WiFi repeater or extender?

December 7, 2005 8:22 AM

WiFi Repeater - how feasible is this? I am affiliated with a university that offers free wireless internet access. I live less than .2 miles from the nearest building which broadcasts this signal. I can't connect to this network from home, obviously, but I would like to. Is it possible to access such a network by putting an antenna on my roof? How about by placing a repeater in a friends house closer to the source? What are my options likely to be here?

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.

posted by gd779 to technology (6 comments total)

Do you have line-of-sight to a building with a signal? You could try any number of directional antennas if your wireless card can connect to an external antenna (well, it can, surely, but whether it's a huge hassle is the question).

As for whether you ethically or legally should/could, I have no clue, but it's definitely technically possible.
posted by odinsdream at 8:24 AM on December 7, 2005

I got this answer from NYU when I asked. Generally unless you can do it with an antenna, fine , but networks don't like their signal rebroadcast.


As a matter of policy we do not permit the physical extension of NYU-NET's infrastructure by way of end user equipment. This applies to the wired as well as wireless networks.

I understand that users living in the proximity of NYURoam's coverage areas benefit by being able to connect to our infrastructure directly from their residences. This is simply a byproduct of using WLAN technology. It is permissible if one were to use a high gain antenna in conjunction with their wireless client in order to achieve direct connectivity to NYURoam - simply no intervening electronics is permissible.
posted by lalochezia at 8:52 AM on December 7, 2005

Maybe this AskMe thread from 2 days ago will be of help to you as well.
posted by terrapin at 9:00 AM on December 7, 2005

You need a Pringles can.
posted by caddis at 9:00 AM on December 7, 2005

If you do rebroadcast a signal like this, definately have it under a different SSID, channel, and use WPA secure encryption. Limit it to the MAC addresses of your equipment. If you can disable the SSID broadcast, thats good too.
posted by reverendX at 9:03 AM on December 7, 2005

Even having done all the stuff reverendx recommends it's fairly trivial to detect the retransmission of the packets when you control the switches up stream from traffic shaping alone. Apparently the CISCO stuff we're rolling out here can not only automatically detect a rogue access point but can also automatically shut down the network port feeding it.
posted by Mitheral at 10:00 AM on December 7, 2005