Setting up WLAN near an AT&T cell tower

[david7777777777]

I'm about to build a wireless LAN for a client who has 3 houses on the property all within 600 feet of each other. The property is in the foothills of a small mountain range in northern CA and there is an AT&T cell tower at the top of one of the hills of the property. I'd say the tower is about 1,000 feet up and away from the nearest house on the property. I could look up and see the tower at the top of the hill.

Anyone dealt with WLAN's near high gain antennas before? I'm planning on using a Linksys WAP and possibly a signal booster if needed. Thanks in advance for any heads-up you might provide.

 

[bcastner]

Yaggi antennas.

 

[manarth]

Cisco's antenna reference is worth a read, even if you're not using Cisco kit.

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please tell us if our suggestion has helped[/li][li]need some help? faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[lui3]

if this person has 3 houses then they can afford some quality gear. cisco ap 1231s will make your job a lot easier along with their antenna selections. its pretty much cut and paste and then pay. out of the box cisco ap/antenna combos are hard to beat in situations like yours.

where is the internet access coming in as far as the buildings go. you may want to setup a point to multipoint configuration.


yagis are only necessary when you have strange interference from the left and right in most cases.

 

[bcastner]

To be fair there are a lot of possible choices.
I would mount a serious 10-12 DBI omni at the central site, and use yaggi or sector antennas from each of the remote sites.


But before doing so I would look at the site and requirements and likely suggest powerline. The original question is essentially a residential/small business requirement where the LAN needs are modest, but internet connectivty is all that is really desired.

I would use powerline-2-ethernet as bridging devices to inexpensive wireless AP/routers from Linksys, D-Link and others.

If you have not used powerline in settings such as this, you are missing a hidden gem for networking. A reasonable discussion of the whys and virtues of powerline adapters in a setting such as this:

http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20030108S0003

I have made previously the case for powerline, and stopped because someone accused me of having a financial interest in the technology. I really have no financial or vested interest. So I have decided to again recommend the technology as one possible solution. What I was concerned with originally was that powerline would be slow. Powerline rates at 14mbs, effectively you will get half that. For most ADSL or cable links the powerline connection is 4-5 times faster than your internet connection. I have used powerline bridging to solve seemingly impossible cabled or wireless issues. It is cheap, fast and just works. If you have never played with powerline for bridging, do so. Some day you will thank me. Another take on using powerline by Dave Strom:

http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20021125S0007?ls=TW_010303_fea&fb=20030103_network

Trust me: use powerline for the bridging, wireless as "the last mile" of your connection. It is quite inexpensive and elegant as a solution. You cannot beat a 100mbs cable solution, but wireless + cable + powerline is an alternative I hope you explore. It just works great, and the current stuff has zero to do with the original powerline efforts.

Read the links I provided above. I hope to create by this thread at least one convert to the notion of using powerline as a bridge.

Best,
Bill Castner