# How far can a wifi signal travel? Got a question on it...



## bryce

How far can a wifi signal travel? My aunt just got a laptop and has wifi at her house and wants to use it at her's dad's house like less than a mile away. How good or if any signal would she get over there? I've never heard of anything like that except for like maybe 300ft-500ft from my house. But my laptop is newer than her's probably lol. So, anything you can offer to me for when I call him up and tell him what he shoud get?


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## corky dorkelson

Over 9000.

I would say a maximum of about 150 ft if the router is on the first floor. Maybe 200 if it is higher. But it will not be possible to go as far as you need without some serious equipment.


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## bryce

-_- Realistic please lol.


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## DuckieHo

You'll need 802.11n, an omni-directional antenna, clear line of sight, and lots of luck.

Otherwise, you'll have to resort to proprietary tech (expensive).


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## slim123

/\\ /\\ /\\ /\\ /\\ Damn you DuckieHo







/\\ /\\ /\\ /\\ /\\

Two things:

1. How powerful is her router (G, G+, N, N+) (N+ allows travel of up to 300m)

2. What card has your laptop got? (G, G+, N, N+)

My macbook is N, so this allow a pickup of a router about 200m down the road, with a connection of 150mb/s









Hope this helps


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## bryce

That's what I was afraid of. They've got an antenna, would there be a way to extend it and mount it on their roof for farther range or something, but would that be cheap? And they've got a ton of trees around them, so the line of sight is another issue.

My uncle bought a G router I'm sure of, but he can take it back to get an N router if her laptop card would accept it. Most likely it won't as I think she got it off craigslist for like $80 lol.


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## RonindeBeatrice

^^ People with (cheap!)homemade antennas and a clear line of sight have reached several miles with off the shelf AP's and adapters.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bryce* 
That's what I was afraid of. They've got an antenna, would there be a way to extend it and mount it on their roof for farther range or something, but would that be cheap? And they've got a ton of trees around them, so the line of sight is another issue.

Cut down those trees!









If you mount an antenna on your roof and they have an antenna on theirs, do you get LoS then?

Otherwise, it probably won't work.


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## bryce

They probably won't mount something on their roof. And where is my laptop coming into this lol.

I think the best bet for her is to piggy back off a closer wifi connection closer to her dad's house.


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## bryce

Ok, just called him. Her laptop is new, just bought yesterday, so it will accept N type. And they bought an N type router. Now, here's the other thing. they wanted to hook up his desktop wirelessly to it, but I believe his is a G type. All I would need to do is hook the N type up to the G router correct and that would serve both computers, right?

They are in seperate rooms as well. Would the N type be able to feed the G router wirelessly so that his computer is accessable or what?


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## bobfig

this is kinda funny but i have a friend that has multiple wireless repeaters in freinds attics that he uses to connect to his works network some distance away. that may be a possibility? just need power plugs.


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## bryce

If the modem, switch, routers are in the same room couldn't I just do this:

Cable Modem > Switch > G Router
Cable Modem > Switch > N Router

All on the same switch of course. And if their in seperate rooms, is there a switch that could wirelessly connect them both?


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## bobfig

maybe, modems usually have one ip address to give to the computer/router. but i have noticed in my modem that you can allot the modem to assign ip addresses as a DHCP server. so if you have that option then yes it may be possible


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## bryce

Aren't N routers backwards compatiable with Gs? If so, I'd just need to hook the N router up to the modem and have it serve the laptop and then the G router for his desktop.


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## Sheehanigans

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bryce* 
If the modem, switch, routers are in the same room couldn't I just do this:

Cable Modem > Switch > G Router
Cable Modem > Switch > N Router

One or the other, but not both. Modem's usually only have 1 output, which is why routers/switches exist. And I thought the switch connects to the router, not router connected to the switch. Because the router assigns IPs, and if you connect the router to the switch, the switch would be assigning IPs, and you would have overlap. Bad.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bryce* 
All on the same switch of course. And if their in seperate rooms, is there a switch that could wirelessly connect them both?

A switch is a router with no wireless capabilites. Simply put.

And even with N+ gear, you're not going to get a mile without specialized (technically illegal) hardware.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sheehanigans* 
A switch is a router with no wireless capabilites. Simply put.

A switch is a residential gateway with no wireless or router capabilites.


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## Sheehanigans

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DuckieHo* 
A switch is a residential gateway with no wireless or router capabilites.

touche. +rep.


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## bryce

So, in short he's screwed. He told me the Best Buy guy said it would reach that far lols. But what do they know.

It just MIGHT if there were a clear line of sight, but there's houses, trees, etc around them and it's not a clear line of sight. I'm going over there tonight to look it over and all. He might just have to upgrade his wifi card on his desktop to an N type so they work together and just get rid of the G router, that would be best I think.


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## cccccc

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DuckieHo* 
A switch is a residential gateway with no wireless or router capabilites.

that depends on how much money you want to spend:
http://www.motorola.com/Business/US-...eless+Switches

does that count as wireless capabilities or not? tough question.


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## Sheehanigans

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cccccc* 
that depends on how much money you want to spend:
http://www.motorola.com/Business/US-...eless+Switches

does that count as wireless capabilities or not? tough question.

ohhhh dirty.

There are modems, switches, routers, and WAPs, any combination can be put in one single device.


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## Cheezypoofs

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bryce* 
So, in short he's screwed. He told me the Best Buy guy said it would reach that far lols. But what do they know.

