gkhewitt
02-06-2005, 19:15
Hi guys
I know there are several topics on this (have read them all) but none of them really cover what I'm after, I think. For the last few years I have been the sysadmin for a local church parish office, dealing with the small network and so on. They've always had internet through an ISDN line but this was becoming more expensive each month, especially since members of the clergy and other such staff would come in out-of-hours and use the net in the office.
I finally got the place upgraded to ADSL a few months ago and at the same time setup a wireless router (the Netgear DG834G) and stuck a Linux box in for filesharing and e-mail servering. This meant that the other end of the office used by the curate and youthworker could now use the network and the Internet.
We recently appointed a new curate who turns out to be a bit of a net-head. The next step of the plan is to get the network over to Church house, which is still on the same site, just a seperate building about 70m from the office where the router currently is. I tested the range with my tablet PC and could get a weak signal (but still useable) from the front window of church house, however, his Apple Powerbook couldn't get anything (I suspect due to its metal casing weakening the signal).
So now actually down to the nitty gritty, as I see it we have a few options:
1) Go wired. This would be my preferred option but since it would involve digging up a driveway it really isn't feasible
2) Get a better antenna on the router. This seems like a good plan to boost the signal, but I have read many mixed reviews on the various ones out there and really don't know what is best for this situation.
3) Buy a wireless repeater. Again, seems like a good plan, but does it need a strong signal in the first place? The idea would seemingly be to put a repeater in the window of Church house.
So I'm hoping that one of you might have had some experience with antennas or repeaters and could possibly point me in the right direction ?
Many thanks in advance (and sorry for the long-ish post but I thought it best to give some background)!
I know there are several topics on this (have read them all) but none of them really cover what I'm after, I think. For the last few years I have been the sysadmin for a local church parish office, dealing with the small network and so on. They've always had internet through an ISDN line but this was becoming more expensive each month, especially since members of the clergy and other such staff would come in out-of-hours and use the net in the office.
I finally got the place upgraded to ADSL a few months ago and at the same time setup a wireless router (the Netgear DG834G) and stuck a Linux box in for filesharing and e-mail servering. This meant that the other end of the office used by the curate and youthworker could now use the network and the Internet.
We recently appointed a new curate who turns out to be a bit of a net-head. The next step of the plan is to get the network over to Church house, which is still on the same site, just a seperate building about 70m from the office where the router currently is. I tested the range with my tablet PC and could get a weak signal (but still useable) from the front window of church house, however, his Apple Powerbook couldn't get anything (I suspect due to its metal casing weakening the signal).
So now actually down to the nitty gritty, as I see it we have a few options:
1) Go wired. This would be my preferred option but since it would involve digging up a driveway it really isn't feasible
2) Get a better antenna on the router. This seems like a good plan to boost the signal, but I have read many mixed reviews on the various ones out there and really don't know what is best for this situation.
3) Buy a wireless repeater. Again, seems like a good plan, but does it need a strong signal in the first place? The idea would seemingly be to put a repeater in the window of Church house.
So I'm hoping that one of you might have had some experience with antennas or repeaters and could possibly point me in the right direction ?
Many thanks in advance (and sorry for the long-ish post but I thought it best to give some background)!