MY Outdoor/Waterproof Linksys WRT54G Routers **PICS** (no longer waterproof)

[WesM63]

do they have an actual router up there or a bi-directional amp?

because i was thinking of buying a 1watt bi-directional amp that i can put up on the poll and just putting these routers down in the shade under something so they dont get wet. but im still trying to keep cable length down

Its actually a bridge. No amp, just whats built in, its only shooting ~2miles.

[the]

a one watt amp? what is the gain of that antennae? with a 1 watt amp, a 6dbi antennae is the limit as 4 watts is the limit for omni directional 802.11 networks. now ptp networks have 3 to 1 exemption

Sec. 15.247 Operation within the bands 902-928 MHz, 2400-2483.5 MHz, and 5725-5850 MHz.

(i) Systems operating in the 2400-2483.5 MHz band that are used
exclusively for fixed, point-to-point operations may employ transmitting
antennas with directional gain greater than 6 dBi provided the maximum
peak output power of the intentional radiator is reduced by 1 dB for
every 3 dB that the directional gain of the antenna exceeds 6 dBi.

so basically, for every 3db you boost on one ap, you have to reduce 1 db on the other, effectively getting one AP above 4watts. i think.

[biftek.]

You said they'll always be in sunlight right?
You should get solar panels to power them.
[/ecofriendly]

you should put some small heat sink on them IMO

[Exahertz]

a one watt amp? what is the gain of that antennae? with a 1 watt amp, a 6dbi antennae is the limit as 4 watts is the limit for omni directional 802.11 networks. now ptp networks have 3 to 1 exemption



so basically, for every 3db you boost on one ap, you have to reduce 1 db on the other, effectively getting one AP above 4watts. i think.

these antennas are spected out at 60 watts max. now at 60 watts i might have the FCC knocking on my door

1 watt should be more than enough to reach 3 miles. and the 1 watt bi-direction amps are less than $100. plus they are engineered to withstand outdoor conditions!

sounds perfect for my application

[the]

thats a little different, 60 watts into the antennae, isn't 60watts EIRP; effective isotropically radiated power. 1 watt into a 6db antennae is ~4 watts eirp. 100 milliwatts into a 17db antennae is ~5 watts EIRP, so you see antennae gain plays a large role, if you got 1 watt into say a 15 db antennae, your up around 30 watts EIRP, so you gotta choose your output to the antennae, and your antennae gain. now if you ask me what i would do (and have done many times) is leave the AP inside, run a cable up to the house with a 250 mw all weather bi-di amp mounted on the antennae pole, have a 12 db parabolic antennae with a bout a 30 degree beam width at both locations. then if i needed throughput with security, i;d get two cisco 1800 series and seup a vpn between the two, i;ve had 22 meg encrypted throughput on short runs with that very setup. HOWEVER, i'm kinda likin what i see that you've done so far, and i think it'll work great. and even though its illegal you can *probably* bend the rules a little bit on the 802.11 EIRP laws. im not telling you to, im just saying that i;ve seen it done before with no issues

so the question is, what db gain are these antenna's?

[computerking]

Are you kidding me !!! WOW with those huge antenna you can steal WIFI from 10KM away, COOOOOOL IDEA

Don't you think that cold air will make water inside the box and blow the router ?

[Exahertz]

thats a little different, 60 watts into the antennae, isn't 60watts EIRP; effective isotropically radiated power. 1 watt into a 6db antennae is ~4 watts eirp. 100 milliwatts into a 17db antennae is ~5 watts EIRP, so you see antennae gain plays a large role, if you got 1 watt into say a 15 db antennae, your up around 30 watts EIRP, so you gotta choose your output to the antennae, and your antennae gain. now if you ask me what i would do (and have done many times) is leave the AP inside, run a cable up to the house with a 250 mw all weather bi-di amp mounted on the antennae pole, have a 12 db parabolic antennae with a bout a 30 degree beam width at both locations. then if i needed throughput with security, i;d get two cisco 1800 series and seup a vpn between the two, i;ve had 22 meg encrypted throughput on short runs with that very setup. HOWEVER, i'm kinda likin what i see that you've done so far, and i think it'll work great. and even though its illegal you can *probably* bend the rules a little bit on the 802.11 EIRP laws. im not telling you to, im just saying that i;ve seen it done before with no issues

so the question is, what db gain are these antenna's?

