How to extend WiFi...

[Richard]

I have a motorhome, and often camp (well, park...) in campgrounds (ahem, parking lots...) that have WiFi.  They have offered WiFi Internet access to a computer for a fee - what I would like to do is have a main antenna/access point aboard the camper and then re-distribute the signal to three laptops connected to grand children.

My first thought was a central computer that would be the "ships computer" and work from there, but is that even needed?  Everyone with laptops would provide more flexability and distributed points of failure...

Thoughts?
N6GPP
Richard

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[andras bellak]

I think that you can do something like that with an Apple Airport Express (not sure about that – I know you can via it’s ethernet port, but I’m not sure if it will repeat from it’s radio). If that didn’t work, I would look at a setup like this:

External Antenna to “park” wifi -> Netgear WGE111 game adapter -> Airport Express or small travel router -> laptops.


That will allow you put an appropriate antenna setup on your vehicle for the external connection (I might try using a yagi – either bare or in a plastic housing – connected to some type of antenna rotator so that you can aim it from inside). You can use a laptop to change to SSID on the game adapter whenever you hit a new site, and then the travel router will handle distribution internally, including maintaining your session state with the “park” wifi gateway.

And before everyone starts, you could setup something like this with a soekris board, or a small pc/linux system, or something else hacked together, but that setup (minus the antenna mounting) is something that you could put together in less than a day with parts from almost any computer store and be off and running. It’s not the most elegant solution, but it would work, be fairly easy to use, etc.

Good luck.

Andras

On 6/18/06 10:32 AM, "Richard" <brigh...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a motorhome, and often camp (well, park...) in campgrounds (ahem, parking lots...) that have WiFi.  They have offered WiFi Internet access to a computer for a fee - what I would like to do is have a main antenna/access point aboard the camper and then re-distribute the signal to three laptops connected to grand children.

My first thought was a central computer that would be the "ships computer" and work from there, but is that even needed?  Everyone with laptops would provide more flexability and distributed points of failure...

Thoughts?
N6GPP
Richard

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[Richard]

Thanks guys!

I was wondering if I should have the motor home attach to the WiFi with one MAC and then "share" the Internet connection to the rest of the gang (like a home LAN).  If I do that, I have a single access point and I hear that across the country WiFi is not free for all comers, but costs for each Internet connection.  When I have one MAC that shares, only one connection!

Also, a LAN that would enable common resource sharing is a good thing - a printer aboard and the ability to print from the picnic table... Using a pair of laptops to log for ARRL Field Day . . . 

Maybe a Linux PC aboard that could to GPS/Mapping as well as act as the central connection point?

I know this can't be "original thought", anyone else done this kind of thing?

Richard
N6GPP

On 6/18/06, Rick Dobbs < atomi...@gmail.com> wrote:

You can do this with pretty much any wireless bridge and AP/Router.  No extra computer needed.  As long as your laptop can get a signal, just about any bridge can handle the job.  Don't need to spend a lot either.  A Linksys Wet 54G and a Linksys Router/AP will do it handily.   Will cost less than $110.

--Rick