Wifi multi-hop repeater?

[corbywan]

Is it possible to relay a wifi network over multiple hops/repeaters with Airport Expresses and/or DD-WRTs (or similar?)

Our church meets in a facility that is about four blocks away from our office (where the wifi is) and we need access to it during these meetings. It might sound desperate, but is it possible to put some kind of repeaters/extenders in strategically placed cars between points A and B to get the signal there?

 

[Hellhammer]

Wouldn't it be better to use 3G? If anyone has iPhone, he can use it to tether the internet connection to a computer, or just buy the cheapest deal available on 3G connection

 

[aicul]

If you created the initial wifi network and indicated that it can be extended, the apple airport products will help you do just that.

However putting them in "cars" may cause some interference.

I do believe there are dedicated (non-apple) aerials that may help you in .. one-hop!

 

[belvdr]

Wouldn't it be better to use 3G? If anyone has iPhone, he can use it to tether the internet connection to a computer, or just buy the cheapest deal available on 3G connection

I second this. You may opt for something like the Verizon MiFi and just keep it at your location.

 

[corbywan]

Building mounted antena are not an option in our case. And 3G doesn't have the bandwidth and I'd rather not add to the monthly telcom budget. Plus we would like to keep on the same subnet.

Any other ideas?

 

[corbywan]

To clarify, one of the things we want to do is live audio/video streaming with something like QuickTime Streaming Server. It's much happier when the encoder and the server are on the same subnet, plus the obvious bandwidth benefit of something like wifi. 300KB over 90-120 minutes adds up.

 

[belvdr]

To clarify, one of the things we want to do is live audio/video streaming with something like QuickTime Streaming Server. It's much happier when the encoder and the server are on the same subnet, plus the obvious bandwidth benefit of something like wifi. 300KB over 90-120 minutes adds up.

It seems like you would use WDS, but also know that for every "hop" in the chain, the bandwidth is effectively halved (i.e. one repeater = 1/2, two repeaters = 1/4, etc). You could end up with little to no bandwidth at all by the time you get to your destination.