Rich, there is also another trick you can do. There are several "travel routers" which are sold more for the road warrior type, these devices are usually either battery powered or USB powered. They can function as a router, access point or a end point. You can connect them to your laptop using a Ethernet cable, and you place them somewhere in the room where the communicatios are better, they have a place for a USB device like a WiFi radio or a cellular data radio. If you plug a WiFi device (the Alfa recom- mended above is a good one) you now have your own mini-lan and the built in WiFi radio in the mini-router can be set up to connect to the AP in the facility. I carry one of those too. Sometimes I put it down near the doorway in the hotel room and then link to the hotel network that way. I have picked them up at Fry's for just over $30.00.
Also these devices have more antenna then the USB stick radios do so there is more aperture to see the AP. This is the one I carry with me, it is more expensive due to the internal battery, but this will be a starting point if you want to look at this idea. http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-4506-Wireless-N-Travel-Router/dp/B003DNYW0U The USB port can either be used for a cellular radio or a USB Wifi radio. On Sat, Dec 6, 2014 at 7:40 AM, Chuck Hast <[email protected]> wrote: > I have a 2 meter USB extension cable, it comes in very handy for that sort > of thing, putting a USB WiFi radio in a location where it can hear the AP. > I carry one around as part of my away kit. Sometimes the place where you > set your computer is not in best of coverage, but you move the thing > around > a bit and you find a hot spot, but it is not where you can set your > computer. > > I usually end up draping the thing over a lamp shade. Remember the nulls > and reinforcements come every 1/4 of a wave length, 2.4Ghz is 12.5cm and > 1/4 of that is going to be 3.125cm so if you move the antenna just a wee > bit at > this frequency it will move in and out of good spots quite rapidly. At > 5Ghz it > will be half of that. So you do not need to move things around much once > you get into better signal levels, there are other issues too, but it > looks like > there has been a lot of data provided for you to start with. > > > On Sat, Dec 6, 2014 at 6:02 AM, Rich Shepard <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> On Sat, 6 Dec 2014, elcaseti . wrote: >> >> > To increase your wifi range by quite a bit, I'd suggest using an ALFA >> usb >> > wifi device. I've had very good luck with them on GNU/Linux distros & >> they >> > will accept an external antenna. >> >> Elcaset, >> >> Thank you. I'll look into this. >> >> Rich >> _______________________________________________ >> PLUG mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug >> > > > > -- > > Chuck Hast -- KP4DJT -- > Glass, five thousand years of history and getting better. > The only container material that the USDA gives blanket approval on. > > > -- Chuck Hast -- KP4DJT -- Glass, five thousand years of history and getting better. The only container material that the USDA gives blanket approval on. _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
