My neighbors and I are wondering if theres a way for us to share a dish setup for wireless internet. Right now we are dealing with funky phone lines strung thru the woods and no promise if ever of broadband any time soon.Nearest cable is 3 miles away. Now this is rural WV and terrain issues arise . I live on a ridge and i have two neighbors down in the hollows(approx. 300-400ft elevation change) altho we are less than 2000′ apart as the crow flies. Weve been told there are ways to “export” signal and that it works better going one way ..either uphill or downhill were not clear. We dont have line of site to each others places( unless we clearcut/not!)
Has anybody done anything like this or have a resource for info?On clear day i get 28Kbps so loading a big PDF i can drive to town go to library download and be back (15Miles) before the first page loads here.
Replies
Check with Verizon. They have internet access directly to your laptop anywhere...but probably not to your neck of the woods LOL!
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Verizon 's loves to advertise and junkmail u all about it but when u get down to brass tacks they hem and haw and say someday.The satelite co. here is Hughes but we here theres a new player . They want about $100 which is too steep for my recreational use of the computer which is why were trying to coop it.
After years of dealing with dialup (speeds often below 10 kbp), and no hope of cable (Time-Warner is a mile down the road, but quoted my neighbors $60K to extend it to them) or DSL (too far from nearest "switching station) or fibre-optic (Verizon says "maybe" in three years), my wife discovered Verizon's high-speed wireless system.
A small device plugs into the USB port of her laptop. She travels extensively every week and has used it all over the country. Verizon has a "coverage map" on their website, which can give you an idea if it would work where you are. Also, you can return the device and cancel service if you get home and find it doesn't work.
Connection speeds for her have been consistently fast -- comparable to or faster than DSL. Downside is that only one computer can access the Internet at a time.
It's not cheap, but less expensive than HughsNet. Service was $59 a month when my wife signed up (no limit on minutes), but I think there is a $39/month deal going on now.
Friends of ours have HughsNet, and report the "speed" problems mentioned in an earlier post. Apparently it is very inconsistant and slows down to dial-up speeds at times.
Good luck,
Allen
Edited 4/2/2008 12:03 pm ET by WNYguy
I have a USB connected wireless modem from AT&T and get about 1.5-2 Mbs in the more urban areas I work in and about 2Kbs in the country without 3G connection. I also share my source. I use a Top Global cellular router it has a wi-fi ouput and 4 lan ports. I g.c. projects so the jobsite gets wireless internet.
Jason
Jason-Can you tell me more about this router that allows you to share your signal?? As in where can I get one??? And for how much???
"Can you tell me more about this router that allows you to share your signal?? As in where can I get one??? And for how much???"
https://3gstore.com/
Ozlander
http://www.topglobalusa.com/product2_02.asp?newsid=20031114093603324&classid=102103102
http://www.topglobalusa.com/onlineshop.htm
carpenter in transition
I ordered my setup from rfwel.com
http://www.rfwel.com/shop/catalog/Cellular-Data-orderby0-p-1-c-1.html
Not my neck either.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Get router and repeater. Newer routers achieve 300 Mbps maximum network bandwidth per the Draft N standard and a range up to 1,400 feet.
Also maybe add a bi-directional WiFi signal amplifier. A WiFi signal amplifier (sometimes called "signal booster") attaches to a router, access point or Wi-Fi client at the place where the antenna connects. Bi-directional antennas amplify the wireless signal in both transmit and receive directions. These should be used as WiFi transmissions are two-way radio communications.
add a WiFi repeater. A wireless repeater is a stand-alone unit positioned within range of a wireless router (access point). Repeaters (sometimes called "range expanders") serve as a two-way relay station for WiFi signals. Clients too far away from the original router / AP can instead associate with the WLAN through the repeater.
From http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wirelessfaqs/f/extendwifirange.htm
Technically? Sure. If you're all not too far a part, have one get it, and route the traffic through a wi-fi router.
Legally? Eh...I'm sure they have a rather rigid EULA that prohibits exactly this...not that they'd have to know, of course.
If you like to tinker, you'd probably be better off getting broadband where you can and running a home-grown wi-fi antennae to reach the 3 miles:
http://www.usbwifi.orconhosting.net.nz/
alas, if you're in hilly terrain, you're going to need some towers, so maybe not practical either.
Well the simplest approach is to put everyone on the same local area network. You'd need either cable (cat5) or radio (uhf or microwave) links between the homes. With cable you'd need special long-haul repeaters. Probably a killobuck, more or less, to set it up, plus you could have legal hassles with the service provider.
Fiberoptic could make the trip without a repeater. hmm... can't remember if coax can.
jt8
"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." -- Doug Larson
But then you have to have fiber optic transceivers -- pretty much the same difference. Dunno which cable would be cheaper, but you'd need outside-rated cable in all cases.
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. --Bertrand Russell
be a pita to have to trench a cable through a heavily wooded area.
jt8
"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." -- Doug Larson
Who needs a trench?
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. --Bertrand Russell
Hey im responsible for over a 1/2mile of phone wire since Im over 1000' from a state road.For most part its hung on a fence line so falling stuff at least meets some resisitance before it gets to phone wire. Ive had my share of chipmonk and squirrel chewing amd lightning once hit a tree and jumped to my phone line sending a surge thru the phone wire on my fax back out thru the power cable back down to my inverter(im solar power) frying it. Usually pull cords during heavy storm days but this was in Dec. and got me off guard.
