Wifi Antenna

[magixx]

EDIT:
I purchased a new WiFi antenna but I am having trouble finding a cable/identifying the connector type. I bought NETGEAR 18dBi Outdoor Directional Antenna ANT24D18 - eBay (item 320367028047 end time Jun-01-09 08:03:37 PDT) on eBay which is reasonably priced but expensive shipping. Now the manual says the connector is a reverse type N but i did not know that was possible, and if it is is it female or male reverse type N. If a proper adapter is too hard to find I may consider desoldering the old tip and soldering a new one in place. So what kind of connector is this?

[JD]

Don't think these would work with a laptop, well without modding. It should be fine with a desktop card though and if your router has removable antennas.

Just make sure it's the same connection and it should be fine. I'm fairly sure you'll be wanting RP-SMA, unless you have some odd hardware. Also if you don't need to place the antenna outdoor, no point in buying an outdoor one.

I have one of these: WIFI WI-FI 9DB BOOSTER SMA WIRELESS LAN LONG ANTENNA - eBay (item 200336111886 end time May-03-09 18:30:00 PDT) on my router. Seemed to help with signal strength.

[Squeetard]

Best thing you can do is install tomato or dd-wrt firmware on your router and boost the signal strength. They default at 70mw. I've set mine at 200mw and been running it for 2 years now.

[3 of 7]

Don't forget router placement makes a big difference. I found mine works best when it's at the same level as the computers that are receiving the signal. For years I kept it on top of a high cupboard and lowering it completely solved my signal problems.

[BrainEater]

heh....

That 18dbi antenna is waaaaaaay overkill...it's designed for ptp wireless links with ranges in the kilometers....

I run a 14dbi 'directional waveguide antenna' for certain applications :

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I can pick up signals from your average "wrt" type wifi router from 10 Km away.



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Most high performance antennae use 'type-N' connectors......you'll need adapters to get to rp-sma........

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In your case , I'd suggest something like this :

http://www.smc.com/files/AJ/ds_HMANT_6.pdf

It's a 6dbi antenna , native rp-sma connector , and it's nice and small.

[magixx]

Thanks for the information, I will look into the dd-wrt firmware but I also decided to purchase the antenna and see how much of an improvement it will make. I also have another question, how much dbi/signal strength loss is there per foot/meter of cable or is there none? If the former is true would a wireless bridge be advisible so that signal loss is minimized?

[grinder]

depends greatly on the cable magixx.. you could see loss of .2db per meter ~ .9db per meter of loss depending on how well it's insulated. And the heavy shielded cables are crazy expensive.

A bridge can extend your wireless network but it will add another "hop" to the transmitted data. If a low ping is important to your network i would not advise it... ramping up the transmit power or changing antennas would be a better option.

With all this talk about antennas, antenna extension cables, and wifi-bridges... the cost of all theses is quite cheap compared to the cost of some more CAT5 cable. Can the wifi-base station be relocated closer to your computer/laptop?

Further to this, we have not yet discussed sources of interference. Do you run cordless phones in the 2.4 GHz band in this same area? Does a microwave oven exist between the source (base station) and target (computer/laptop)?

[death_hawk]

Gateways aren't usually the issue with low powered transmissions.

I bought one of these: DealExtreme: $33.50 Afoundry High Powered 600mW 27dBm 802.11b/g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Wireless Network Dongle w/ Magnetic Mount
Shockingly... it's quite decent.
I see new networks that I've never seen before, and single barred are now 5.

[magixx]

Updated topic.
I am having trouble finding a cable/identifying the connector type. The manual says reverse type N but I did not know that was possible and if it is, is it female or male reverse type n. If an adapter is too hard to find I may consider desoldering the old tip and soldering a new one in place. So what kind of connector is this?

[BrainEater]

Thats a 50 ohm , reverse polarity , female type n connector.

They are pretty much the most common type of wifi connector.You can find adapters for it an almost any store that sells wifi stuff.