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

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patthecat:
Yes the homeplug network suggestion is also a good idea.  This way the weather does not come into play in signal stability.  Check availability for compatibility with your electrical systems / outlet.

40hz:
There are two routes you can take - either bridging two wireless routers together, or setting up a wireless distribution system (WDS).

The easiest way to do this is to use two WAP Routers that already support a bridge mode. Check the documentation for what you have and look for a MODE function that  usually toggles between something like "Access Point" and "something Bridge" (client bridge, bridge mode, etc.) In this scenario, clients on the second "bridged" AP get their DHCP services and Internet connection from the primary AP.

Here are two links to get you started. The pages aren't too well laid out, and they use DD-WRT modified Linksys routers for their example. But the information is solid, and the concepts can be extrapolated to (hopefully) use whatever you have.

Info on bridging: http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/3639271

Info on WDS: http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/3628576

You'll also need to beef up the antennae. There are a bunch of DIY designs out on the web. A quick Google will get you dozens of hits. I've built a few using the information on this page:

http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

I've pointed two of these at each other between two buildings about 100' apart and have been generally happy with the results.

For long distances, you'd likely need to use a true directional antenna. These can also be made at home. Can't speak for how easy or hard it is to do one of these since I've never built one.

Luck! :Thmbsup:

Carol Haynes:
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Homeplugs might be a good suggestion to an expander in the neighbouring house (or access point in non-router mode).

I'm doing this for someone else so I don't really want to flash non-standard BIOS code to their hardware in case I am not around in the future to sort out any problems for them.

The simplest solution would be to live without wireless and simply give the rented house a simple ethernet socket!

xtabber:
You should be able to accomplish what you want with a Planex GW-AP54SP-P 2-way access point, although I've never used one myself, so I can't vouch for it. Take a look at the manual and see if it looks like it could be made to work.

http://www.planex.net/product/wireless/gw-ap54sp-p.htm

Finding one might be more of a problem, since it seems no longer to be sold by anyone.

Carol Haynes:
Thanks all - I think the problem is sorted by sing HomePlugs - I have ordered a couple and will give it a go.

Turns out the rental cottage is actually detached from the main house but on the same electricity supply - I am hoping that the homeplugs can cope with being that detached (they have separate fuse boxes but are run from the same supply meter) otherwise I will need to run a cable from one home plug to the other house and attach a wireless expander or some form of switch.

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