Neil wrote:
> Is that normal for wi-fi routers to have such a large range? That seems a
> bit far to be picking up a wi-fi signal. The router was a little uphill from
> me, though not a very steep hill.

For those type of deployments, they set it up it work within the
building. So it will likely get out into the parking lot also.
That's all the need to care about.

Will it go farther? Sure. Will it be a reliable link? Most likely
not. I installed a Linksys WRT54G and it was usable over a thousand
feet away which surprised me.

A true case of "You mileage, err...footage may very".

commercial grade access points may have higher gain antennae than
are normally found in home/residential equipment.

On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:19:36 -0600, "Neil"
wrote:

>So, I was at the local sandwich shop last night, and I noticed I was able to
>pick up a signal from a local T-Mobile hotspot, which I have an account
>with. It was only one bar out of five. But I was able to connect to it and
>surf the web without any problems.
>
>I then looked up the hotspots in the area, and I saw that the closest one
>was a Fed-Ex/Kinkos about 2-3 blocks away. Measuring it on the map, I
>estimate it to be at least 800 feet from where I was.
>
>Is that normal for wi-fi routers to have such a large range? That seems a
>bit far to be picking up a wi-fi signal. The router was a little uphill from
>me, though not a very steep hill.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Neil
>
--

Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/

"Neil" wrote in message
news:wKvaj.393$6%.28@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com...
> So, I was at the local sandwich shop last night, and I noticed I was able
> to pick up a signal from a local T-Mobile hotspot, which I have an account
> with. It was only one bar out of five. But I was able to connect to it and
> surf the web without any problems.
>
> I then looked up the hotspots in the area, and I saw that the closest one
> was a Fed-Ex/Kinkos about 2-3 blocks away. Measuring it on the map, I
> estimate it to be at least 800 feet from where I was.
>
> Is that normal for wi-fi routers to have such a large range? That seems a
> bit far to be picking up a wi-fi signal. The router was a little uphill
> from me, though not a very steep hill.
>
Doing testing with a couple of Cisco APs and high gain omnidirectional
aerials we've had them working over several hundred meters , and even
further with directional ones but that's on open ground. In a built up
environment it's unusal to get anywhere near that.

It's possible there was another hot spot not shown on your map



--
Alex

New laptop - Sig missing

No, the chances of there being another hotspot are very slim, as there's
only a few types of business that have T-Mobile (Starbucks, Kinkos, some
hotels and airports -- that's about it). This wasn't a random hotspot. It
was a T-Mobile hotspot, and there are only a discreet set of them.

As for open ground, though, the place where I was down the street (to the
south) and a little west of where the hotspot was. In between (the northwest
corner of the intersection where I was at) was open. Thus, between me and
the hotspot, there were no buildings. I'm sure that was it.



"Dr Zoidberg" wrote in message
news:5t05h0F1bo6uuU1@mid.individual.net...
> "Neil" wrote in message
> news:wKvaj.393$6%.28@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com...
>> So, I was at the local sandwich shop last night, and I noticed I was able
>> to pick up a signal from a local T-Mobile hotspot, which I have an
>> account with. It was only one bar out of five. But I was able to connect
>> to it and surf the web without any problems.
>>
>> I then looked up the hotspots in the area, and I saw that the closest one
>> was a Fed-Ex/Kinkos about 2-3 blocks away. Measuring it on the map, I
>> estimate it to be at least 800 feet from where I was.
>>
>> Is that normal for wi-fi routers to have such a large range? That seems a
>> bit far to be picking up a wi-fi signal. The router was a little uphill
>> from me, though not a very steep hill.
>>
> Doing testing with a couple of Cisco APs and high gain omnidirectional
> aerials we've had them working over several hundred meters , and even
> further with directional ones but that's on open ground. In a built up
> environment it's unusal to get anywhere near that.
>
> It's possible there was another hot spot not shown on your map
>
>
>
> --
> Alex
>
> New laptop - Sig missing

