High Gain Wireless Adaptor.
 

When I was on holiday and in a guest house, I sometimes found that I
could access the Internet on my laptop in the bedroom. I seemed to be
accessing someone's wireless router but the signal was extremely weak.

Is it possible to buy a wireless adaptor, either PCMCIA or USB which
will enhance the signal or an adaptor with an external antenna socket?

Any ideas much appreciated.

--
Alasdair.

Re: High Gain Wireless Adaptor.
 

Alasdair wrote:
> When I was on holiday and in a guest house, I sometimes found that I
> could access the Internet on my laptop in the bedroom. I seemed to be
> accessing someone's wireless router but the signal was extremely weak.
>
> Is it possible to buy a wireless adaptor, either PCMCIA or USB which
> will enhance the signal or an adaptor with an external antenna socket?
>
> Any ideas much appreciated.
>
> --
> Alasdair.

I definitely remember reading a review for a "high-gain" PCMCIA Wi-fi
card. Frustrating, I can't remember the name of it..

I don't think they even used the words "high-gain". I just know it was
in Pc Pro magazine... the reviewer said it made a big difference to
weak network signals.

Obviously you'll pay a premium over a standard card...

Re: High Gain Wireless Adaptor.
 

Alasdair wrote:

> When I was on holiday and in a guest house, I sometimes found that I
> could access the Internet on my laptop in the bedroom. I seemed to be
> accessing someone's wireless router but the signal was extremely weak.
>
> Is it possible to buy a wireless adaptor, either PCMCIA or USB which
> will enhance the signal or an adaptor with an external antenna socket?
>
> Any ideas much appreciated.
>

Many of the older cards had external antenna jacks. Sadly most of the new
ones don't. I've seen several older cards sold for more than what you would
pay for a new... just because of the antenna jack.

If you do get a card with a jack... you could make, or buy either an
omni-directional antenna, or a directional one.
--

Crunch
-----------------

Re: High Gain Wireless Adaptor.
 

Alasdair wrote:
> When I was on holiday and in a guest house, I sometimes found that I
> could access the Internet on my laptop in the bedroom. I seemed to be
> accessing someone's wireless router but the signal was extremely weak.

Alasdair,

Unless the router or access point is public by the guest house, be
careful accessing other networks. The person running the open network
access may not like unauthorized access.

Bud Stein

Re: High Gain Wireless Adaptor.
 

On Wed, 05 Apr 2006 05:27:50 -0500, Bud Stein <bud.stein@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Unless the router or access point is public by the guest house, be
>careful accessing other networks. The person running the open network
>access may not like unauthorized access.

How can I find out who's running the open network so that I can ask
permission and pay any fees if requested?

Re: High Gain Wireless Adaptor.
 

Alasdair wrote:
> On Wed, 05 Apr 2006 05:27:50 -0500, Bud Stein <bud.stein@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Unless the router or access point is public by the guest house, be
>> careful accessing other networks. The person running the open network
>> access may not like unauthorized access.
>
> How can I find out who's running the open network so that I can ask
> permission and pay any fees if requested?

Alasdair,

You might ask the owner of the guest house.

Unfortunately many people leave their wireless networks open. In doing
so, they are liable for the traffic over the network.

Anyone can access the network and use it for any kind of activity.
Sometimes this activity is not legal.

People often read their email and use private logins plus passwords over
these open networks. Anyone with the right software or hardware can
monitor all the traffic over the network meaning the information is
compromised.

Be careful,
Bud Stein