It just MIGHT if there were a clear line of sight, but there's houses, trees, etc around them and it's not a clear line of sight. I'm going over there tonight to look it over and all. He might just have to upgrade his wifi card on his desktop to an N type so they work together and just get rid of the G router, that would be best I think.

I currently have a D-Link N Router that runs a few computers in my house, but it also connects wireless to my uncle's house which is about 50 yards away from my house (no trees) and the signal passes through 3 walls and has a very weak signal. So, I'm almost certain your plan for 1 mile away is not going to happen.


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## GigaByte

I would think something like this but it doesn't come cheap.


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## 0rion

Why not build a couple of cantennas? Those can probably hit 1 mile.. It might be a stretch even with cantennas, but I would think it was worth a shot. You just need about $30 in parts (realistically could be much less) but it'll give you a directional signal. If you use a cantenna at each site, you might just be able to beam the signals over 1 mile. Here is a guide. It'll take a bit of tinkering, but I made a couple for my own personal use, and I saw quite a improvement in signal strength.

http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

As my example, I set up a laptop with an external usb wifi card with a 2dBi antenna that came with it about 30 feet from my router. I got a signal strength of -60db. I hooked up the cantenna and got -30. Every 3dBi is a doubling of signal strenth, so from -60 to -30 I doubled the strength 10 times. There's also something called a biquad antenna that you could also use (and make yourself for CHEAP) that I use right now which has a wider range than a cantenna, but Im not sure what kind of distances it pulls signals from. I know I pick up and connect to points my regular wifi antenna doesnt even know is there. So there are options, just up to you how much trouble you want to go to to have it work. You can make a lot of things yourself and save a bundle.

http://martybugs.net/wireless/biquad/

edit: I should mention, people using biquad antennas with a used satellite dish setup hit distances of MILES.. Like 4 miles sometimes, or more. I never got that far into it, but I did find I could pick up used dishes at radio shack for $20 or so







Doesnt need to be fancy at all.


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## KusH

Microwave, with direct line of sight probably your best bet but I doubt you will want to spend 10k+ worth of equipment to do so... Why not just create a vpn connection back to the house or just tell your uncle to get an internet connection.

I'm confused as to why you would need your wireless to travel so far.


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## Souness

Wow, can't she just get an internet connection in her house? Way too much trouble to try and reach distances that far. If they were neighbors then maybe.


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## The Master Chief

Why not just get her taht internet that is 3g or w/e and you can use it anywhere. Through Verizon.


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## Dylan

I used cantennas with my Wireless N router and got it to beam a signal about 1,000ft. spent a whole $18 on the setup as well


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *0rion* 
Why not build a couple of cantennas? Those can probably hit 1 mile.. It might be a stretch even with cantennas, but I would think it was worth a shot. You just need about $30 in parts (realistically could be much less) but it'll give you a directional signal. If you use a cantenna at each site, you might just be able to beam the signals over 1 mile. Here is a guide. It'll take a bit of tinkering, but I made a couple for my own personal use, and I saw quite a improvement in signal strength.

http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

As my example, I set up a laptop with an external usb wifi card with a 2dBi antenna that came with it about 30 feet from my router. I got a signal strength of -60db. I hooked up the cantenna and got -30. Every 3dBi is a doubling of signal strenth, so from -60 to -30 I doubled the strength 10 times. There's also something called a biquad antenna that you could also use (and make yourself for CHEAP) that I use right now which has a wider range than a cantenna, but Im not sure what kind of distances it pulls signals from. I know I pick up and connect to points my regular wifi antenna doesnt even know is there. So there are options, just up to you how much trouble you want to go to to have it work. You can make a lot of things yourself and save a bundle.

http://martybugs.net/wireless/biquad/

edit: I should mention, people using biquad antennas with a used satellite dish setup hit distances of MILES.. Like 4 miles sometimes, or more. I never got that far into it, but I did find I could pick up used dishes at radio shack for $20 or so







Doesnt need to be fancy at all.

No LoS...

Quote:


Originally Posted by *The Master Chief* 
Why not just get her taht internet that is 3g or w/e and you can use it anywhere. Through Verizon.

Relatively expensive... and slow.


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## bryce

My uncle and aunt have internet.

My aunt wants to use her laptop and her internet at home while she's staying at her dads helping him, he's old. That's why they want it so far away.


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## KusH

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bryce* 
My uncle and aunt have internet.

My aunt wants to use her laptop and her internet at home while she's staying at her dads helping him, he's old. That's why they want it so far away.

Without some expensive equipment its not gonna happen.

So just get an 3g/4g air card and be done with it.


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## The_Rocker

If you could create a large antenna, mount it quite high off the ground and then get some sort of device which would amplify the signal then I beleive it may be possible.

The cable that a router uses to connect to an antenna is thin Coax right?

If you can be clever then I reckon putting one of them TV Arial signal booster things between your router and the large antenna may give the signal enough kick.


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## The_Rocker

See this:

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects..._ap/index.html


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## coolaide

I used old satalite dishes with biquad antenae to connect to my work internet back in the days. It reached well over a mile. And I got the dishes out of someones trash and made the biquads out of recycling center junk. Cost me $15 for the long 50ohm coax cable. Good luck.
P.S. Google is your friend on this project.


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## Manyak

C'mon, use your heads!







All you need is about a mile of Cat6 cable and a few signal amplifiers and you're golden!


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## serioussam

you could try this http://www.metacafe.com/watch/181267..._wifi_antenna/


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