wifi connection for laptop 1 mile away

Question

We have wireless internet & router. My parents live 1 mile away (They are 75 & do not have internet) How can I share my internet with them? They have a new laptop that is picking up an unknown source for internet. Want to keep them safe. Is the external antenna connecting through their usb port the way to go?

Answer 1

The most practical options are likely to be them having ADSL broadband installed or using mobile broadband as mentioned by alpha1. Anything else is getting into real try-it-and-see territory or expensive options - for example, a 5GHz link will run up to 21Km if you have near line of sight, but will set you back around £1700 + installation costs.

Also, remember that having a good antenna and power output at your end is only half the solution as you will need the same setup at the other (laptop) end too. I suppose all this depends on how much roof climbing and antenna fixing you are prepared to do, unless you have near line of sight between two top-floor windows.

Answer 2

If you don't anticipate them wanting to do heavy internet usage, I'd say mobile broadband is likely the way to go, especially if their laptop has a SIM slot built in. (A lot of current laptops do.) Even if not, a USB cell dongle will do the job without costing much - it might even be included for free with the service, depending on the cell provider you sign up with.

If you do anticipate heavy usage, their own DSL/cable connection is the only real option. I've managed a wireless (802.11b) link over a mile and a half at a previous job; it didn't perform all that well (much slower than modern mobile broadband) and we'd usually have to get people on the roof to adjust antennas once or twice a year, plus additional trips up there to blow water out of connections after heavy rain, etc. While it can be done, it's a lot more hassle than it's worth in 99.44% of cases.

Answer 3

You don't need to go to the extreme of having a satellite dish to make a connection. Although you can usually get them cheap (well under $100 second hand) you would be better off with a pair of something like http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.33016 from deal extreme.

You can also get an amplifier from there for next to nothing that would boost your signal. IE deal extreme "sku.33915"... even better, start out with a high powered network adapter: Deal extreme "sku.35688" and add the antenna to that. This is all provided you have line of sight to your parents, or at least only obstructed by minimal amount of trees.

Deal extreme is great for cheap networking equipment, you could also try eBay... Remember a strong signal with a big antenna will shoot signals a long way, especially if you get the focused direction kind of antenna, and not the 360 degree type.

Answer 4

You can do hackish things with connecting satellite dishes as antennas for point to point links with line of sight and maybe an amplifier depending on the dish, but a mile is REALLY pushing it. note: LINE OF SIGHT

but it is doable: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi

Answer 5

A mile is not pushing it. All you need is a decent directional antenna, with high gain... Don't be put off, its all possible. Google as much as you can and you will find all the answers you need!

Answer 6

Mobile broadband chip? Cricket and others like virgin mobile have them for $40 a month ish.

Why would you want to share it with them instead of their own conection?

Unless you and them have no houses or anything in the way, your not going to be able to do this. If you do have nothing in the way, a lot of lan cables will do the trick.