Connecting to neighbors Wireless (with permission)

[fjacky]

My neighbor has Satellite High Speed. I gave him my wireless B LinkSYS router. Since his work is paying for the service, he said I can 'borrow' his wireless. I am approx 70 feet from his house. The wireless router is set up in his back window. My PC is in my basement. I was hoping to set up a wireless bridge (WET11) in my back window and then run a LAN cabl;e from that to my PC. Is that possible? I am new at this. I'm hoping that my bridge will pick up his signal. Is this the easiest way to do it? I'd like to run a cable from house to house, but it's not possible. Basically I cannot be putting anything on the neighbors house. That was the deal.

Any idea?

[VaKo]

a: Use a router like the linksys wrt54g and the DD-WRT firmware which allows you to use the wireless connection as its WAN port. Then hook in bigger arials and point them at the router.

b: If its just one PC you could probably get away with a high gain external antenna and just pointing it at your neighbours place.

c: Antenna on a long wire as near as your neighbours place as you can get it, again make it directional and pointing at the router.

With the directional devices, use net stumbler or similar to get the best single strength. Ethernet cable can be used for around 100m (328') so that's a last ditch effort if all else fails. But in all honesty I've picked up stable connections with my dell's broadcom wireless card from houses a fair distance away without issue.

[dyna]

I agree with Vako... hes very knowledgeable you know :-p

if you need something more directional, look into a directional antenna, cantenna, or why not a cantenna from a satellite dish for more strength :-p

[fjacky]

a: Use a router like the linksys wrt54g and the DD-WRT firmware which allows you to use the wireless connection as its WAN port. Then hook in bigger arials and point them at the router.

/quote]

So, use the wrt54g instead of a bridge?

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Sea...8&CatId=373

But install the DD-WRT firmware? I guess that means the G router is backwards compatible to the B router.

Where do you get the DD-WRT firmware from?

[metatron]

(1)Buy two Linksys WAP54G (there cheaper)

(2)Buy two lengths of coax and connectors.

(3)buy two directional antenna.

(4)Install this on it using the WAP54G’s web GUI. (it will think it's a Linksys WRT55AG v1)

(4)fix one directional antenna on one AP and the other directional antenna on your other AP and aim them at each other. (Go to status and then click on site survey)

(5) increase the power output of the AP to improve the signal (using the dd-wrt firmware).

(6) Go to status and then click on site survey and hit join.

[fjacky]

(1)Buy two Linksys WAP54G (there cheaper)

(2)Buy two lengths of coax and connectors.

(3)buy two directional antenna.

(4)Install this on it using the WAP54G’s web GUI. (it will think it's a Linksys WRT55AG v1)

(4)fix one directional antenna on one AP and the other directional antenna on your other AP and aim them at each other. (Go to status and then click on site survey)

(5) increase the power output of the AP to improve the signal (using the dd-wrt firmware).

(6) Go to status and then click on site survey and hit join.

Actually the WAP54G is more expensive. I already have a regular Wireless B router and was looking for the cheapest way. I'll try the wrt54g and the DD-WRT firmware method first. Which version of firmware should I use? http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads.php

[metatron]

WAP = £38.50 new

WRT = £47.26 new

[fjacky]

$84.99 - WAP54G

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Sea...9&CatId=372

$62 - WRT54G

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Sea...8&CatId=373

[metatron]

Well thats strange there cheaper in the UK, anyway use the firmware which goes with the product you buy or use the generic firmware.

[fjacky]

Well thats strange there cheaper in the UK, anyway use the firmware which goes with the product you buy or use the generic firmware.

Thanks. There are many firmware versions here.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads.php

Which one should I apply? Thanks again all

[SomeoneE1se]

Well thats strange there cheaper in the UK, anyway use the firmware which goes with the product you buy or use the generic firmware.

Thanks. There are many firmware versions here.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads.php

Which one should I apply? Thanks again all

always go for the newest(non beta) version it's 23-SP2(Service Pack 2)

[fjacky]

Well thats strange there cheaper in the UK, anyway use the firmware which goes with the product you buy or use the generic firmware.

Thanks. There are many firmware versions here.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads.php

Which one should I apply? Thanks again all

always go for the newest(non beta) version it's 23-SP2(Service Pack 2)

Which one? Standard?

dd-wrt.v23_sp2_micro.zip, dd-wrt.v23_sp2_mini.zip, dd-wrt.v23_sp2_standard.zip, dd-wrt.v23_sp2_voip.zip or dd-wrt.v23_sp2_vpn.zip

[SomeoneE1se]

oh ya standard is probably going to be your best bet...

But make sure you don't want(or need because of flash size) another version. http://dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/What_is_%...F#File_Versions and check http://dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Index:FAQ too it's a good idea to read up about dd-wrt because if you're not careful you can brick your new router. (if you don't know what that means read more about dd-wrt first.)

[fjacky]

oh ya standard is probably going to be your best bet...

But make sure you don't want(or need because of flash size) another version. http://dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/What_is_%...F#File_Versions and check http://dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Index:FAQ too it's a good idea to read up about dd-wrt because if you're not careful you can brick your new router. (if you don't know what that means read more about dd-wrt first.)

I may stick with the WET11 then. Seems to be the simplest

[VaKo]

I still think the cheapest option would probally just be a WRT54G + WAN set to the wireless and some big aerials. But then again, Metatrons plan does seem more focused than my "make it bigger and more powerful" scheme.

