Range of Wireless G (in brick house)

[miker]

I am looking at installling a small network (2 computers and 1 Adelphia Powerlink cable point) in an old historic house, built around 1850! The walls of brick/stone are 12 inches thick and I would need to span distances of:

1)~ 20 feet from modem to machine1 through 2 walls (of 12 inches each), and
2) ~50 feet from modem to machine2 through a 12 inch brick wall and a (more modern 1888!) wooden wall.

My experience with wireless installations has been that the range advertised does not match the (lesser) real world value and thus am interested to know if anyone has experienced success with walls as thick as these. If so, what technology was used?

While wiring is an option, the walls are an obstacle and the historic nature of the house discourages the owners from punching holes through walls!

Therefore the questions are:

1) any comments on wireless range (even with the G standard) when planning to negotiate 2 x 12" stone walls, and

2) other options?

Thank you

[Greenstead]

I agree with your range experiences. But the real killer is walls. So it doesn't look good. The only way to know is a site survey with a laptop and test it.

It occurs to me, if you are going to plug a PC into the mains, then you can use the mains with powerline adapters.

e.g.
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=4

[miker]

Tnx for the rapid response, and yes, I suspect I will have to run the laptop test.

Re powerline option - how reliable is this technology at present? I get mixed messages from several sources.

Chrs
Mike

[JackMDS]

In you situation 802.11g might be a better choice.

802.11b vs. 802.11g.

The following refers too Entry Level Systems that are usually equipped with < 50mW radios, come with 2dbi antennae, and cost bellow $100.

For Internet surfing it does mot matter since in most cases Internet broadband connection is slower than 802.11b.

For traffic across Internal LAN, 802.11g is significantly faster.

As a frame of reference. The transfer "Speed" of a Good Windows based 100Mb/sec. Network is 70 to 80Mb/sec.

These are the most common used Wireless standard and their official rating.

802.11b = 11Mb/sec. Network "Speed" (Carrier 2.4GHz) Real yield 4-6 Mb/sec.
802.11g = 54Mb/sec. Network "Speed" (Carrier 2.4GHz) Real yield 18-22Mb/sec.

Wireless Ethernet needs additional protocol over head for the transfer, it is not as stable as Wired so it needs extra processing procedures. As a result the actual "Speed" is respectively lower then Wired Network.

***Does 802.11g provides more Distance than 802.11b?***

The answer is Yes and No.

Since the Carrier frequency and the Power Output of 802.11b and 802.11g hardware are similar, the general distance that they cover is similar.

That means that if you have an envioroment that "Kills" the signal it will "Kill" them both.

However if you have a weak unusable 801.11b signal at 50’ (just a numerical example) 802.11g might provide a working signal at the same distance since it provides more bandwidth.

Log the following page. The differences between the first set of graphs to the second represent the performance differences between 802.11b to 802.11g

Link to: 802.11a/b/g SOHO Routers & Access Points: Performance. (http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/reviews/CD/article.php/1585191)

Notice how the D-Link and Netgear Super G stick out above the Crowd.

:) :) :) At the moment the best performance for the price is: D-Link Extreme G Bundle Kit ($89 after rebate). (http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10344769&loc=101&sp=1) :) :) :)

***On Distance in general.***

2.4Ghz. is the microwave band; the Wireless signal looses energy on Water molecules. It is susceptible to 2.4GHz noise, and there is a lot of it around (Microwaves, Cordless Phones, etc.)

As a Result.

Indoor, No obstructions (no walls, or Baroque type furniture), it will go up to 100' -120'

Once walls get in to the equation it is a fast decline.

One or two "flimsy" (i.e. not concrete full of metal) walls will yield 40-70'.

Three walls or more? You never know until you try.

If you are almost there, a good external Antenna can save you.

Outdoor with Entry Level Equipment as is out of the box. You can get above 100'

With Direct line of sight using High towers and very good directional Antennae it can work for few miles.

This might further help.

Link to: Wireless - Basic Configuration. (http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html)

Link to: Wireless Security. (http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html)

Link to: Extending the Distance of Entry Level Wireless Network. (http://www.ezlan.net/Distance.html)

.

[Greenstead]

I don't recall hearing any problems with powerline, but then its not so popular because it is rather slow for a LAN, but fine for internet. Seems ideally suited to your situation.

[mados]

Coincidentally I was working on a historic landmark where I could not run new ethernet either. Wireless was a futile effort as there was to much interference (ie-bricks & plaster). I tried netgears powerline adapter but a signal could not be picked up- possibly old power wires running through the house (actually I think I did not coordinate all of the passwords!). I finally was able to connect via 2wire's USB phoneline adapters (cdw.com) which I plugged into a computer using Windows ICS and placed an adapter on each client. It worked out great and solved the dillema. If I remember correctly, I'm not sure if they work with the DSL filters in place also- I was unsuccesful but I had the option of using a second line. I used the powerline adapters in other setups and they worked great for placing multiple access points throughout large houses. Good luck.