Wireless sharing question...

I have always found this forum an informative and helpful place to seek info and oppinion, so here goes...

Two friends are living on the same street, three houses apart and across the street. Overall distance, about 400'.

The first one has a wireless router and cable broadband.

The second has a desktop computer with a PCI wireless card and a 5" screw-on swivel antenna. They have gotten permission to 'piggy-back' on the first's connection. Both have 802.11/g hardware. Using the existing antennas, little to no signal makes it to the second's house.

I have seen two types of directional, external antenna that I want to try and use:

One a flat panel with 18dbi gain;

The other looks like a parabolic dish made of mesh at 24dbi.

Goal: To ecconomically connect to the internet from second users house via wifi.

My questions:

1) Has anyone worked with any types of external antenna, and just how effective and efficient are they? What have you had the best results with?

2) Would I be able to get away with installing only one antenna, or would I need to put them on both the router and the receiving computer?

Thanks in advance for your assistance with this...

jeradsyn

Basically your best chance will be two of the parabolic, as in effect you'll be setting up a microwave link, with pretty much no coverage except along the axis of the transmitting antenna. Results always depends on the absorption of what the signal has to get through on the way, walls etc, even moisture in the air.

According to suggested figures here:

http://freenet-antennas.com/PHP-Nuke...=article&sid=6

for line-of-site up to 1km on 802.11g, allow 24dBi of total gain, so you may be able to do it with a standard antenna on the receive end.