Wireless network between buildings

The antenna type you're probably looking for are called yagi antennas; directional antennas to help focus your signal. They can be a pain to aim sometimes though.

Make sure you have proper grounding or you're going to have a nice and expensive lightning rod.

There are alot of hacks online that deal with sending wireless internet across long distances. Some of them are even simple and affordable, but I dont know how reliable.

By 'cant use wires' I assume that you cant run wire from building to building.

I would recommend obtaining internet service for both locations and setup a VPN/VLAN-type connection. My company manages a few setups like this and they all work perfectly, like being on a LAN.

There is a free piece of software that will accomplish this, although I would hesitate to use it permanently. Its called Hamachi and is here: https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/vpn.asp?lang=en

I recommend giving serious thought to getting a consultant for this. A few factors that come to mind in choosing the right wireless solution:

• Line of Sight: Some frequencies go through things like trees better than others if the wave is longer.
• FCC Licensing Concerns (USA): You need a approval to use certain frequencies, if you want a tower you might need permission from the local government as well. If it is not licensed, someone else could start using your frequency as well.
• Cost: The equipment required to chose the right solution is often expensive, which is why a consultant might be good.
• Existing Wireless Noise: If you live in an area with potential noise on that frequency, you might not get good quality.

Unless this is a really small shop, the cost of consultant will probably be worth the risk of a wrong decision when you are talking the price of good wireless networking equipment. Wireless networking is a pretty complex topic, at least, seems that way to me.