Any way to signal boost an outside wifi signal

[keith007]

Im living overseas for a few months and I want to use the local wifi provider...I can use it many places in the city but the signal seems to almost get into the place Im staying.
If I stick my computer out the window I can get 1 bar in windows.
If I close the window sometimes I get a signal.
If I close the screen I get absolutely none.

Is there anyway I can put an antenna out the window and bring the signal to my notebook?


Its starting to get cold here ;)

Much thanks for any advice,

Keith

[tokenuser]

Im living overseas for a few months and I want to use the local wifi provider...I can use it many places in the city but the signal seems to almost get into the place Im staying.
If I stick my computer out the window I can get 1 bar in windows.
If I close the window sometimes I get a signal.
If I close the screen I get absolutely none.

Is there anyway I can put an antenna out the window and bring the signal to my notebook?


Its starting to get cold here ;)

Much thanks for any advice,

KeithAre you using the internal Wifi on your laptop, a Wifi card, or a USB Wifi Dongle?

Internal Wifi is never particularly strong (as discovered). No easy way to add an external antennae to them.
There are Wifi cards that allow you to plug in an external antennae, but as a general rule, they have much better signal pickup than the internal models (esp if you can "move" the antennae).
An option that is often overlooked though is a USB Wifi dongle. With a USB extension cable, these need not be placed with the laptop, but could be placed somewhere where the signal is best. You are resticted to the length of the USB extension cable though. Easy option.

[keith007]

internal....ya maybe I should invest in an external
with antenna i can stick outside my window

[keith007]

any idea how much stronger an average pcmcia wifi card is compared to an internal intel chip?

Thanks ;)

[chaos0reo]

There is always the option of a cantenna. Tho it does require you to drill a hole into The monitor bazel of your laptop. Basically your Laptop antenna is two small wires wrapped around each other on the outer side of your Laptop. A cantenna basically taps into those wires and amplifies the signal strength. If you dont feel like drilling a hole in your laptop an external card is an option. If the card is still not strong enough you can boost the signal using a method similar to the cantenna. I believe there was an episode of Systm that did that. (i think episode 16)

[md2389]

I would advise against the home-brew solution for this, unless you know how to properly measure out the right length for antenna. (Yes, that means you have to do some math. :) ) Its really more of a hassle than its worth, especially since doing what's mentioned in the previous post would most definitely void whatever warranty you have. Just use a decent PCMCIA based solution, or a USB adapter with an extension cable.