>>> That's a good idea, but I'm actually able to pick up the difficult >>> AP's with the same dongle when its normal omnidirectional antenna is >>> attached instead of the strong directional one. Could a failing >>> antenna exhibit this behavior? >> >> I'm extremely sceptical of these cheap external aerials. > > The one to which the OP provided a link isn't that cheap ($50) > and gets universally excellent reviews. My testing indicates > that it does indeed provide something on the order of the > claimed 15dBi gain. It's performance is very close to that of a > well-built double-biquad reflector: both show 10-12dB increases > over a stock 3dB "whip" when I tested them with various bits of > HW (a USB WiFi dongle, two different brands of WAP). > > That said, the cable on the Hawking unit is pretty flimsy -- > and hence probably is rather vulnerable to both electrical > noise or physical abuse. It probably wouldn't take much of a > pinch or kink to cause problems.
That could definitely be the case. This thing has traveled. - Grant
