Starting from scratch

[Stoon]

Hiya

Newbie here, and I have some specific needs. Hope you folks can guide me.

I want to set up a WIFI system in my RV, which I use to travel all over. I park in different campgrounds, some of which offer WIFI access, some do not.
Some of the camping is close to city areas, some is not.

So, I need a unit with really good range.

Until I found this forum, I had planned on using this setup:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120053379256&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:11

This supplier has told me he will supply me with a PCI card, or a USB hub, or a PCMCIA card.
The PCMCIA card is described as follows:
=============
WiFi card
This kit includes a factory-sealed High Power / High Speed 802.11b/g wireless PCMCIA card manufactured by Buffalo Technology. The card is both 802.11b & 802.11g compatible - supporting speeds up to 125 Mbps and while most WiFi cards have only 30 mW of power, this High Power card has 100 mW (20 dBm) of power.
============

The USB adapter is described like this:
===========
Wireless USB Adapter

The High-speed USB 802.11b/g 54 mbs WiFi device plugs directly into USB slot and can be used stand-alone with the local antenna or for extended-range can be used with the included Cantenna and cable for your Mac (or Windows or Linux) notebook. Both the High Speed USB WiFi device and the antenna are fully compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g.

Drivers are included for MAC OS X, Windows XP, 2000, 98SE, ME and Linux. The device supports 64/128/256 bit WEP, WPA and WPA2. For site surveys, WiFi security analysis and WarDriving, the USB device with its Zydas chipset is supported by Kismac.
=================

BUT, now that I've done some research,I see there are some limitations on what I should use.
I'd really rather use a PCI card, I think, but I'll certainly listen to your suggestions.

I've seen a PCI, the Netgear WG 311T which seems like it would meet my needs.

I then joined the Netgear forum and asked about the antenna connector and received this response.

====
Netgear does not support upgrading the antenna on the WG311T. It is not authorized by the FCC. Plus who knows if the adapter can push the wireless signal through a high gain antenna but anyway, the connector is reverse SMA.
====

I hear him saying "does not support", and NOT saying it will not work.

The antenna I have in mind would also have an amplifier attached which is describes as follows:
===========
Amplifier
The high quality amplifier boosts the range of the already powerful USB WiFi adapter and +9dbi Marine antenna.

Now you have created The Ultimate Power Trio by having the amplifier inline. The Hawking amplifier not only increases the power but filters out noise, which in WiFi terms is a tremendous increase in speed and connectivity.
=========

I'm using WIN XP Pro SP2, with an empty PCI slot and a vacant USB port, in a desktop IBM system.

I'd appreciate your comments and suggestions on this system and whatever else I should use instead of, or in addition to, this package.

Thanks

[ad5mb]

Check out the reviews of that Netgear WG 311T at Amazon.com. Lot of not-impressed people.

Read the RV.NET thread here:
http://www.backflip.com/dir_folders.ihtml?folder=13391367&sort=0
RV-Wireless is right. He is talking about cards for laptops, but if you look at a PCI card or in a router, you will see a laptop card with MMCX connectors as the heart of the system.

While you are there, get a Backlip account. Lets you keep your URLs on the web. Free. You can make them accessible to all, or keep them private.

About that antenna thing - the lawyers made them say that. Technically, it's illegal to use an aftermarket antenna that hasn't been certified for a particular network adapter. I can't imagine the feds kicking your door down and hauling you off to the hoosegow over a WiFi antenna.

Engineering best practice: use an antenna for gain before you try an amplifier. A scalpel, not a shotgun.

[M/Q]

You may want to try the search function as this subject has been discussed quite a bit.

http://forums.wi-fiplanet.com/search.php?searchid=114199

[Alan87i]

I would look at this first http://us.zyxel.com/web/product_family_detail.php?PC1indexflag=20040520161 256&CategoryGroupNo=13D38B34-2A23-4992-9668-0DFDC27A1C0F
A G470 set it up as a client and add any antenna you like after. A small panel antenna that you could mount with a fold over bracket and tune in fast. The G470 could be mounted near the roof of the rv and this would minimize the length of coax needed to reach an antenna.( Less Coax Better Signal)
There's a few posts about DD-wrt on this forum and Buffalo's WHR-HP-G54's Sweet price for great working Ap / Client ect.
As far as the antenna goes If You want to be a client only Stick with a directional , Panel or grid or if your handy try searching out the BiQuad, antenna.
Allan
VA2CBE

[Stoon]

You may want to try the search function as this subject has been discussed quite a bit.

http://forums.wi-fiplanet.com/search.php?searchid=114199

This link does not work for me.

