wtf, it's only money.