[TriLUG] How to connect two buildings a mile apart...

William W. Ward wwward at pobox.com
Wed Jul 31 14:16:11 EDT 2002


Dan -

Well, if nothing else, you could slum the connection for an experiment, a
couple cheap AP's with 300mw output can be obtained from CompUSA (Linksys
most likely) and a couple of parabolic dishes (about $80-100 ea.) from one
of the many WiFi hardware vendors online and some tripod to stick them on.
Put the AP in a tupperware container, caulk the cable entries shut and run
your ethernet down through the nearest utility conduit, or in a pinch,
through the air handler housing (We did this for satellite TV in our last
office building, since the air handler's return was over the utility room on
the 3rd floor.)

Let them run for awhile and see how the weather affects them.  If they work
well for the most part, you know that a slightly more polished solution will
work.  Else you can just leave them up there until doomsday.

I'm all for cutting the cord to the telco.

-b-



----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Monjar" <Daniel.Monjar at na.biomerieux.com>
To: <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 2:08 PM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] How to connect two buildings a mile apart...


not really... just the comment to the other poster about "I didn't realize
amateur high jinks were the order of the day."  struck me wrong.  I'll
consider this a failed experiment.  fiber would be nice but the cost for
right of way not to mention digging under the road for a mile is a bit
prohibitive.  you kept suggesting frame relay or leased lines... we already
have that, as I mentioned at first.  I need to go faster than that.  That's
why VPNs across the Internet or ADSL won't cut it either.

I appreciate all of the responses... really.


--On Wednesday, July 31, 2002 1:57 PM -0400 John F Davis
<johndavi at us.ibm.com> wrote:

>
> Welp, here we go again.
>
> You have a shitty attitude.  You asked for help, I offered it.  I did not
> force you to accept it.  If you read the last posters url,
> it should make you more inclined to use Fiber as I and another poster
> suggest.
>
> Also, another poster suggested the cable company.  That is yet another way
> to keep from paying the telephone company.
>
> Bite me,
>
> JD
>
> Daniel Monjar <Daniel.Monjar at na.biomerieux.com>@trilug.org on 07/31/2002
> 01:51:24 PM
>
> Please respond to trilug at trilug.org
>
> Sent by:    trilug-admin at trilug.org
>
>
> To:    trilug at trilug.org
> cc:
> Subject:    Re: [TriLUG] How to connect two buildings a mile apart...
>
>
>
> jeez you have a shitty attitude.... we already have a leased line... I am
> searching for ways not to have to pay the phone company.  while we aren't
> IBM we do have a fairly involved global WAN so I am quite familiar with
> telco based solutions.  I am looking for alternatives.
>
>
> --On Wednesday, July 31, 2002 1:09 PM -0400 John F Davis
> <johndavi at us.ibm.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Hello
>>
>> Thanks for your opinion.  I thought we were doing something commercial
>> grade here.  I didn't realize amateur high jinks were the order of the
>> day.
>>
>> For what its worth, during the heavy squalls we had last week, I doubt
>> microwave would work even  if was 100 yards between dishes.
>>
>> JD
>>
>>
>>
>> "William W. Ward" <wwward at pobox.com>@trilug.org on 07/31/2002 01:01:30 PM
>>
>> Please respond to trilug at trilug.org
>>
>> Sent by:    trilug-admin at trilug.org
>>
>>
>> To:    trilug at trilug.org
>> cc:
>> Subject:    Re: [TriLUG] How to connect two buildings a mile apart...
>>
>>
>>
>> John -
>>
>> At one mile two directional antennas with WiFi and some good quality
>> bridging APs should be sufficient to avoid rain fade AND potential
>> interference from nearby users on the same channel, although I've
>> experienced some unreliability with my low-end consumer AP and PCMCIA
>> adapters in an omnidirectional state, YMMV.
>> Effective radiated power limits are higher for point to point fixed
>> installations, so he should be able to throw enough juice from end to end
>> to
>> overcome atmospheric interference.
>>
>> Dan -
>>
>> I'd suggest doing a bit of research beginning at
>> http://www.seattlewireless.net and following links from there.  Since
>> you're
>> in a commercial house, you can spend a bit more money than the hobbyists.
>> Many commercial-grade wireless systems can be used to extend
> 10-11mbit/sec
>> over one or two miles with reliability.  Other alternatives include
>> laser-based links, but I know little of them and the cost of WiFi systems
>> is
>> pretty low, even for commercial-grade hardware (such as Cisco's Aironet.)
>>
>> You'll want to place the access point and antenna as close together as
>> possible, so consider something with an external enclosure, and you'll
>> definitely want to install some sort of encryption on either end BEHIND
>> the access point, as the common implementation of Wireless Encryption
>> Protocol is unreliable.  A couple of well placed Linux boxes using a
>> VPN-like bridge would be sufficient.
>>
>> Lastly, I don't have any experience with the 802.11a hardware, but you
> may
>> be able to invest in this and achieve something closer to 56mbit/sec
>> throughput.
>>
>> Its a one-time expense, as long as the hardware lasts, so you can
>> depreciate
>> the expense over time.
>> The only other possibility that I'd be interested in is dropping fiber
> for
>> that mile-span, but I beleive a mile's worth of fiber is >$3,000 before
>> you discuss how to get it in the ground and terminated.
>>
>> -b-
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "John F Davis" <johndavi at us.ibm.com>
>> To: <trilug at trilug.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 12:50 PM
>> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] How to connect two buildings a mile apart...
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Get a leased/dedicated line.  Since you pay by the mile, two miles ain't
>>> going to set your company back that much.  Also, its not going to have
>> rain
>>> fade and will most likely be cheaper.
>>>
>>> JD
>>>
>>> Dan Monjar <dmonjar at bellsouth.net>@trilug.org on 07/31/2002 10:39:31 AM
>>>
>>> Please respond to trilug at trilug.org
>>>
>>> Sent by:    trilug-admin at trilug.org
>>>
>>>
>>> To:    trilug at trilug.org
>>> cc:
>>> Subject:    [TriLUG] How to connect two buildings a mile apart...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Not on topic but I'll give it a shot... I need to connect two buildings
>>> about a mile apart... I currently have two T1's (one is used for backup)
>>> between but the R&D folk don't think 1.5Mb is fast enough, go figure.
>>> There is line of sight between the two buildings so I was thinking of
>>> microwave or perhaps WiFi with a yagi antenna to make the beam more
>>> direction.  What would you do?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dan <mailto:dmonjar at bellsouth.net>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
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>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Daniel Monjar
> IS Manager, Technical Services
> bioMérieux, Inc.
> Durham, NC US
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
>
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--
Daniel Monjar
IS Manager, Technical Services
bioMérieux, Inc.
Durham, NC US

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