I'm with you. LOVE me my Verizon Wireless Broadband. People should compare carefully to the Satellite providers. The $50 plan that Wild Blue offers is slower than my consistent DL speed of 1.6 Kbps. And it requires a significant investment in hardware. So for $10 more a month, I get much better speed and no hardware investment. The BIG downside of this service is I have not found a means to route the signal through a wireless setup. Maximum DL each month is 30 Gigabytes per the user agreement. Neighbor has HughesNet and often complains of the inconsistency and speed issues. Also complains about horrendous service. And their monthly service for the same speeds I get with Verizon is somewhere approaching a C-note a month. While I wouldn't call Verizon's service 5 star, it has been decent and it is US based. They were able to walk me through a problem with the access software interfering with my Palm Synch hardware. $60 each a month would go a long way for both of you given the investment you'll need to make in order to set up and share (in violation of any satellite provider's user agreement)a satellite connection.
The $50 plan that Wild Blue offers is slower than my consistent DL speed of 1.6 Kbps. And it requires a significant investment in hardware.
The advantage of Wild Blue is that it is available even in the boondocks.jt8
"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." -- Doug Larson
I was thinking along those lines, but wondering what distance you can carry a signal on CAT5 without a booster of some sort
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
The theoretical limit for 100 megabit ethernet on twisted pair is 100 meters. Probably that can be stretched a bit but I'd guess that 200 meters would be the absolute limit. 10Base2 (coax) is good to 185 meters.There are long-haul adapters (which oddly are called "short haul modems") that can extend this limit to several miles.Fiber is good for 300-2000 meters, depending on the fiber and the specific adapter type.
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. --Bertrand Russell
1200 meters
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http://www.radiolabs.com has all the equipment to shoot wireless internet 1 mile easily. I have a couple of setups working that far. Those setups are line of sight, so dense trees might cause trouble.Check with your local cell phone provider. If they offer service, it is probabably better and cheaper than hughes and wild blue.I have starband sat service, because I don't get very good cell service here at home.A medium to large guy named Alan, not an ambiguous female....
NOT that there is anything wrong with that.
You cannot cover the distance with WiFi or with regular Ethernet. You would have to string a fiber optic cable to each house - it's the only thing that would reasonably work for you
http://fiberopticcables.stores.yahoo.net/index.html
Call this store, they seem to have everything you would need, and the prices looked good for what you are getting.
There is nothing technical that would prevent you from sharing your internet connection with everyone else. It's also fairly simple to keep others from accidentally accessing your personal network.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
If your hair looks funny, it's because God likes to scratch his nuts. You nut, you.
Read somewhere recently about complaints about Hughes net... basically dial up speed more often than faster. So share that slow badwidth with the neghbor and it ends up being worse than dial up.
I had Hughes net for quite a while before we finally got cable. I would say all in all it was a waste personally. Connection was poor, speed varied greatly and it had major weather issues. Additionally they didn't tell me (or I didn't do enough research to find the truth) until I had signed a contract, but your bandwidth and total usage is limited, and lack of a fixed IP makes using a router very difficult. You can get a fixed IP system, and unlimited use, but that adds another $100-$200/mo.. There are some other satellite providers out there that are better, but satellite internet is a bad deal imo.
Lack of a fixed IP shouldn't make using a router any more difficult.
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. --Bertrand Russell
Here is another provider:
http://www.wildblue.com/
Their packages start around $50.
And no, I haven't tried to broadcast a wireless signal 2k'
jt8
"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." -- Doug Larson
Thats what I got. it was 300 install ( buried post vs. house mount dish) and I went with the middle speed package, Idunno what the actual speed is, but i's plenty fast..the intro (slow) speed was OK, but I wanted to bump it upp a tad.
69.99 a mo. tied in with my dishnet tv bill..so for the two, I average 150.00 a mo, if we don't get too many PPV movies.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Welcome to Poo-ville, can I have your socks?Seriously Folks, I need a home for 3 lovers of your life.
I built a network in our similar-sounding neighborhood.
Trees are your enemy. They eat signal. Yet wireless is easy, so we do it where it can work.
Hills are your other enemy. Unlicensed radio doesn't go through them (There's a reason why wireless systems are so popular in the Plains states.) So we do VDSL over the hills. This was built 4 years ago when passive fiber wasn't around, though I'm looking at a retrofit with that now.
Whenever there's open air we do wireless.
What kind of vegetation do you have to deal with?
Also, depending on how large your land ownership is in the area, do any of the neighbors own land to the cable? 'My' cable modem is about 3 miles away by road and I'm posting this message using it. Terrestrial is so much better than satellite you should exhaust all creative options before going satellite.
And make sure your town's franchise agreement is better worded when it comes up for renewal. Around there they put in 'reasonable rates' for extending cable and then defined it as $60,000 per mile, far above market rates.
If one of you has a wireless router you can use something like this for the sub stations:
http://www.cantenna.com/
If its close enough of course.
Also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantenna
http://www.binarywolf.com/249/
there's another site out there on using satellite dishes for LONG ranges.
Just an option I thought I'd mention.
"Where will our children find their enjoyment when everything gets itself done by steam? Frederick Law Olmsted, 1850s.
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