MiFi / alternative internet access question

[Eric Leversen]

I'm searching for information on getting internet access when cable/
DSL is not an option.

Our non-profit, http://mrcaustin.org, is settling into the Central
Presbyterian Church on 8th and Brazos. Its a wonderful building but it
has very thick walls which kill wi-fi so sapping off an existing
connection is not an option. Plus we want have our own signal since
its mission critical to the online ESL classes we run.

My first thought is getting a MiFi hotspot from Verizon or AT&T or ???

Does anyone have thoughts on better solutions or what I should know
about MiFi before making a decision?

We are a 501(c) on a shoe-string budget so I'd also love to know about
any discounted programs we could look into.

Thanks in advance.

Eric Leversen
WebChronic Consulting, LLC

[Shlomi Harif]

I've had mixed results with Clearwire's solution. Downtown it works pretty well, but... same issue with walls. If you can get the receiver set up at a window, then it might work. If you want, I can bring mine to work (I work @ the Omni office building) and we can check it out.

Cost: $100 for the antenna, $50/month for purported 1.5Mb bandwidth (check clear.com for details).

Cheers,

Shlomi

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[Luis Torres]

Eric,

in my experience most solutions to go through thick walls require some testing. I haven't seen a one size fits all solution yet.

In the past I've had good luck with repeaters and antennas. Both are in the DYI side as commercial WIFI extenders are usually pretty awful.

You can get more info on a cheap repeater solution here:
http://lifehacker.com/265142/turn-your-wifi-router-into-a-repeater?tag=softwarehowto

And you can make your own antenna  with this template. It's ridiculously easy to do even for people like me  :)
http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/

I'm assuming you'll have to use some kind of WIFI at some point.

Good luck.

Luis

[Eric Leversen]

Thanks for the info, Luis.

I forgot to mention that we do have a window in the room  we hope will give a decent cell signal to a mi-fi device.

Regards,

Eric Leversen

er...@webchronicconsulting.com