Neil wrote: *** and top-posted. Fixed ***
> "Dr Zoidberg" wrote
>> "Neil" wrote in message
>>
>>> So, I was at the local sandwich shop last night, and I noticed
>>> I was able to pick up a signal from a local T-Mobile hotspot,
>>> which I have an account with. It was only one bar out of five.
>>> But I was able to connect to it and surf the web without any
>>> problems.
>>>
>>> I then looked up the hotspots in the area, and I saw that the
>>> closest one was a Fed-Ex/Kinkos about 2-3 blocks away.
>>> Measuring it on the map, I estimate it to be at least 800 feet
>>> from where I was.
>>>
>>> Is that normal for wi-fi routers to have such a large range?
>>> That seems a bit far to be picking up a wi-fi signal. The
>>> router was a little uphill from me, though not a very steep
>>> hill.
>>
>> Doing testing with a couple of Cisco APs and high gain
>> omnidirectional aerials we've had them working over several
>> hundred meters , and even further with directional ones but
>> that's on open ground. In a built up environment it's unusal
>> to get anywhere near that.
>>
>> It's possible there was another hot spot not shown on your
>> map
>
> No, the chances of there being another hotspot are very slim,
> as there's only a few types of business that have T-Mobile
> (Starbucks, Kinkos, some hotels and airports -- that's about
> it). This wasn't a random hotspot. It was a T-Mobile hotspot,
> and there are only a discreet set of them.
>
> As for open ground, though, the place where I was down the
> street (to the south) and a little west of where the hotspot
> was. In between (the northwest corner of the intersection
> where I was at) was open. Thus, between me and the hotspot,
> there were no buildings. I'm sure that was it.

Please do not top-post. Your answer belongs after (or intermixed
with) the quoted material to which you reply, after snipping all
irrelevant material. I fixed this one. See the following links:

--



(taming google)
(newusers)



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Somewhere on teh intarweb "Dr Zoidberg" typed:



> Doing testing with a couple of Cisco APs and high gain omnidirectional
> aerials we've had them working over several hundred meters , and even
> further with directional ones but that's on open ground. In a built up
> environment it's unusal to get anywhere near that.

The world record for unamplified WiFi using off-the-shelf Linksys APs and
very large omnidirectional antennas is, I believe, over 280 kms.
--
TTFN,

Shaun.

"another academic failure.... trying to prove that your smart"
'blanking', nz.comp, 20 Dec 2007.

In news:476b1905@news2.actrix.gen.nz,
~misfit~ typed on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:38:41 +1300:
> Somewhere on teh intarweb "Dr Zoidberg" typed:
>
>
>
>> Doing testing with a couple of Cisco APs and high gain
>> omnidirectional aerials we've had them working over several hundred
>> meters , and even further with directional ones but that's on open
>> ground. In a built up environment it's unusal to get anywhere near
>> that.
>
> The world record for unamplified WiFi using off-the-shelf Linksys APs
> and very large omnidirectional antennas is, I believe, over 280 kms.

The record using a home made directional antenna at a hackers convention
in Las Vegas a couple of years ago was 51 miles. Although I never
learned if they were on top of a mountain or not. I bet they were.

--
Bill

In <476b3134$0$1348$834e42db@reader.greatnowhere.com> "BillW50" writes:

>The record using a home made directional antenna at a hackers convention
>in Las Vegas a couple of years ago was 51 miles. Although I never
>learned if they were on top of a mountain or not. I bet they were.

details: http://www.wifiworldrecord.com/



--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

I don't understand. What do you mean??....

"CBFalconer" wrote in message
news:476B0FC1.E158E4A3@yahoo.com...
> Neil wrote: *** and top-posted. Fixed ***
>> "Dr Zoidberg" wrote
>>> "Neil" wrote in message
>>>
>>>> So, I was at the local sandwich shop last night, and I noticed
>>>> I was able to pick up a signal from a local T-Mobile hotspot,
>>>> which I have an account with. It was only one bar out of five.
>>>> But I was able to connect to it and surf the web without any
>>>> problems.
>>>>
>>>> I then looked up the hotspots in the area, and I saw that the
>>>> closest one was a Fed-Ex/Kinkos about 2-3 blocks away.
>>>> Measuring it on the map, I estimate it to be at least 800 feet
>>>> from where I was.
>>>>
>>>> Is that normal for wi-fi routers to have such a large range?
>>>> That seems a bit far to be picking up a wi-fi signal. The
>>>> router was a little uphill from me, though not a very steep
>>>> hill.
>>>
>>> Doing testing with a couple of Cisco APs and high gain
>>> omnidirectional aerials we've had them working over several
>>> hundred meters , and even further with directional ones but
>>> that's on open ground. In a built up environment it's unusal
>>> to get anywhere near that.
>>>
>>> It's possible there was another hot spot not shown on your
>>> map
>>
>> No, the chances of there being another hotspot are very slim,
>> as there's only a few types of business that have T-Mobile
>> (Starbucks, Kinkos, some hotels and airports -- that's about
>> it). This wasn't a random hotspot. It was a T-Mobile hotspot,
>> and there are only a discreet set of them.
>>
>> As for open ground, though, the place where I was down the
>> street (to the south) and a little west of where the hotspot
>> was. In between (the northwest corner of the intersection
>> where I was at) was open. Thus, between me and the hotspot,
>> there were no buildings. I'm sure that was it.
>
> Please do not top-post. Your answer belongs after (or intermixed
> with) the quoted material to which you reply, after snipping all
> irrelevant material. I fixed this one. See the following links:
>
> --
>
>
>
> (taming google)
> (newusers)
>
>
>
> --
> Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
>

