Wireless Networking?

Hi guys

Im thinking about setting up a wireless network between my house and two friends.
My question is what exactly will i need to to this, both cheaply and securely?

I have thought about the 802.11b USB wireless adaptors for both client laptops, which cost around £80 each but i am unsure as to what the host laptop (mine) would need, in order to make this network work effiently.

The range from my house to both me friends would be around 1400 feet.

Any suggestions on products, set up information and prices is greatly appreciated.

Cheers guys

r3b00+

ps maybe theres a tutorial on this but i couldnt find it, so please bear with me.

the range of Wireless LAN's will not allow you to link up between such big distances
:(
The range of coverage per cell for indoor use is up to 100 meters and up to 300 meter per cell for outdoor use.
(1400 feet is about 426 meters)
You may get a connection with directional attena's but it's unlikely.
J.

well said. make sure that you have some sort of encryption and also, if you can use static IP's so that people (not that its a huge concern) are less likey to get free internet from you.

r3b00+

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The range from my house to both me friends would be around 1400 feet.

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What you want to do is very possible provided you can "see" each computer from the access point. I live in the Ozarks Mountains in Southwest Missouri, USA. I had a very successful wireless connection between two towers at a distance of 30 miles using 802.11b equipment. Of course 1400 feet is no problem at all provided that you have quality directional antennae, use low loss cable, and have an un-obstructed view of the other two. If you would give me some topographical information I would be happy to help you with this project...it just so happens that I also have a Cisco Aironet 340b radio about 70 feet of LMR-400 coaxial cable, a12db gain antennae and an amplifier that would go roughly 20 miles, this is used equipment that works great that I no longer need.

Thanx for the reply/offer aeallison, much appreciated, only thing is im in Ireland and you're in the US = (

Ill try and paint the picture, my house which i hope to be running a Wireless DSL Gateway Router is situated between my friends houses, who would be using Wireless USB Network Adaptors. One friend lives just up the street from me, just about viewable from my room, and the other lives further down the street, unfortunately i wouldnt be able to see this guys house.

Anthing else you may need aeallison?

Regards

r3b00+

First the 802.11b standards are very insecure, you will need encryption of some sort, the Aironet BR340 (I got the model wrong) has an option to enable encryption, although the one I have does not have it enabled, at the time I bought it Cisco wanted an extra fee to enable it.
Of course if the only thing you are doing with it is playing networked games or sharing common files then I would not worry. (If you have other wireless devices in your area it might be a problem) also any access point radio will work if compatable with your laptop pc card radios, as long as it has an external antenna jack. I found this URL below you need to look at for some info to back my claims. Also, you can use peer to peer protocols and if the friend who is out of your range can see your other friend that will work too. Or he could put up a tower to get over the obstruction. You might need one too. I experimentedwith this system for quite a while and it works well, if you don't have any security concerns. I have a good friend who worked on the project that developed the 802.11b standards, he lives in the Silicon Valley, although he knows it works ok out here for me (mostly because there are very few people here with the equipment and knowledge to exploit it vulnerabilities) He would not use it himself until they adopt better encryption and security features.

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http://www.networkcomputing.com/1108/1108f24.html

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If you want I have full documentation on this unit in .PDF I can post.

Well not alot of people in my area know how to use a computer, never mind know how to exploit its vulnerabilities, so ill be ok there.

Ill have a look at the link and weigh up my options.

I basically wanted this setup to allow my friends, access to my high speed internet connection, as they have both recently signed a dial up contract (tsch) and are pretty pissed at the situation they're in.

Im just learning the ropes of network/computer security, so im feeling my way around on me own.

Thanx again guys for the advice.

Cheers

r3b00+

I'd be careful. I read an article not too long ago (I don't remember where, though) about ISPs shutting down accounts because people were illegally sharing them through wireless connections (if I remember right, mostly in San Francisco and Chicago, but I may be wrong). Also, I've had some pretty bad experiences with wireless networking because of obstructions. I ended up purchasing amplifiers and antennaes to service the areas I needed connectivity at. Also, if you want to use an external antennae and/or amplifier, you're going to need the right kind of wireless router, because many of them do not support external antennae. I recently set up a friend with a Linksys wireless router with an external yaggie (simply because she was on a tight budget) and it works very well. Just make sure you do your research for equipment and check your service contract with your ISP about sharing, because you may be suddenly without Internet access if they find out about it.

AJ