I have to link two offices 0.62 miles apart with a wireless link. So far my setup is as follows :
- 2 24db directional parabolic wifi antenna
- 1 watt wifi amplifiers on each antenna
- Access point on antenna on the main office
Cisco AP --> 1 Watt amplifier --> Parabolic Antenna --> Parabolic antenna --> 1 watt amplifier --> ???
I am able to get an internet connection when I hook up the antenna at the remote site to my wireless usb adapter, but I am unable to figure out how to redistribute the wireless signal at the remote site.
What I want to do is us a repeater with 2 external antennas one for sending and receiving to the office, and the other for redistribute the wireless signal to the remote site. So far I have not been able to get this setup to work. Any sugestions, or what to look for?
Thank you, Reid
You should use dedicated hardware for the wireless bridge (the 0.6 mile shot between your offices) and then link that to whatever network infrastructure you think is appropriate at each office location.
I would do this because of 1) functional separation and 2) the lack of devices to achieve specifically what you want which is both a point-to-point directional bridge and an omni-directional access point for clients. I have yet to come across anything that really does this.
Buy a decent point-to-point directional wireless bridge (I like Airayas, but there are plenty of options out there), connect it to a "core" switch on the far side and then use cable runs to deploy your access points in the requisite locations required to get good coverage for clients. As far as your clients are concerned the wireless bridge should be transparent.
I'm not convinced you'll be happy with the reliability of a wireless link over that distance so I want you to look into using laser based networks - I don't know where you are but if you google 'laser point to point network' there should be some options for where you are. I think they'll be more expensive than the wifi option but I've used them in the past and found them to be of real use and pretty reliable - unless you get a lot of fog anyway. So just wanted you to be aware of them ok.