On Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 8:39 AM, Carl Turney <[email protected]> wrote: > Yes. Simple end-user connection to the net via a neighbour's WiFi. But > preferably using an external box that plugs into my Ethernet port. > Hopefully, it even has a detachable antenna -- so I can use a short coax > cable and maybe an outdoor antenna for added range. (See below.) > ... > A nearby neighbour has agreed to let me "mooch" off his home's WiFi > system. Will give me a password to his LAN in exchange for a share of > the subscription fee. > ... > If I had a bleeding-edge system, with WiFi built in, I wouldn't need any > help. Turn it on, it automatically detects all the local WiFi servers, > I choose which one, log on, and start Internetting. (That's Windows > Vista on a friend's laptop. Ubuntu on a WiFi-enabled system I haven't > experienced yet.)
OK, you want to become a simple client on someone else's WiFi network, That's pretty easy. But your first constraint -- that you want to have "fancy" antenna solutions, is confusing. You can get a simple USB WiFi adapter for very little money (the last one I got was $10), but it won't have the ability to boost the gain at all. You then say that laptop works fine. That suggests that the signal is currently strong enough to reach you ... unless the laptop only worked "near the window" and you can't move the desktop machine there. I've got an unused "range extender" down here, it worked well enough for an old home network (see http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/en/product/XH1735 for a current example) but they do slow the network down for everyone. Not a problem if you're only accessing the Internet, but a curse if someone is trying to talk to a local server over WiFi too. There are some other options for boosting the signals ... change the antenna on the neighbour's machine ... http://hacknmod.com/hack/dirt-simple-wi-fi-signal-antenna-booster-for-free/ http://www.instructables.com/id/WiFi-range-expander-on-wireless-repeater-Linksys-W/ -jim _______________________________________________ Linux-users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.canterbury.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/linux-users
