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What do you recommend?

Cantenna, of course. Because free speech can't be anonymous if they have your billing address.

Helpful folks can also assist by hooking up an open WAP to a nice long range antenna.

check out:

    http://www.cantenna.com/

You can buy or build a cantenna. They're illegal. But with a bit of work and patience, they function well. I dunno if a simple can-based setup can handle half a kilometer (and if it can, it's going to need a good solid connection to the house to keep it aligned) but I do know that a cantenna operated at the focal point of a used satellite dish will work fine up into the several kilometer range.
They're really cheap to build. You generally need to find reverse-polarity RF connectors to hook to the card in the computer. Digikey.com, newark.com, and mouser.com all sell reverse-polarity rf connectors. Traditionally people put n-type rf connectors on the antenna but that's a pain: I built mine using a bnc bulkhead connector on the can, and a rp-sma-to-bnc converter connector on my wireless adapter card, and just ran bnc cable from one to the other.

Mine only runs 40 meters through a couple of walls. Hopefully other people will correct this if it's the wrong solution for 500 meters.

Funny, Cantenna.com says:

Is it legal to use your Cantenna?

Yes, our Cantennas and Pigtails have been tested and comply with part 15 of the FCC rules. Make sure other wireless devices that you use also comply. Compliance with FCC regulations is your responsibility. Check with your Internet Service Providers to find out if they permit sharing of their Internet connections.

LMAO! Apparently the people at http://www.cantenna.com/ don't know they're illegal since they're selling a nice souped up version with it's own tripod even!

However, if you buy the $50 version are " ... tested and comply with part 15 of the FCC rules. "

However, if you buy the $50 version are " ... tested and comply with part 15 of the FCC rules. "

From the cantenna.com Faq: Is it legal to use your Cantenna? Yes, our Cantennas and Pigtails have been tested and comply with part 15 of the FCC rules. Make sure other wireless devices that you use also comply. Compliance with FCC regulations is your responsibility. Check with your Internet Service Providers to find out if they permit sharing of their Internet connections.

The original was a Pringles can. Get it now?

What about using a directional antenna? The cantenna might get your signal over there better . . . Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be sold with cookies anymore . . . You could also try one of the pringle can DYI antennas and see if it helps?

I like to make containers to hold my chips out of my old wireless antennas. I also like to cook my noodles with some of the other old computer parts.

one of these.

www.cantenna.com This was brought up in a chat the other day as we were discussing wiFi options. I read another story (can't find the article now) about a man who set up his own antenna, to get internet from the Starbucks several blocks away.

Or you could just buy a Cantenna. It's based on the pringles-can antenna, but it's bigger, better, weather-proofed, and takes a lot of the hassle out of making an antenna out of a pringles can. Not to mention the fact it's better.

I have a couple of thoughts & questions.

First, the questions:

What kind of security plans do you have? Is this to be firewalled from the Internet but an open LAN behind the firewall? Will each building/unit have a firewall?

How large an area are you looking at servicing? One street (both sides)? Two? A city block?

Are you setting up your own servers/services: Web hosting, e-mail, etc? Will everyone receive a live IP, or will it be private?

Next, some thoughts.

I would suggest firewalls. Sure, it's a pain - and an expense - to install at every unit, but it ensures security. If one of your users puts in an unsecured WAP, you aren't vulnerable. I would at least suggest it to each user. If they want to join the "network neighborhood", so be it. A $50 Cable/DSL Router should work splendidly, and transition to other services if a user desires.

Wireless is great for a dozen reasons; the biggest is convenience. If you do install wireless, I would recommend that the access points are 802.11g and support wireless bridging. The extra expense means no extra cables and the ability to expand the network quickly. You might also look into using directional antennas if you just want to bridge a distance. The directional antennas give you much better range and make it slightly more difficult for others to access your network. Encryption should go without saying. You might also consider setting up separate 802.11b base stations if there are many laptop users. 11b users will slow down an 11g access point.

For in-home wiring, it might be preferable to design a common "wiring cabinet" that you can tuck in a corner of the basement or mount on a wall. You can fabricate them identically and drop them into each house with a cheap eight-port switch, a surge protector with a swiveling plug (you have no idea how nice these are until you have one) and a little extra space for firewall/router, more switches, etc. to make installation a breeze.

You might think about a secondary Internet connection and a dual-wan router to improve speed and reliability of the connection. The expense isn't huge and additional bandwidth never killed anyone. :) The XiNCOM router handles specific routing and filtering, so as not to interfere with any servers you might be running.

Still, placebos work on a substantial portion of folks, so if you feel that your pringles can antenna works for you, far be it from me to tell you otherwise.

For something that actually *does* work, have a look at Super Cantenna --- that one *is* the right size for 2.4GHZ, and it *is* reflective, and it *is* a waveguide and it *does* work. USD$20 for an actual tuned waveguide antenna beats a cardboard tube laced with monosodium glutamate anyday!

The super cantenna is only 12 db. 17 is more impressive, and should result in greater range.

Range itself is hard to compare, as it depends on environment, the radios used (cheap 35 mW? 200 mW with good receive sensitivity?), whether the same antenna is used on both ends, and the subjective evaluation of what exactly constitutes a "useable signal".

-jim

Just a thought but would using some sort of signal amplifier help in reducing interference?

That's what a cantenna is for.

That's ridiculous! Haven't you ever heard of the Cantenna? Just stick a couple of those on your roof and you are good to go!. ;-)

There are also a ton of restaurants & cafes in the area that offer laptop access - cheesbikini offers a good list of them.

I have a flaky wireless connection at home; I'd order a cantenna with pigtail but I prefer paying cash...

Well sure, anything is possible. But it won't do you much good. A better idea might be to buy or build a cantenna.

Don't they know they're supposed to use a Pringle's can?!?!?

you can make one yourself for 2 bucks. Or if you are too lazy to make one, just buy this cantenna for 20 bucks.

If you are interested in this, check out the Canteena solution which has a 12 db gain. You can get a *new* shiny antenna for much less than the cost of a used Primestar dish on EBAY. I know the dish in the article boasts 22 db gain with a 10 mile range but, keep in mind that setting up communication that is line of site 10 miles apart is nearly impossible. (Just try using a camera with an 8x telephoto lens to take a non blurry picture, you'll start to get the idea. ) Have fun!

Attach a pringle's can antenna or a Cantenna to your wireless TV reciever. I havnen't tried it myself, but it should work. You may get ghosting of the video, though..

Why is a Super Cantenna more powerful than a home-made Pringles can? linkage

What I want to know is why bother making your own Pringles can.....?

Who needs this? a $10 cantenna gets a 30 mile range, and now they even look nice on your desk

I would suggest finding a yagi or panel style antenna with a wide enough radiation pattern to cover your house and hooking it up pointing so it covers the entire house. I know that you can hook it up to antenna connector on the linksys routers.

Personally I have a 16DB Andrew Panel antenna on one end of my apartment. I am able to go through 3 apartment buildings and get a link with this setup. A Homebrew cantenna may actually work better.

You can get a cable made to convert a SMA conenctor, found on the linksys routers to a N connector, and hook it up to the antenna of your choice.

I know you can buy premade linksys connectors here Their cantenna would probably work to cover your whole house if it is elongated as well; however I have never used their equipment so I would not know for sure.

If you want more info, or ideas contact me. rusty@NOSPAMdestroymicrosoft.org (minus the nospam)

-Rusty