Wifi

October 1, 2005 4:45 PM

How can I increase the sensitivity of a laptop Wifi card to enable it to better pick up a signal from a distant router? Boosting the router signal is not an option. I am looking for DIY hacks or, failing that, product recommendations.
posted by Krrrlson to Technology (9 answers total)

The only thing you can do is get a better antenna; how you go about doing that depends on what your card is (or if the WiFi is built into your laptop). And remember -- there has to be a sufficiently-sensitive antenna at both ends of the connection -- both the laptop card and the router -- or else you're only solving half the problem.
posted by delfuego at 6:20 PM on October 1, 2005

Best answer: Do you mean like this?
posted by plinth at 6:22 PM on October 1, 2005

Response by poster: I believe it's a Dell 1350 external wireless card, and it does not have an antenna jack.
posted by Krrrlson at 6:27 PM on October 1, 2005

Best answer: Boosting the router signal is not an option.

Sounds like someone's leeching bandwidth.

Buy or make a YAGI directional antenna. Here are some good instructions for the DIYer.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:46 PM on October 1, 2005

Best answer: Without an external antenna jack/plug/hole and it being a pcmcia, you might be out of luck. (for the yagi, or any of the antenna you can buy, you need a way to plug it into the card.)

FWIW, My old orinoco 802.11b card can barely grab a signal 2 rooms away from my router, but my motorola USB 802.11g can pull in signals from all over the freaking neighborhood, and because it is USB I can put it 5 or 6ft from my computer to get the best signal. It was like $40, I think. (it's not one of those dongles, it is an actual box, about 3" by 5" x 1" and the antenna is inside.) For a while I had the dlink antenna that is hollow in the middle when it unfolds. That thing was super strong but caused some weird driver issues on my machine. You could try one (or several) from Office Depot and take it back if it doesn't work to your liking. They didn't even ask me one question when I brought mine back.
posted by shoepal at 7:40 PM on October 1, 2005

Buy something along the lines of a 200mW Engenius WiFi card. Out of the box it will a lot more transmit capability and a much stronger receive sensitivity than a standard card, and will also have antenna jacks if you want to attach a high-gain antenna.
posted by I Love Tacos at 7:46 PM on October 1, 2005

Sounds like someone's leeching bandwidth.

Buy or make a YAGI directional antenna. Here are some good instructions for the DIYer.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:46 PM PST on October 1 [X][!]

Just a note -- just because you can't boost the router's signal doesn't mean you're leeching bandwidth, and this is a dumb thing to say. At school and in my office I have no control over the router location or the reception I get. I'm not leeching bandwidth, I'm just not at home.
posted by trey at 10:01 AM on October 2, 2005

Put a piece of aluminum foil or sheet metal behind the router for the signal to reflect from; curve it a little into a U shape for better directionality. This assumes the router doesn't need to transmit in the opposite direction.
posted by neuron at 12:37 PM on October 2, 2005

Can the solution be standalone? That is, a wireless bridge may work as it is or you could beef up it's antenna if need be. Plug it in, dial it into the parent signal, and you have your own pool of wifi goodness.

If something like this bad boy: Linksys WSB24, doesn't do it for you I believe that some of the rom images for the WRT54G can accomplish this.
posted by deanj at 5:58 PM on October 2, 2005