[NoCatNet] Help with Distance

[Michael Mee]

We've been having a lot of success with radios from www.meraki.net. 
They're trivial to setup and automagically mesh together to find the 
best route up to about 4 hops.  About $60 ea with tax/shipping.

You can also buy them from www.netequality.net - Mike there is very 
helpful with working out with you where best to place them.

Fwiw, I'd be tempted to try one on a pole with PoE. Much much less 
signal loss - and the price of a new radio if it does die is less than 
the cost of coax is likely to be.

Propagation should be pretty good given the construction and likely 
existing low RF noise.

Hope this helps,

cheers, michael
www.socalfreenet.org


John Pearce wrote:
> Hello Everyone,
> 
> I am trying to help a Priest in a small Yaqui Indian community create a
> wireless network he wishes to use for a school he is starting.  It is a
> small town, the homes are all single story and construction varies from
> block to wood frame with cardboard walls. He would like to have 4 or 5
> students have internet access in their homes.  The cable connection would be
> at the church and all of the homes would be within 500 feet or so.  Some 2
> streets away with homes in between.  Trees exist.
> 
> I purchased a book, Jeff Duntemann's "Wifi Guide".  It is good book but
> mostly talks about extending ranges for large ranch style homes and does not
> go into enough detail for the project I am working on.
> 
> Money is limited so I can not afford to do a great deal of experimentation.
> However from reading the book some is required in almost every case.
> 
> I am hoping that I can use a Linksys WRT54G wireless router, put a 18 or
> 20dbi Omni antenna on a poll at the church and have Cantennas or some type
> of directional antenna on the desktops at the kids homes, and maybe have to
> put those on the roof.  However so far it appears that all of the homes have
> a window facing the church and if we get the antenna up high enough they may
> have line of sight with the church antenna without having to loose signal to
> coax at the house level.  We will already loose some to coax at the church.
> I feel that putting the router up on the pole with the antenna and using
> power over ethernet would not be acceptable in the hot climate of the
> central Arizona deserts.  We have months of 110 degree F temperatures here.
> 
> Can anyone tell me if this is a sound approach or know of a book which deals
> with requirements for projects such as I am attempting?
> 
> Thank you so much for any assistance anyone can be.
> 
> John Pearce
> Phx, AZ
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