Extending wireless range

[Cliff Salisbury]

Last fall there was a thread here about extending a wireless signal. I searched and found the thread. Not being the greatess with electronics I have a question which I hope you can help me with.

My son has rented a apartment at college. The apartment complex has a wireless lounge for the students. They are also allowed to use it in their rooms, if they can get the signal. In my sons room, which is about as far away from the lounge as you can get, he can get a very weak signal. In his previous apartment I had him wired into cable with a router that had a wireless feature that allowed his roommate, in the same apartment, use the connection.

Does anyone have any experience with the antennas mentioned in the previous thread to increase the strength of the signal? How hard are they to hook up? My son is using my laptop until I can install a card in his desktop computer so that he can receive wireless.

We are not trying to do anything illegal. The apartment manager is the one that suggested trying this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tom Woolford]

This should do the trick

http://cgi.ebay.com/802-11b-g-2-4GH...ryZ61816QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

You can make an antenna out of a coke can. google it up.

 

[Thomas N. Morgan]

I am working on this problem now for one of our sons. A neighbor has offered to let him receive her wireless signal.

In his case, it is not appropriate or fitting for him to think his neighbor should increase (boost) the signal she is transmitting. And in your case, the college probably would not allow or be interested in installing a device to increase the strength of their signal.

Both my son and your son get a weak signal. What is needed and is appropriate under the circumstances is a device that captures more of the signal and concentrates in one spot. Parabolic reflectors do this. Maybe the "cantenna" mentioned by Terrell Shields does that, too.

In wikiHOW there is a piece called "How to Build a Low Cost Wifi Antenna". Take a look at that and see if that may be a good solution for him. The essential element needed, in addition to a reflector, is a USB Wireless LAN adapter, or "dongle". Also needed will be an appropriate length of shielded cable.

There may be other ideas out there.

 

[deturner]

Just an FYI:

I have a large brick house and my internet service enters on one end where I have the main router located. The other end of the house recieved very little signal. What I did was install a wireless access point/repeater toward the end of the house with the weak signal and now I can get connected even in my driveway (currently connected there now)

DaveT in NC

 

[Dale Smalley]

Had the same problem in my house. I got a couple of super antenas made by Hawking Technology. Don't rember where I got them but they look like big tonge depressers.