24dbi gain
Focused at 8 degrees
Vertical polarization

Cool explanation too. From what I read these antennas are rated to handle no more than 60 watts to the feed element. From what I understand the feed element is AKA the radiation resistor. So any more than 60 watts and the feed element/radiation resistor gets too hot and fries

Are you kidding me !!! WOW with those huge antenna you can steal WIFI from 10KM away, COOOOOOL IDEA

Don't you think that cold air will make water inside the box and blow the router ?

Thanks, yea they do look pretty cool in person too. I was totally amazed with the quality of these antennas that cost only $50.
I've got a pigtail cable to connect from the N-type male to the MMCX on my Senao 2511 (prism 2.5 chipset) wifi card. I'm going to use that card and Netstumbler for alignment purposes. But I still can’t believe how many networks I can see.

From ground level using my 7dbi omni-direction antenna I can see about 10-15 routers. When I use the parabolic (and rotating it slowley in 360 degrees) I accumulate well over 100 routers! So the antenna works quite well!
However I’m sure the antenna can do better, the pigtail I’m using has 10 feet of RG174 coax which has some pretty high attenuation in it (at least 6-8 db lost just through the cable). I would have liked to have got a pigtail with some LMR coax which is almost the same size cable but half the attenuation.
The patch cable I’m using between the antennas and routers is RG214 and only 18 inches of it.

Oh and BTW, even though I have cracked a few WEP keys in the past (purely in my own lab setups)... I have no intention of haxing with this setup.

And as for the cold air/condensaton comment, I did mention some ware in this thread that I wanted to use a temperature switch so the fan is on during hot days and off during cold, rainy, foggy days. Plus someone had a pretty good idea of coating the board as well. But the heat from the router inside of the box should be enough to keep condensation to a minimum on cold days.

[the]

that's quite a bit of gain, if you put a 1 watt amp on those, you'll be at 251 watts EIRP, quite a load, and pretty dangerous. remeber you're working with microwave here. if you stick with just the WRT's output (28 mw last i remember) you'll be at 7 watts. that alone should be enough to get you that distance. IF any more power is needed, i;d suggest flashing those wrt's to ddwrt, that lets you select more output if you need it, with those antennae, and amp definitely isn't necessary.

[Exahertz]

If you need it to be fairly immune to water yet still breath I'd consider some form of conformal coating on the board.

How about this stuff?

TechSpray's
Fine-L-Kote SR
Silicone Conformal Coating Spray

Recommended for harsh environments, Fine-L-Kote™ SR has excellent moisture and fungus resistance and allows for vibration, movement and rapid changes in temperature. Contains Opti/Scan™ black light indicator for inspection purposes. Non-ozone depleting.

Product Information
MSDS Sheet

[computerking]

24dbi gain
Oh and BTW, even though I have cracked a few WEP keys in the past (purely in my own lab setups)... I have no intention of haxing with this setup.

OHHH yeah Are you kidding me You are building a WIFI City stealer lol ! MAN That is big ass station, Keep your self safe from FBI if they see that Antenna I don't believe you when you say you don't have intention to hax

I like it, Keep it going and show more updates

[ZOMGVTEK]

OHHH yeah Are you kidding me You are building a WIFI City stealer lol ! MAN That is big ass station, Keep your self safe from FBI if they see that Antenna I don't believe you when you say you don't have intention to hax

I like it, Keep it going and show more updates

Screwing with other peoples internet is not quite as fun as some may think it is. They allways have some crappy slow basic cable package or dsl, and like 1 computer on it. Nothing exciting is ever on those computers, and i hear its illegial.

