Question : Extend wireless range between buildings

I need the easiest way to extend the range between my home and my WRT54 located in a detached studio. Distance between the home and the studio is only about 200' but inbetween is a garage with a metal roof.

I've already added Linksys's high gain antenna and get a very weak, intermitant signal.

Googling the subject only takes me to pages for repeaters, antenna boosters or other packaged products - i haven't found 'do-it-yourselfer' sites that talk about what can and can't be done in this regard.

It's not a heated garage or i would be tempted to buy a wireless AP for the studio and mount the router halfway between house and studio.

I'm thinking that if I could mount the router's antenna on the roof of the studio i would be very close to line of site to the house. It seems reasonable to expect that I could add a short cable (3-4 feet) that would let me mount the router on the ceiling or in the attic and drill thru the exterior wall so I could mount the anetenna on the outside.

On one hand, I'm primarily concerned with internet sharing of a DSL line so i don't need to optimize for G-grade speed. OTOH, media/video sharing between the 2 will probably be something i'd want sooner.

Answer : Extend wireless range between buildings

200ft is no problem but the metal roof probably is.
I would suggest a directional Yagi at both ends but the gain you need for 200ft can probably be achieved by just using slightly higher gain poles (as this is a point to point requirement directional signals aren't a problem) - the higher gain parabolics are really for longer distances and can work out expensive.
If you can detach the aerial on your devices then you can attach a cable to allow use of an external aerial.
I guess you are aware of the large signal loss that can occur with cable - low quality cable can be very bad.
There are several web sites that will give you the calculations for gain and loss - and given the regulations on radiated signal strength you should bear these in mind too.
When you do the calculations you will see what gain you need from your antenna's and you can choose accordingly - I have used D-Link antennas for a 2.5Km link which worked beautifully.
See http://www.radiolabs.com/stations/wifi_calc.html or http://huizen.deds.nl/~pa0hoo/helix_wifi/linkbudgetcalc/wlan_budgetcalc.html

I can't guarantee either site but they do give you some very good pointers