What is the best long range wireless router, airport extreme or time capsule? Or?

Wireless networks of the home use variety cannot get the range you are asking for. The Extreme and Time Capsule have the same transmitted power. The better approach wouuld be to run cabling from the base to the distributed location 350-400 feet away. That is pretty far to reach with a normal wireless transmitter.

The issue you are really facing is the long distance (at the WiFi frequencies) you have to travel. The Extreme has a radiated power of 23 dBm, nominal, which can reach 50-150 feet depending on you you are talking to...and that is measured in a closed test chamber at ideal air temperature and humidity, no obstructions. In the real world that signal will be attenuated significantly just by the air alone, assuming completely obstacle free path, and subject to interference from other sources in the area, such as cell phones and cordless phones, and microwave ovens.

The AirPort units have enclosed antennas that cannot be connected with an external gain antenna. So you are stuck with what is in the box.

Other products, commercial, do use external antennas so you may want to do some research in that area.

Keep in mind that the 802.11n protocol uses two frequency bands, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Signal attenuation increases rapidly as a function of frequency. You will get much less distance if you use the 5 GHz band, so it would be best to restrict operation to 2.4 GHz.

Now, another aspect, at 2.4 GHz you are in the Ultra High Frequency portion of the spectrum...exposure to radio frequency energy at high power should not be considered a safe or desirable thing in the UHF range. Most communication specialialists try to minimize exposure at these frequencies. The reason for saying this is you will need significantly greater radiated power than the Extreme can deliver to reach 400 feet. You might want to do some searches on health effects of the RF energy you will be transmitting.

So, bottom-line, I have difficulty encouraging using wireless tranmission at the WiFi frequencies for the distance you need.

That is an interesting thing to look into considering the stated range. Keep in mind, though, they say a/b/g but not n so that is a significant reduction in speed...for streaming video the question becomes, is that fast enough?

I am not sure and have not looked into that aspect.

And the one antenna they show is focused so that is a plus for collateral exposure and signal loss.

Another thing to consider is AC line carriers...there are units you can buy that will put an ethernet signal over the house wiring...now the question is will it work with the distance you want and is the power line well enough contained to work?

This is getting to be a serious set of questions that need consideration but should be solvable with the right input.

Don't know anything about the product but the reviews look good, and sounds like it would do what you want.

That is great performance, as long as it works, stay with it. Can't argue with success 🙂

Sounds like you've got it wired (pun intended). Just in case your situation changes, I've had great success with the Bear Extender - I can get a 60% signal on a good day from a buisiness about 375 feet away in a somewhat rural area.

http://www.bearextender.com/

If you have direct line of sight, you could give this a try : http://www.innovativedevice.com/pages/YagiBrassUsbpage.htm (also on eBay: http://stores.ebay.com/InnovativeDevice).

Think of it as a USB wireless card, with an extremely long cable, and a crazy external anntenna. Mount the antenna on the roof of your "client" trailer, run the cable inside, connect it to your computer. Keep your Time Capsule (or any other router) in your "server" trailer (the one with the power) and point the antenna to it. You'll then be able to connect wirelessly using this.

I've seen this working, and to be honest, I couldn't beleive it.Worth a try.