wifi booster

[tom41]

is there any way to bring a wifi signal in stronger to a laptop? In some campgrounds the signal is so weak if I'm at the other end ofcampground. It will connect but will be very slow as low 1 mbp , I ask a guy at office depot if there was any type of antenna and he said no there wasnt. But i have seen different homemade antenna's on the web. If anyone could give me any info on this i would appreaciate it. thanks

[MikeM]

quote:Originally posted by tom41

But i have seen different homemade antenna's on the web. If anyone could give me any info on this i would appreaciate it. thanks

Tom - Don't know if you've tried it yet, but Google "wifi antennas" and I think you'll find more than enough info. It is very possible to build your own as well as relatively inexpensive to buy a good one. The guy at the campground obviously doesn't have a clue....

Mike
Forgot to mention, a lot also depends on the card or system you're using to connect. Some have no provision for an external antenna and might not be workable.

[sailer]

try instead the air cards from verzion or cingular

[Dustytuu]

A year ago we tried to get somekind of Wi-Fi antenna. We tried Radio shack. They sold us some kind of expensive thing and we found it was not what we needed. Took it back. Talked to another person at another store and they said there was nothing they knew of that would do this. There could be something out there that we don't know about.

We are having better luck with an air card and router.

[richfaa]

Check this site out for WiFi antenna's and other goodies.

https://3gstore.com/

[firetrucker]

Tom, there are a couple of relatively simple ways to increase the signal strength. One is to get an external, USB notebook adapter that you can attach to the computer with a USB cable. This will let you move it around to get a better signal.

Another way would be to get a wireless bridge that would allow you to attach an external antenna.

Both of those approaches are pretty straightforward.

If you want to play, then you might try getting the external USB adapter and mounting it at the focus of a Direct or Dish reflector. That's about guaranteed to get you a strong signal and a lot of questions from your neighbors. I think there was a thread here on the MOC about that in the last few months; I don't have the particulars, though.

Bob

[ARJ]

If you feel like playing around-try these.

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects...f%20Successful

http://wireless.gumph.org/

http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/

[gojodo]

I have not tried it yet but I plan on using the smoothtalker antenna I have for my cell phone with my Verizon PC card. The PC card fortunatley uses the same antenna cable as did my phone. John

[tom41]

thanks everyone for the positive feedback. I may play around with a discarded dish. sounds like fun!

[ARJ]

Here is something you may consider. As far as I can determine, turning off your internal wireless card and using a pcmcia or usb adapter (w/antenna) gives you more range than the built in. But-the site from NZ has many ideas that will provide more gain than off the shelf stuff!

http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/...=60&ProdID=280

[jpbcny]

Here's a URL for a site: Air802

That has a solution for just about any connectivity problem.

The products look good, and seem reasonably priced.

JP

[Rocky2]

We purchased a Hawking Technology Hi-Gain Mini USB - Wireless-G Adapter model #HWU54DM. Really works great.

It is a very small antenna that plugs in to a USB port and it also has a little plug in base so you can place it in the best spot to get the signal.

Laura & Joe