That's cool. But I doubt the local kinko's had any sophisticated antennae.
Still, I think the fact that there were no buildings between us and there
was a little downhill helped. I think the fact that there was a slight
breeze from the direction of the Kinko's to where I was helped as well.*

Neil
*Before someone jumps in here: yes, that was a joke.


"~misfit~" wrote in
messagenews:476b1905@news2.actrix.gen.nz...
> Somewhere on teh intarweb "Dr Zoidberg" typed:
>
>
>
>> Doing testing with a couple of Cisco APs and high gain omnidirectional
>> aerials we've had them working over several hundred meters , and even
>> further with directional ones but that's on open ground. In a built up
>> environment it's unusal to get anywhere near that.
>
> The world record for unamplified WiFi using off-the-shelf Linksys APs and
> very large omnidirectional antennas is, I believe, over 280 kms.
> --
> TTFN,
>
> Shaun.
>
> "another academic failure.... trying to prove that your smart"
> 'blanking', nz.comp, 20 Dec 2007.
>

Somewhere on teh intarweb "danny burstein" typed:
> In <476b3134$0$1348$834e42db@reader.greatnowhere.com> "BillW50"
> writes:
>
>> The record using a home made directional antenna at a hackers
>> convention in Las Vegas a couple of years ago was 51 miles. Although
>> I never learned if they were on top of a mountain or not. I bet they
>> were.
>
> details: http://www.wifiworldrecord.com/

That's old hat. It was broken in Venezula the next year. The one you linked
to was 200km, the Venezuelan record is 279km using just a pair of Linksys
WRT54G's.

+Update+

That was in '06. I've just Googled the guy who did it (Ermanno Pietrosemoli)
and find that my info is old, his record got broken, so he set a new one in
June this year. 382km, or 238 miles for you late adopters.
--
TTFN,

Shaun.

"another academic failure.... trying to prove that your smart"
'blanking', nz.comp, 20 Dec 2007.

"your so predictable misfit"
'blanking', nz.comp, 21 Dec 2007.

"Neil" wrote in message
news:dHHaj.33920$Pv2.11256@newssvr23.news.prodigy. net...
>I don't understand. What do you mean??....
>
> "CBFalconer" wrote in message
> news:476B0FC1.E158E4A3@yahoo.com...

It is conventional in most newsgroups to post your reply at the bottom of
the previous, this is called bottom posting. You have been putting your
reply at the top, which is known as top-posting. Top-posting is the
convention in emails because if you are replying to an email then the
recipient should have a grasp on what went before. When posting to
newsgroups others may not have seen your original post so its useful to have
the previous text available and visible first.
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?

>> Please do not top-post. Your answer belongs after (or intermixed
>> with) the quoted material to which you reply, after snipping all
>> irrelevant material. I fixed this one. See the following links:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> (taming google)
>> (newusers)

Sadly, I haven't fixed this one. Its worth having a read of the links that
CBFalconer provided.
--
Brian Cryer
www.cryer.co.uk/brian

~misfit~ wrote:
> Somewhere on teh intarweb "danny burstein" typed:
>> In <476b3134$0$1348$834e42db@reader.greatnowhere.com> "BillW50"
>> writes:
>>
>>> The record using a home made directional antenna at a hackers
>>> convention in Las Vegas a couple of years ago was 51 miles. Although
>>> I never learned if they were on top of a mountain or not. I bet they
>>> were.
>> details: http://www.wifiworldrecord.com/
>
> That's old hat. It was broken in Venezula the next year. The one you linked
> to was 200km, the Venezuelan record is 279km using just a pair of Linksys
> WRT54G's.
>
> +Update+
>
> That was in '06. I've just Googled the guy who did it (Ermanno Pietrosemoli)
> and find that my info is old, his record got broken, so he set a new one in
> June this year. 382km, or 238 miles for you late adopters.

http://www.eslared.org.ve/articulos/...Fi%20Trial.pdf

And it's entirely predictable that some wanker will whinge about it.