Anyhow, typically I do search a lot and this time I found so MANY responses.
I just want to narrow the field a bit.

Thanks for the reminder, I won't break the rules. :)

Thanks

[Stoon]

Check out the reviews of that Netgear WG 311T at Amazon.com. Lot of not-impressed people.

Read the RV.NET thread here:
http://www.backflip.com/dir_folders.ihtml?folder=13391367&sort=0
RV-Wireless is right. He is talking about cards for laptops, but if you look at a PCI card or in a router, you will see a laptop card with MMCX connectors as the heart of the system.

While you are there, get a Backlip account. Lets you keep your URLs on the web. Free. You can make them accessible to all, or keep them private.

About that antenna thing - the lawyers made them say that. Technically, it's illegal to use an aftermarket antenna that hasn't been certified for a particular network adapter. I can't imagine the feds kicking your door down and hauling you off to the hoosegow over a WiFi antenna.

Engineering best practice: use an antenna for gain before you try an amplifier. A scalpel, not a shotgun.

Duh... I forgot completly the RV.net. they have a great forum. Thanks for the reminder.

Regarding the scalpel, not the shotgun.... BLAM! BLAM!

Thanks for the feedback, I'll letcha know what I buy and how it works.

[M/Q]

Sorry, I forget that the search function times out. Just search campgrounds. Some of the newer threads are almost exactly what you want.

http://forums.wi-fiplanet.com/showthread.php?t=6737&highlight=campgrounds

http://forums.wi-fiplanet.com/showthread.php?t=5518&highlight=campgrounds

[Stoon]

Man oh man, there are a lot of different products out there and its difficult to decide which one to use.

I continue the search and I'll keep you all posted what I decide and how it works.

[Stoon]

Well, I'm starting to narrow down what to get for my WIFI setup.

It looks like I'm going to buy an antenna from Pacific Wireless, probably a Rootena or a Yagi.

I'm also looking at the Alfa 500 MW adapter/amplifier combo to go with the Yagi.

One problem I'm going to be facing is aiming it every week.

I will have it mounted in a pole mount, vertically attached to the side of my RV, outside, of course. If the campground I'm parked in has WIFI, then I can probably point it my eyeball and get a good signal, but if I'm looking for a hotspot, I don't really want to run in and out of the RV, checking the software for a signal.

Is there an inline tool, I can attach to the antenna lead OUTSIDE the trailer that I can watch and turn the antenna pipe at the same time?

I have such a device for pointing my satellite system. Is there something similar for WIFI?

Thanks

[M/Q]

I might suggest some caution with the use of an amplifier. There are regulations that control the amount of available power that can can be used. It depends on the gain of the antenna. If you setup an overpowered system, you will be running illegally as well as irritating your neighbors.

[wiltonh]

Here is a web page I put together about RV wireless.

http://windsurf.mediaforte.com/wifi/wifi.html

Wilton

[meg]

Caution on the ALFA. I've got one. I finally set it aside out of pure frustration.
It drops my connection at least once every twenty minutes and sometimes as often as once every two minutes randomly. The connection simply fails although the signal strength is there. I used it with WINME and WINXP. I tried every "connection failure" fix on the internet appropriate to these OS and eventually started to note a pattern of complaints from owners of the same card. Sure enough, I did a specific search and found plenty of frustration to go around over this issue. NONE of the fixes suggested worked at all for me so I just threw it in my junk drawer. It's well beyond warranty since I (foolishly) made every effort possible to remedy the problem myself.

The vendor responded to my emails finally with more links to other owners "fixes" and told me not to give up.....
"...you can solve these issues. The card is worth working through this"
Yeah, thanks.