[ARC1450]

Screwing with other peoples internet is not quite as fun as some may think it is. They allways have some crappy slow basic cable package or dsl, and like 1 computer on it. Nothing exciting is ever on those computers, and i hear its illegial.

Pffffft. . .

As if legality has ever stopped anyone before.

[computerking]

Pffffft. . .

As if legality has ever stopped anyone before.

LOL I don't mean that he will screw people, But maybe if he can get his hand on a 100GB LINE he will not use it ? hell no he will.

[Exahertz]

If you need it to be fairly immune to water yet still breath I'd consider some form of conformal coating on the board.

The boards now have a Conformal silicone Coating on them. and they look and still work good!

Thanks for the idea G H Z!

[Exahertz]

Update!

I coated the boards with a silicone conformal spray, and i cleaned them very through


I added some chipsinks to the broadcom chip, switch and a larger heatsink to the radio (if you look closly you can see the temperature switch mounted to the radio's heatsink) the fans come on when that heatsink hits 140F but im thinking of lowering that to 90-100F


And this is the final product


I have both stations wired and i am able to download on the web at 13mbps from over 1 mile away!

[moto211]

you might want to consider some sort of duct for the inside. the way it looks right now, i think the air will just come in and go right back out without circulating.

[Exahertz]

you might want to consider some sort of duct for the inside. the way it looks right now, i think the air will just come in and go right back out without circulating.

very good point!

i'll try to run a tube from the intake up to the top so as to try to draw hot air from the top down and out of the exhaust.

thanks

btw, everything has been working ROCK SOLID at 84mw output, even on a clear 80 degree day with the sun pounding down on the boxes (and in a heavy rain/wind storm) no problems to report.
i also ordered some new temp switches that are only 113F instead of 140F. that should help to keep things a little cooler inside.

13mbps download speeds well exceeds any expectations i had when starting this project, and is really freaking fast (by my standards)!

[Hazaro]

Yeah more airflow would be good, my router is in it's own special housing too

WRT54G with DD-WRT

[Exahertz]

I just took some pictures of both stations and here they are:

Station 1


Station 2


These picture are from yesterday, so both stations are finished, running and connected.

[Thrilla]

Use a bigger enclosure to cover the outside, leave some space between the router on the inside using bolts and washers. This way your box will never be direct sunlight, heat from the sun can escape, and it's waterproof so you can vent the router box some more.

[Exahertz]

^hmm...

maybe find something in aluminium so it would reflect a lot in infrared.

but i could just see something making a nest or hive up inside of there...

I was also thinking, it doesnt even have to cover all 5 sides, even a simple "U" shaped aluminium sheild covering only 3 sides would help against most of the sun if the boxes where turned in the right direction.

thats good and i like that idea! its cheap, easy and a very effective fix! thanks!

[Exahertz]

Just an update.

As of today I am completely impressed with the performance of these routers! They have withstood the high heat of direct sun in the hottest of summer and just kept on chuggin along. They have also withstood the outermost parts of a hurricane with 50mph gusts and heavy downpours without interruption. the link has never dropped below 10mbps, but is normally >20mbps!!!!!

Downtime has been minimal and their always easy to get back on-line with a simple power cycle (id say they need to be cycled once a month).

Now comes the test of winter! Ill report back with updates or season related issues as the months keep counting.

But so far the WRT54G is AWSOME OUTDOORS!!!!!!!!

[STEvil]

You guys should put up a how-to for guys like me who know nothing about configuring the router to do this..

I've been working on accumulating parts to do this for myself for a long time... but I cant configure the routers for crap lol.

[dinos22]

awesome job there

[s e r e n i t y]

really impressive stuff. would it be possible to add a whirly bird or something to it to keep temps down?