I got a friend who lives 2 blocks from my house, he is in a only-student building and they got 10Mbps ADSL. He has no prob to share it with me, but obviously this is impossible, becos no Wifi antenna could reach such a distance.

The thing is, i heard you can connect to a distant hotspot using a standard Directtv dish. Is that true? or just another myth? you only need the antenna or some other equipment? (i bet you need a modem with coaxial cable support)

Ph33r my....3r...w41t...

Its possible to do with the proper antenna. However, you would need significant power to drive the extra gain (at least 20db). Those are difficult to find and expensive to build. The DTV dish may server in this capacity if you found the proper power and the specialized Equipment to 'extend the 802.11g signal ( 11.g would be recomended). Oh and you would probably need clear line of sight with no obstructions of any kind.
Just an example. At DefCOn and Black hat this year in Las Vegas, the WIFI challenge winner transferred data using an 11.g carrier signal over 50miles. That took some major equipment.

You need line of site but you certainly don't need 20 dB of gain. For two blocks you don't need a very powerful antenna you just need it to be directed. A 5 dBi yagi would be fine as long as you have a short pigtail from device to antenna. Two blocks is nothing, with the understanding you need good line of site.

Not in my experience. Perhaps 20 is overkill but 5 in most cases won't maintain a connection at any significant distance, I suppose it somewhat depends what he means by "block". A rural blocks vary a lot. City blocks he is talking a greater distance.

Yeah, in fact i got the idea after that convention, but i couldnt find details or a howto guide.

The path is clear of any kind of barrier and the local weather is dry (havent had fog in years), and theres no cellphone or other satellite antennas, so the signal should be pretty clear.

Ph33r my....3r...w41t...

20 db is more than a bit overkill. Well can't speak to your experience but I've put up several hundred links of what would amount to a city block. Hell a couple of city blocks with 4 dBi patch antennas. Not even a very tight beamdwidth. Get a yagi with a 30 degree beamwidth and and at least 5 dB, you could go 7 if you want some confidence. Not a problem.

Looks like my experience isn't the norm and Kwebb is more correct. Some proof of this can be found <A HREF="http://www.wirelessnetworkproducts.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=20" target="_new">Here</A>
Still digging up a useful howto but its really not that difficult.

This is a (small) city and the blocks (at least in this neighborhood) are 50 meters long per side and the streets are 10 meters (and up) wide.

What is a yagi? its like a frequency modulator?

Should i just hookup the antenna to a wifi router with coaxial port or I'm missing some other equipment?

Ph33r my....3r...w41t...

Got low budget and the spirit of adventure? Build a Cantenna.
Check this out. Its a pretty good how to for a number of items you might need. I'm gonna try and build one.
<A HREF="http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html" target="_new">http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html</A>

good luck!

PS: That article also has an answer to you Direct TV questions <A HREF="http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/Airport/Primestar/Primestar.html" target="_new">http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/Airport/Primestar/Primestar.html</A>
Keep in mind that that solution will share his WiFi with a good portion of the neighborhood as well as you <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by palmerg on 02/11/05 08:46 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

Haha i cant believe it! a pringles can?
Damn,is too cool and weird at the same time . I knew you could built something like that, but working as good as a dish or a normal antenna? its just amazing...

BTW i bet a steel bowl would do the job better than that, plus you get no corrosion and aesthetic issues

Ph33r my....3r...w41t...<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by JRX on 02/11/05 09:09 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

don't know about the steel bowl. The wave guide formula sort of depends or is based on the confined shape in this case a cylinder. The 1/4 waveguide calculation would not help you accurately place the connector in the bowl. You are welcome to experiment away.

Good point, there's cylinder-like bowls too, but seeing the classing dish layout of the normal bowl makes me thing it could work.

I`ll post my experiences in the future.

Ph33r my....3r...w41t...

"Looks like my experience isn't the norm and Kwebb is more correct. "

I'm not trying to be ugly but what is described in this thread is what I did for a living for close to 5 years. A 20 dBi yagi would be an enormous waste of money. Frankly there is no debating that although I do understand others experience doesn't really match mine however I had the advantage of using excellent equipment and a very high volume of opportunities to do just what is described in this thread. These kind of short shots were boring really after a while. Now creating a steady 10 to 20 mile link (with less than 20 dBi directionals sometimes by the way), that was always fun.

ok, I have no problem conceeding to your expertise on this. My experience, which is basically doing war driving experiments sponsored by a gvt lab to see if folks were complying with WEP/WPC policy, is certainly not as credible for this thread. The antenna used in my situation was built by some antenna geeks who may have had a secret pact to max out db. I made an erroneous assumption that because that antenna was ~22db and that we were monitoring from various distances between 100 and 500 meters that what I quoted was credible.
I am not an expert on this by any means, but I am learning.
Thanks

PS: it seems that a yagi may not be necessary to accomplish what he wants to do.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by palmerg on 02/11/05 01:09 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

You can do it without a yagi yes. Panel, patch omni. Several options there but frankly I'd probably go with a yagi. Just not a home made variant.

I just think that for the cost versus the performance some of these Cantennas we're seeing (granted they weren't competing against commercially manufactured units) were very nice and would certainly be more economical, not to mention fun - it seems the original poster is up to the challenge too.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by palmerg on 02/11/05 04:05 PM.</EM></FONT></P>