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Thread ID: 135388	2013-10-27 23:02:00	How far can wifi be extended?	Nick G (16709)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1358086	2013-10-27 23:02:00	Uncle of mine is moving out of his house soon(ish) for earthquake repairs, moving across the road to a neighbours while they're on holiday. He wants to have access to his wifi while he's over there. Now, having seen how far his wifi currently reaches (his side of the footpath) and where his router is placed (about as close to the end of the house that's near the road as possible), I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be possible. Am I correct here, or is there somehow a way of extending his wifi connection enough to get it over the road?	Nick G (16709)
1358087	2013-10-27 23:25:00	If you have an andriod phone, install "WiFi Analyser" and check for your uncle's signal at the neighbours. Or install "Inssider" on a Windows machine. If you have a signal higher than -80 dBm, then chances are, one of these (www.alfanetwork.co.nz) will make a connection. It sticks on to a window with a suction cup and connects via USB to the computer. I use one when travelling and connects to access points that aren't visible to the internal WiFi in my notebook.	wuppo (41)
1358088	2013-10-27 23:26:00	Depends if its G or N. N would probably go further than G. AC may go even further. Or get some kind of wireless ranger extender	Speedy Gonzales (78)
1358089	2013-10-28 01:26:00	with a can-tenna, several KM should be possible with a clear line of sight and minimal background noise. im surprised few community mesh networks exist in new zealand. in europe i head they are quite common. unlimited internet is cheap enough in NZ now that there really is no excuse. id switch from cable to unlimited if there was a mesh to join.	Mirddes (10)
1358090	2013-10-28 22:47:00	The range of the wifi is limited by three main factors, first, the antennas that you use. A tablet probably has the shortest range antenna of the lot. It's quite awful and you probably either have your hand covering it, or have it in the wrong position at any given time. Laptop antennas would be next. Routers with more than one antenna are pretty good and could just reach across the road to another laptop or an AP. The tablet is a longshot, but can't be ruled out completely. You can improve all of these antennas by placing something metallic like foil or sheetmetal or metal mesh with holes the size of a pencil or smaller behind the antennas, to cup the signal much like you cup your ear. A cantenna needs a cable and you can use it for a router or pci card. Placing the router at the front of the house, outdoors but covered would help. Second thing that limits the range is background noise. If there are 50 routers in the area, microwaves, and so on, that makes it hard to get a signal far away from base. Third thing that limits ALMOST EVERY WIFI PRODUCT YOU CAN BUY IS THE SOFTWARE. They are designed to listen for fast responses, they can measure how far away the device they are talking to is, and they ALL refuse to speak to devices more than a short distance away despite being able to chat if they wanted to. This is to prevent people building their own internet, and robbing the many companies of their profit and the NSA of all their fun. It is called the ACK timing. You can reprogram some routers and Access points with homebrew software that listens longer. You can buy hardware that does the same thing commercially for about $100 more than it should be. In your case, I recommend putting your wifi router outdoors facing the new place, and protect it from rain with some plastic. across the road use an AP with a separate antenna you can also put outside. That should do the job.	TropoScatter (17158)
1358091	2013-10-28 22:59:00	As far as you want is the answer, the question is how much do you want to spend. 100km? We can do that... For this, I would grab a pair of LocoM5 (www.gowifi.co.nz) radios to create a Layer 2 bridge across the road. Configuration example here (wiki.ubnt.com). Dead easy and would be rock solid reliable as long as you have line of sight.	wratterus (105)
1358092	2013-10-29 03:05:00	If you have an andriod phone, install "WiFi Analyser" and check for your uncle's signal at the neighbours. Or install "Inssider" on a Windows machine. If you have a signal higher than -80 dBm, then chances are, one of these (www.alfanetwork.co.nz) will make a connection. It sticks on to a window with a suction cup and connects via USB to the computer. I use one when travelling and connects to access points that aren't visible to the internal WiFi in my notebook. Thanks for that, I'll chuck Inssider on and have a look. As far as you want is the answer, the question is how much do you want to spend. 100km? We can do that... For this, I would grab a pair of LocoM5 (www.gowifi.co.nz) radios to create a Layer 2 bridge across the road. Configuration example here (wiki.ubnt.com). Dead easy and would be rock solid reliable as long as you have line of sight. As it'd be short term, don't want to spend too much (besides, I'm tight ;)). Those sound really interesting though, will check with him and see how badly he wants the wifi. Thanks guys :)	Nick G (16709)
1358093	2013-10-29 20:48:00	..... This is to prevent people building their own internet, and robbing the many companies of their profit and the NSA of all their fun. Ive got to call BS on this. Tinfoil hat brigade ? ;) Apart from this you made some good points www.tp-link.com Its a separate-addon 8db arial .Your wifi router will need to support external antanna's . This aerial needs to off the ground, on a desk or something. . If you can do this on the receiving end as well even better. Even better is to put it by a windows facing the other house. At least in a room facing the other house. I have seen this work from one house, to another house on the other side of the road. It wasnt perfect & there were occasional dropouts, but was good enough for a small network . Worth a try as this is the cheapest option, I was surprised it worked at all but was good enough for a small business. Chances are its all going to be me trouble than its worth, wifi can sometimes be a tricky thing to get to work reliably. Dont expect perfection or a good reliable signal without alot of effort. :thumbs:	1101 (13337)
1358094	2013-10-29 22:36:00	Tinfoil hat is rather insulting. Google 'Edward Snowden' or ask the German Prime minister if she thinks people are 'tracking' her. One cow says to another cow 'I just worked out where hamburgers come from' and the other cow responds 'I've had enough of your tin foil hat conspiracy theory crap'	TropoScatter (17158)
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