Newbie at this! Basic questions!

[TheAdMan]

Hello there.

Some friends of mine have just moved in across the road and we thought it would be useful to set up a wireless lan that connected the two houses. We looked at usb wireles cards but are not sure if just buying two cards is enough. Can we just point two cards at each other and expect them to see each other. Also will the range be enough and will walls etc be a problem. If anyone knows any decent resources for setting this kind of thing up please point me in the right direction.

To give you some more info we both have windows 2000 server and already have cat5 networks in each house to share internet connections uning NAT.

Regards

Adam

 

[InnoTech]

there is a number of different ways to accomplish this. i would try one of the following sites to start out on.

http://www.dlink.com/products/wireless/index.asp

http://linksys.com/products/group.asp?grid=33&scid=35

i hope this helps you.

 

[Fulkrum]

How far are the two computers in question?

Amplified bluetooth is 100m but is not good if there is a WiFi hub in range and vica versa. (about 30% degredation in data.)This is good for file share

Also, You could set up one wireless hub and get two two wifi cards to connect to that. This will allow everyone within 300m to access the internet through DHCP.

Interesting idea you have. Wireless guru

 

[TheAdMan]

I have not measusred the distance but i don't think its more than 30m.

Do the points need LOS? We can do this but it means putting equipment in our bathrooms. ;-)

Adam

 

[Fulkrum]

LOS will give you the 300 m range but it is not required. The range reduces the more obstacles that the signal needs to pass through.

Cheapest option for you two would be to get a wireless lan kit which will provide a hub and a pcmcia wifi card. If its two pcs you have and pcmcia is not an option, just get a hub and two usb adapters. You will be up and running in about 20 mins.

If one of you has a large broadband connection to the internet, you can allow all pcs within range to access it. Maybe even charge for the service. That was what I found interesting about your idea. Wireless guru

 

[LloydSev]

Well, I wouldn't charge for it.. I know a lot of broadband companies would get pretty upset about it..

I know I would, if one of my customers started selling the bandwidth away to someone else that I could be selling to instead...

 

[TheAdMan]

We both already have a broadband connections so don't need to share that unless there is a problem with one or the other.

The plan was mainly to have file sharing and the odd network game...and to see if we could do it.

I will check the price of the kit today and let you know how it goes!

 

[Fulkrum]

File sharing can be achieved with amplified bluetooth. Games are a different matter. Wireless guru