"Brian Cryer" wrote in message
news:8sSdnXq6DeLcLPbanZ2dnUVZ8t-nnZ2d@pipex.net...
> "Neil" wrote in message
> news:dHHaj.33920$Pv2.11256@newssvr23.news.prodigy. net...
>>I don't understand. What do you mean??....
>>
>> "CBFalconer" wrote in message
>> news:476B0FC1.E158E4A3@yahoo.com...
>
> It is conventional in most newsgroups to post your reply at the bottom of
> the previous, this is called bottom posting. You have been putting your
> reply at the top, which is known as top-posting. Top-posting is the
> convention in emails because if you are replying to an email then the
> recipient should have a grasp on what went before. When posting to
> newsgroups others may not have seen your original post so its useful to
> have the previous text available and visible first.
> A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
> Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
>
>>> Please do not top-post. Your answer belongs after (or intermixed
>>> with) the quoted material to which you reply, after snipping all
>>> irrelevant material. I fixed this one. See the following links:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> (taming google)
>>> (newusers)
>
> Sadly, I haven't fixed this one. Its worth having a read of the links that
> CBFalconer provided.
> --
> Brian Cryer
> www.cryer.co.uk/brian
>
>
>

> I then looked up the hotspots in the area, and I saw that the closest one
> was a Fed-Ex/Kinkos about 2-3 blocks away.

And how do you know that for sure? It's not all that hard to spoof a
hotspot. Use the same SSID, capture the HTTP traffic and fake the login
handling. Then use the stolen information to hack the real service.

In news:YNSdncN9JPZig_DanZ2dnUVZ_umlnZ2d@speakeasy.ne t,
Bill Kearney typed on Sat, 22 Dec 2007 09:28:15 -0500:
>> I then looked up the hotspots in the area, and I saw that the
>> closest one was a Fed-Ex/Kinkos about 2-3 blocks away.
>
> And how do you know that for sure? It's not all that hard to spoof a
> hotspot. Use the same SSID, capture the HTTP traffic and fake the
> login handling. Then use the stolen information to hack the real
> service.

You sound like you have lots of experience doing this Bill. And what
reason would that be for?

--
Bill

In news:c7GdnQHAUIeUKfbanZ2dnUVZ8qbinZ2d@bt.com,
LR typed on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:39:37 +0000:
> ~misfit~ wrote:
>> Somewhere on teh intarweb "danny burstein" typed:
>>> In <476b3134$0$1348$834e42db@reader.greatnowhere.com> "BillW50"
>>> writes:
>>>
>>>> The record using a home made directional antenna at a hackers
>>>> convention in Las Vegas a couple of years ago was 51 miles.
>>>> Although I never learned if they were on top of a mountain or not.
>>>> I bet they were.
>>> details: http://www.wifiworldrecord.com/
>>
>> That's old hat. It was broken in Venezula the next year. The one you
>> linked to was 200km, the Venezuelan record is 279km using just a
>> pair of Linksys WRT54G's.
>>
>> +Update+
>>
>> That was in '06. I've just Googled the guy who did it (Ermanno
>> Pietrosemoli) and find that my info is old, his record got broken,
>> so he set a new one in June this year. 382km, or 238 miles for you
>> late adopters.
>
>
> http://www.eslared.org.ve/articulos/...Fi%20Trial.pdf

Amazing! And here I am trying to get my sister on my network just 800
feet away. LOL

--
Bill

Neil wrote:
> So, I was at the local sandwich shop last night, and I noticed I was able to
> pick up a signal from a local T-Mobile hotspot, which I have an account
> with. It was only one bar out of five. But I was able to connect to it and
> surf the web without any problems.
>
> I then looked up the hotspots in the area, and I saw that the closest one
> was a Fed-Ex/Kinkos about 2-3 blocks away. Measuring it on the map, I
> estimate it to be at least 800 feet from where I was.
>
> Is that normal for wi-fi routers to have such a large range? That seems a
> bit far to be picking up a wi-fi signal. The router was a little uphill from
> me, though not a very steep hill.


So, Neil
I think you were very successful getting responses for a stupid
question, and stretching it out by your responses.

For a troll you did very well.

I take it you don't have any friends to hang out with during winter
break from school.

> Neil wrote:
>> Is that normal for wi-fi routers to have such a large range? That
>> seems a bit far to be picking up a wi-fi signal. The router was a
>> little uphill from me, though not a very steep hill.

That's certainly a valid question for an inquiring mind.


curly Bill responded with
> So, Neil
> I think you were very successful getting responses for a stupid
> question, and stretching it out by your responses.
>
> For a troll you did very well.

And *I* think that you take perfectly valid questions to be trolling.