[fjacky]

I still think the cheapest option would probally just be a WRT54G + WAN set to the wireless and some big aerials. But then again, Metatrons plan does seem more focused than my "make it bigger and more powerful" scheme.

So the basic WRT54G will grab the neighbors signal?

[VaKo]

Out of the box, and unmodified the WRT54G is a little like a BMW thats been limited to 30mph and the petrol tank replaced with a coke can. But, if you upgrade to the dd-wrt firmware which is fairly painless, it turns into a very capable Linux based router with some fairly advanced/nifty features you would normally have to pay more for. A few of these pertain to the wireless features, allowing you to connect it to another WAP as a client or bridge, up the single strength (basically allows you to "overclock" the wireless chip) and more. Plus, you can easily remove and replace the aerials with bigger, more sensitive ones, but I don't know much about aerials to be perfectly honest.

There is also openWRT which is *A LOT* more powerful that dd-wrt, but the advantage that dd-wrt maintains is that it comes with a very well designed GUI if, like me, you don't know enough to use openWRT properly. DD-WRT is a must have if you are running a WRT54G with stock firmware or HyperWRT. It doesn't magically turn your $50 router into a $500 router though, as Digg would have you believe, it just adds a lot of the $500 features to the $50 electronics.

[Guest ABC]

you'll probably need to use the new wireless N tec for the distance

[metatron]

you'll probably need to use the new wireless N tec for the distance

You can spend around £100 to do it, using two old (ebay)WRT54G or WAP54G, two parabolic dish antennas and a couple of lengths of coax. It will be good for few miles given line of sight, if you have shit in the way you can increase the power output using 802.11b/g amplifiers to solve the issue somewhat.

There is absolutely no reason to switch to that pre N stuff.

[fjacky]

I have a Wireless B router that I am giving to my neighbor. I'll use the WRT54G with the dd-wrt firmware.

I have a shed in the back of my property that has line of site to his window where the router will be. It gets a decent signal from there. Then I'll run a LAN cable from the WRT54G to my PC in my house.

Should do the trick.

I'm just hoping I can set the WRT54G up properly with that dd-wrt firmware.

OR, could I set a laptop up in my shed with a wifi card in it, then run a LAN cable from that to my PC?

I have an old laptop that would do the trick.

Can that be done somehow?

[VaKo]

You just need something to pick up the signal from the router, it can be anything from a wok powered USB stick to a laptop on a long Ethernet cable as long as it picks up the signal and transfers the connection to your network. The good thing about the WRT54G (please RTFM on the dd-wrt site before you spend any money) is that its relatively hassle free compared to a laptop in your shed.

[Guest ABC]

you'll probably need to use the new wireless N tec for the distance

You can spend around £100 to do it, using two old (ebay)WRT54G or WAP54G, two parabolic dish antennas and a couple of lengths of coax. It will be good for few miles given line of sight, if you have shit in the way you can increase the power output using 802.11b/g amplifiers to solve the issue somewhat.

There is absolutely no reason to switch to that pre N stuff.

I got pwned LOL

[fjacky]

You just need something to pick up the signal from the router, it can be anything from a wok powered USB stick to a laptop on a long Ethernet cable as long as it picks up the signal and transfers the connection to your network. The good thing about the WRT54G (please RTFM on the dd-wrt site before you spend any money) is that its relatively hassle free compared to a laptop in your shed.

If the laptop and USB stick wifi pick up the signal from the neighbors, how can I transfer that to my PC? I can bury a LAN cable but what has to be done on the laptop to transfer that high spped to my PC? I figure I'd try this first since I already have a old laptop. If the USB stick doesn't work, I'll take it back and then go for the WRT54G.

Or can anything be done with another regular Wireless B Linksys router to make it work? I can get another one free.

[fjacky]

I still think the cheapest option would probally just be a WRT54G + WAN set to the wireless and some big aerials. But then again, Metatrons plan does seem more focused than my "make it bigger and more powerful" scheme.

So, if I just buy a WRT54G and leave it as is will it work? Do I 'have to' have the dd-wrt firmware?

[fjacky]

a: Use a router like the linksys wrt54g and the DD-WRT firmware which allows you to use the wireless connection as its WAN port. Then hook in bigger arials and point them at the router.

b: If its just one PC you could probably get away with a high gain external antenna and just pointing it at your neighbours place.

c: Antenna on a long wire as near as your neighbours place as you can get it, again make it directional and pointing at the router.

With the directional devices, use net stumbler or similar to get the best single strength. Ethernet cable can be used for around 100m (328') so that's a last ditch effort if all else fails. But in all honesty I've picked up stable connections with my dell's broadcom wireless card from houses a fair distance away without issue.

Thanks for the info. Since I only have one PC that is going to be hooked up do you think the easiest method would be your option B?

b: If its just one PC you could probably get away with a high gain external antenna and just pointing it at your neighbours place.

c: Antenna on a long wire as near as your neighbours place as you can get it, again make it directional and pointing at the router.

(with this option, what kind of antenna would I use? Would I use CAT5 wire? If that was the case, maybe this option would be best)

What kind of high gain external antenna do you recommend? I did a search and MANY came up. I am from Canada. Should I search eBay? I will be connnecting to a Wireless B LinkSYS router. Your help is appreciated.

Thanks

P.S. Sorry for all of the postings and questions. I'm just looking for the easiest method and I am getting several answers.

Thanks all again