Not just for wardriving, I promise.

January 31, 2008 7:47 AM

Should I buy a quicky?

There's one going for $139 buy now on ebay and I'm wondering if any mac laptop users feel it's worth it for boosting wireless reception? also how is the battery drain factor?

posted by By The Grace of God to technology (5 comments total)

I have no experience with this particular booster antenna, but just a quick note on one of its claims:

That means you can not only see more wireless networks, but when you decide to connect, you'll also get high speeds that make wireless networking as solid as being connected using a network cable.

By FCC mandate, probably because of transmitter design and crosstalk, the more spectrum you need simultaneously, the lower the power you're allowed to transmit it at. Essentially, higher bandwidth gets less EIRP allowance.

If I recall correctly, you should expect 20mW at 54Mbps (802.11a), 40mW to be the maximum you can find at 36Mbps (802.11g), 50mW at 24Mbps (also 802.11g), 100mW at 11Mbps (802.11b). Essentially, the higher the power, the slower the expected connection.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:56 AM on January 31

The FCC wouldn't have jurisdiction in this case, however. Even so, if you were using it for broadband access points you'd likely not get more than 10Mbps max and, in that light, 100mw compared to the mac's 40 seems a rather large improvement. (Have never used one of these particular units)
posted by IronLizard at 8:27 AM on January 31

But can it do packet injection ;)
posted by ReiToei at 9:19 AM on January 31

This seems a little too much like those stickers that claim to improve your cellphone reception. It claims that it's boosting your signal just by being next to the internal antenna, or is there some physical connection? Certainly induction is real, but I do wonder about exactly how much improvement you would get from this. You may need real first-person accounts from someone not interested in selling it.
posted by odinsdream at 9:30 AM on January 31

I think this is a specialized enough device that you're unlikely to find many owners here. I'd look for user reviews elsewhere (which in that link don't seem very positive).
posted by mumkin at 10:12 AM on January 31