Repeat wifi hotspot signal?

[andrew-4ce]

I've seen a couple threads on repeating but they quickly get over my head... before I read all the various info I'd like to know if this is possible first.

Our cottage is near a free wifi hotspot... our laptop can see the signal, but not strong enough to connect to it. it puts out an N signal.

If I put a router with dd-wrt or whatever on it and an external antenna in a window or on the roof would anyone with a wireless in our cottage then get the hotspot signal?

Also would i be able to select on the router which signal conenction it repeats or does it repeat anything it finds? Or repeats the strongest it finds?

We just want it for email and such when we are up there... so paying for a line is not worth it. We have no phone for cheap dial up. We can walk up the street, but would be nice to not have too :)

Thanks for any help!

[attonbitusira]

It seems that buying a repeater would mean housing it in something and placing it outside.

Do you know who owns the hotspot? If so, just buy them a better antenna and tweak it for your needs.

[andrew-4ce]

I figured I'd just put the antenna in a window or on the roof... not the whole router.

[andrew-4ce]

Something like this, or the outdoor version

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/Wireless_WiFi/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&cs=cadhs1&sku=A0598264

[mcplar]

yes.. you can do that with dd-wrt or tomato firmware on wrt54gl routers. You can even up the TX power of the router and tweak the settings and tell the router that the access point is X meters away so it can adjust it's latency.

You tell it what SSID (network) to connect to. Just remember that if the hot spot is unsecure so will your wifi and laptops.

[andrew-4ce]

Thanks for the info!

[attonbitusira]

The roof might be adequate, or it might not.

How much are you willing to spend? Good outdoor will be $200 or so.

[andrew-4ce]

I get 2 of 5 bars with the laptop through a wall in the livingroom... I figure from a router antenna in a window with direct sight or a roof antenna like below I'd be ok? So about $100 worth of parts?

http://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-TL-ANT2409A-Antenna-outdoor-directional/dp/B000ZUYWYK

[ItemFinder]

You want WDS (Wireless Distribution System). It will extend the range of your wireless network by repeating the signal. Alternatively, you can setup a wireless bridge. Tomato and DD-WRT compatible routers are capable of both configurations.

[l69norm]

I figured I'd just put the antenna in a window or on the roof... not the whole router.

The antenna cables are pretty lossy. You are better off mounting the router there and attaching the antennas directly to it.

[attonbitusira]

The antenna cables are pretty lossy. You are better off mounting the router there and attaching the antennas directly to it.

+1

The shorter the pigtail the better.

[andrew-4ce]

Cool, thx for info!

I'm going to try just the repeater/router in the window and go from there.