Networking from Across the Street

[Dave Wyman]

Short question: does anyone know how I could  boost my neighbor's 
wireless signal, so that I can receive it in my own home? (Note, this 
is something my neighbor suggested to me, I'm not trying to illegally 
tap into her wireless network).

Long background: Our ISP (Comcast) just cut off the use of more than 
one computer on a single modem. So about a week ago I purchased a 
AirPort base station (too bad I couldn't wait for the new AirPort 
Express). I have an AirPort card and the other computers run off the 
base station from an ethernet connection.

A few days ago I walked outside with my iBook to see how far from our 
home I could wander before the base station signal faded. Not very far, 
as it turned out. However, a message popped on my monitor, telling me 
my neighbor's network across the street was available. A couple days 
later I saw our neighbor and told her about tapping into her network. 
She told me that she works for a cable company (not Comcast). She also 
said she wondered herself how cable companies would make any money once 
people realized the power they had to network their communities on 
their own.

My neighbor told me to tap into her network anytime I wanted to, and to 
cancel my own Comcast account. However, I can't pick up her wireless 
signal inside my own home, and I spent too much money on and I'm still 
having too much fun with my own base station to give it up.

Still, I'm tempted to at least think about how I could join my 
neighbor's network. I fantasize about our block linking all of our 
computers together, with a few base station-equipped homes and/or 
ethernet cable strung between houses.

So again my question: how do I boost my neighbor's wireless signal so 
that I can receive it in my own home? Is there something I can do in my 
own home to make my iBook's AirPort card more receptive to the wireless 
signal coming from my neighbor's home? Could my base station somehow 
pick up my neighbor's signal, maybe by adding an antenna (right now of 
course my cable modem is plugged into my base station)?

Or do I need to make it happen from my neighbor's home, boosting the 
output from her wireless network so that it can at least reach my 
home-office, which is in the front of my house? Could I, for example, 
add an external antenna to my neighbor's (PC) base station, or could I 
take my own antenna-equipped base station across the street and somehow 
add it onto my neighbor's network, to serve as a 
relay/booseter/networking bridge? If that worked,  but if my neighbor's 
signal only reached to the front of our house, could I add an AirPort 
Express to our home, to boost/relay/bridge the signal to the rest of 
our house?

Thanks,

Dave

http://www.davewyman.com
http://www.idrivebackroads.com

This mail is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and 
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-- 
http://www.davewyman.com
http://www.idrivebackroads.com (Guidebook to Northern California)

This mail is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and 
grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are 
to be considered flaws or defects.