Rob Flickenger's "Wireless Hacks" book has been released as open source.
Although it was released in 2003, much of what you need to know about
wireless starts here, http://www.freeopenbook.com/wireless-hacks/.
We made a cantenna out of a coffee can. The most difficult part was
finding a lucent cable and attach an N-connector. Everything else is
easy. However, a mesh antenna has better range -- over a mile. An old
Primestar antenna can be modified for a longer range too, but it's more
complicated; ours is sitting out by the shed, waiting to be adapted [or
adopted].
Betty.
$500 a pair? I already know the next question that I'll get ... is there a
lower budget solution?
They just shelled out several thousand to get their driveway paved over
(apparently the gravel driveway was no longer acceptable) so their budget is
somewhat limited.
I think your _affordable_ solutions come down to 2 main possibilities:
1. Running new Cat5 cable from one house to an ethernet switch ($30 or
so for a 100Mbps switch with 5 or 8 ports) in the garage, and then
more cable from the switch to the 2nd house.
2. Getting a more powerful (and directional) antenna for wifi. The
common term for this is a "cantenna" (some DIY versions use Pringles
cans as the outer housing). You can buy at www.cantenna.com, or
look for DIY guides at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantenna
(The first thing to get is a pair of Wifi routers or Access Points
with detachable antennas, which you can replace by connecting a coax
cable.)
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