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Any ideas - expand a wireless network to a neighbouring house?

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Carol Haynes:
I am trying to expand a wireless network from one house into the house next door. The destination is a holiday cottage but the walls are too thick to allow normal wireless signals to get through - 24" of solid stone!!!

We can drill a hole and pass an ethernet cable through but the router is not positioned on the adjacent wall so ideally I need a device in the main house that will pick up the wireless signal and pass it through the wall and then another device to allow the signal to work in the next house.

Anyone any ideas what is required?

It is trivial to set up a wired connection by running an ethernet cable from the router through the wall and then just add a switch for a wired connection but how can I do this with just a short cable through the wall and wireless signals otherwise on both sides of the wall?

Can you use wireless routers as wireless switches (i.e. not in wireless mode) in which case how do I connect them together and how do I set up WiFi security in this sort of setup?

TIA

nudone:
i can't recommend any specific product but it sounds like you just need a decent wireless repeater.

i've seen this Belkin one in use - it did what you'd expect.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Wireless-Universal-Range-Extender/dp/B000IE8STS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1243354802&sr=8-1

edit:
erm, not sure if that will do it. it might need plugging into the network. i thought it just picked up the wireless signal and repeated it.

edit:
this one doesn't need a physical connection to your network:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linksys-Cisco-WRE54G-Wireless-G-Expander/dp/B0007SQG5S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1243354802&sr=8-2

Carol Haynes:
Thanks for the suggestions but I don't think a simple (ahem) repeater would do the job.

The problem is the expander only gets the signal as far as the partition wall between the houses - the signal won't go through the wall because it is too thick so I would need something on both sides of the wall connected by a short cable through the wall - one to collect the signal from the router - the other to expand the signal on the other side of the wall.

If it were possible to place the router next to the wall (it isn't) then a simple expander would solve the problem.

Having said that I have never used the Belkin device you mentioned (though the reviews on Amazon aren't exactly universally positive) but I have use the Linksys expander before and found it a nightmare to configure, it had poor WiFi protection (that made it even harder to configure) and only seems to work with other Linksys products.

patthecat:
There are universal wireless repeaters that you can purchase.  That's what I have done at my brother's house several years ago.  But now not I do not like having a specific device for one function only :)

Last year I experimented in replacing existing router firmware with the open source dd-wrt firmware (dd-wrt.com).  It has specific versions for different routers.  Basically it replaces the router's firmware and gives it advanced features such as universal repeater and repeater bridge functionality; and increasing transmission power, and encryption which is what you are looking  to do.

I've used this on several Linksys WRT54GL routers and even on a Belkin Wireless repeater device.  The MAC address filtering does not seem to work in repeater or repeater bridge mode but the WEP/WPA encryption schemes will work.  

If you go the dd-wrt method please see if your router model and version number is supported, then read faq, forums carefully since you are essentially replacing the manufacturer firmware (invalidating the warranty) and have the potential to "brick" the router.

You can also ask me some questions before you proceed, since I'll also be updating the dd-wrt version at my parent's house when I go on holiday next week.

patrick

patthecat:
if you have removable antennas, you can try several external omnidirectional antennas which attach via up to a 6 foot cable.

but a better antenna would be directional/patch antennas which focus on a specific area.  You can also try a thing called a "cantenna" (a highly focused directional antenna) which can be purchased online and on some retail store.

patrick

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