Network Management Strategies for the CIO
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Satellite Internet products like Hughes Network Systems DIRECWAY and StarBand are readily available from electronics stores and suppliers listed on these vendor's Web sites. You will need to subscribe to the Satellite Internet service and purchase hardware, which includes a modem. You can install the hardware yourself or have an installer do it for you. You must have a place to mount the antenna that provides an unobstructed view of the southern sky.
Satellite Internet services are designed to allow Internet connection sharing by multiple users in the same building. Although not specifically intended for sharing between users in separate buildings, there is no technical reason you can't do that IF both buildings can be connected to the same Ethernet LAN. Start by putting a wireless router on the Ethernet LAN, connecting the "WAN" port to the Satellite modem.
Next, connect PCs in both buildings to the "LAN" side of the wireless router. Most wireless routers have four Ethernet LAN ports, letting you connect a nearby PC to the router with a Cat5 Ethernet patch cable. Alternatively, you can connect a PC within 300 feet using an 802.11 adapter that's compatible with your router.
Connecting a PC that is 2000 feet away over wireless requires more sophisticated hardware, like point-to-point wireless bridges with external antennas. To learn more, read my past answers regarding wireless bridging and connecting two buildings with wireless. You may find that two entry-level Satellite Internet accounts are less expensive than wireless-bridging two buildings that are 2000 feet apart.
This was first published in February 2004
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