Yes, I may actually be able to do this without any bought materials, I know I have some spare wireless routers, and in the barn he has two of those dishes, wood, sheet metal and such. I'll just do my research before next time I go down there. I've setup plenty of wireless networks where there was no server, just a switch. But this might be a little different. It would go
Modem->Wireless router -> Dish -> Dish ->wireless router(and possibly a switch)->Cat5 cables -> computers.
I havent done that before, but i think if i give the wireless routers static IP adresses it should work fine. I'll have to read up on wireless some more to figure out all the pitfalls. I know you need a static IP to connect a switch to another switch, but I've never done that with a wireless connection in the middle.
Your wireless routers have to support their versions of WDS, bridging, repeatig, whatever to communicate. If they do, it would be best of they were both the same model for compatibility. Some configurations will drop the speed in half. Since it appears you are going all wired inside, speed won't matter because your internet speed won't exceed your wireless speed.
Your best bet is to look at the routers to see which ones support the same third-party firmware, such as DD-WRT. DD-WRT has a compatibility search **broken link removed**.
To hook up the switch to your router, just use a crossover cable from the router LAN port to one of the switch's ports. It doesn't have to be a managed switch -- a dummy switch will work just fine. Some newer switches support
auto-mdix in which is senses it's a switch and crosses internally for you -- a straight through patch cable will work just fine -- no crossover needed.
If you are going the sat dish route, engadget has a good write up
here to make a biquad dish antenna. Your measurements when you are making the antenna have to be near exact to get in the 2.4 GHz range and for reliability. Search youtube for
AmateurLogic.TV and you will find some good videos by them on making your own antennas (episode 3 and 4 are probably what you are looking for). Those two episodes explain a lot of the principles. Also youtube has some good videos on making the dish antenna.
You can get some connectors from
**broken link removed**. I don't know the quality or the ohms rating, but for cheap crap it is a good site. It takes about 2-3 weeks to get it from China.
Whatever you decide to do, you might post back some pictures and info of your experiences. I am interested to see how it turns out and may help others down the line with similar situations. Best of luck.