Wifi boost question

[Fokkerwokker]

Anyone any experience of using an external aerial to boost a wifi signal into a Macbook when I am using it at extreme range?

if it works any makes the cognoscenti care to suggest?

Many ta's

[TimS]

Try these people ....

http://www.cellantenna.co.uk/aerials/yagi.htm

.... I believe the CA-P2000 at the bottom of the page will meet your requirements.

Brendan on their help desk is remarkably helpful (01923 606612)

[The Flying Pram]

Those aerials are for mobile phone use, not WiFi. Try this US site "Cantenna" (http://www.cantenna.com/)

[Lost_luggage34]

They also cover wireless standards 802.11 b and g.

[The Flying Pram]

My apologies for missing that. However they have an "N" connection for use with external equipment, and could not be easily connected to a laptop where the wireless adaptor is "built in". The Cantenna can be had with either a PCI card, or USB adaptor - either of which could be used instead of the built in card.

[TimS]

I claim no special expertise in this area, but as Mr luggage points out, they do cover the wifi frequencies with that particular aerial.

They do a neat little universal velcro attachment to the receiver which should work with an inbuilt wifi aerial or wifi dongle.

I have just obtained the same unit for use with 3 Telecom as a 3G booster and so far looks promising.

Again I recommend speaking with Brendan, who seems to know his stuff and is extremely helpful without being sales pushy (they also offer to take it back at no cost other than the lost shipping)

[Octane]

How far is 'extreme range'? Do you want to improve a poor signal or pickup a signal your gear cannot detect?
My solution was to buy an Engenius hi powered usb wifi adapter, comes with antenna. Power output is 200mW compared to 30 mW for most adapters. Cost was $90 in Singapore (30quid?). Gives vastly improved signal strength.

cheers

Octane

[Fokkerwokker]

Thanks for the inputs.

I am basically trying to boost a very low signal.

I will research your suggestions and see which looks to be the best option.

Brgds

FW

[Octane]

Hi FokkerW,

In my experience the limiting factor in WiFi connections is the transmit power of the wifi adapter. Often its possible to receive a reasonable signal from an access point quite a distance away (I can detect an AP 5 km away using NetStumbler) but the AP won't connect with the weaker signal generated by your adapter. Hence why I bought a higher power output adapter...

Cheers

Octane

[Octane]

Forgot to mention that NetStumbler is a useful tool for optimizing your network connection for max signal strength. i.e. rearranging antenna alignments, AP position etc while monitoring signal strength. Also I found quite a performance variation amongst various usb wifi adapters. Might be worth borrowing one or two and test them out with your network. But at the end of the day it's the mW output that is the key. Bit like the old 'there's no substitute for cubic inches' cliche....

[Keef]

What you can buy, but I've never tried, is a "wireless repeater". It sits midway between your WiFi hub and your PC, and forwards stuff between them.

I would expect speed to suffer a bit, and I don't know how successful they are. The application where I was planning to use one was resolved by a very long Cat 5 cable with a separate WAP at the end of it.

[WALSue]

My flat is a bit of a faraday cage so I've got a D-Link ANT24-0801 plugged in to my Wireless router. They increase the wireless range quite a bit