7mi WiFi connection

[redpoint5]

The apartment I'm at has included internet, and it's quite good compared to what my parents can get. They live 7 miles away as the crow flies.

What are my chances that I could get a decent connection 7 miles away to my parents house by mounting a directional antenna from the 3rd floor balcony of the apartment to my parents house on a hill?

What are my methods of determining if there is line of sight? I have a fairly powerful green laser. I've also got a telescope.

I'd be willing to climb one of the large doug fir trees and mount a directional antenna and router to it. Got any antenna recommendations? I've got a couple satellite dishes laying around.

Seems like a fun project anyhow.

EDIT 1:

Just found this website for determining line of sight:

https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-p...line-of-sight/

Here's the analysis based on the GPS coordinates I took from Google Maps:



The blue point is my apt, and the green point is my parent's house. This does not factor in that I'm 30ft up in the apartment, or that I would be mounting to a tall tree on the property. It seems my biggest priority is mounting as high as possible at the apartment.

Apparently there is a product from Ubiquiti Networks called the PowerBeam M5 AC that is rated to 25 km.

EDIT 2:

The elevation chart shows a ground level at the apartment of 70.4m. The first hill peaks at 84.75m. The tallest hill is at 88.27m. My parents at the ground are at 84.83m.

I figure the balcony is about 10m from the ground, which has me just 4m short of clearing the first hill. Perhaps I could get the antenna at my parents house 30m up a tree. It would be darn close to clearing that first hill (and all the rest of them).

EDIT 3:

Better website for determining line of sight:
https://airlink.ubnt.com/

[vskid3]

Could you mount the antenna on your end to a pole on the balcony, or do you have neighbors upstairs? With that hill so close to you, any gains you can make on your end would be worth several times the increase at your parent's.

What's on the tops of those hills? Trees and buildings blocking the view won't help. I doubt the 25km range of that antenna includes such obstacles.

[freebeard]

I wanted to help but you answered your own question.

Are those intervening hills barren dunes or are they populated with apartment buildings and trees?

[redpoint5]

I imagine the hills are farm fields, as I'm in Silverton and my parents are in Salem (on a farm). I've got a Wilco and Safeway between me and them looking out in their direction. I'll have to get a telescope out and see what is beyond all that.

I'll have to see what I can get away with in regards to mounting a 17" dish on a pole and hanging it off the balcony. I'm on the top level, but I'm sure the owners don't want ugly things extending out of their complex.

Seems this is unlikely to work, although it's right on the edge of practically impossible. Projects that are almost impossible are the most fun to work on.

[rmay635703]

Chances are ZERO

If you and they lived at the top of mountains yes

If you had a repeater at the top of their hill
Maybe

[redpoint5]

I found a better website:

https://airlink.ubnt.com

My immediate problem is the wall of trees obstructing my view of any hills. This website shows I'm either 3m short on the apartment end, or 13m short on my parents end.

I've communicated with FRS radios with someone in Silverton before. I had forgot to turn my radio off, and heard someone talking in my room. Found out they were in Silverton.

[Xist]

Put solar repeaters on the trees in the way?

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

Put solar repeaters on the trees in the way?

Reminds me of my idea of building a cellular network that used other people's phones as repeaters to reduce the number of required cell towers. Repeat through as many handsets as necessary to reach the nearest tower.

The tallest tree I can see is in the cemetery across the street. Looks to be about 200ft tall. A large dish and solar panel would be very conspicuous up there.

[Xist]

Paint them green? I have pointed out cell phone towers disguised as trees, cacti, and palms as I have driven with people. Either they insisted they were trees, cacti, or palms, or they said they did not see it, which is a bit weird, when I say "Hey! Look at that!"

They probably did not look up from their phone.

I imagine you think a tethered custom helium balloon designed to look like a flying saucer would also be conspicuous.

[freebeard]

Perhaps this will help?

https://slashdot.org/story/02/02/08/1912256/cringelys-bank-shot