Extending WLAN coverage via utility pipes

In this paper, we propose an inexpensive solution to the extension of wireless local area networks (WLAN) coverage. Our work shows that one can use antennas connected to the utility pipes (e.g., natural gas pipes, drinking water pipes, etc.) to extend the coverage of WLAN. Furthermore, this approach eliminates handovers from high to low data rate networks; e.g., handovers that occur from WLAN to a general packet radio service (GPRS) network. Therefore, the proposed approach avoids the drastic drop in the data rate when handovers occur from high to low data rate wireless networks. We also develop an analytical framework to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach.