Help picking up a weak network signal

[Smasher]

Hey guys

The situation is a (university) wireless network which has a low signal strength in one area of residences, so as the IT people are unwilling to help, I'm looking at buying a high-gain antenna to help out.

I've already done some research and past threads on this topic have made me think something like this is what could do the trick.

Could someone tell me what the "dbi" rating of an antenna means, because I guess the higher it is the more likely it is to pick up a weak signal?

I keep finding products that boost a signal, rather than pick it up more effectively. I'm aware you can't pick up a signal that isn't there but I'm sure that an external antenna would be more effective than the one built-in to the laptop, to make the best of a not very strong signal. At times it can hit three bars but that's very rare.

If anyone has recommendations that'd be appreciated

[ionicle]

i think a wireless access point is what you need

[Smasher]

i think a wireless access point is what you need

Thanks ionicle

I've asked the IT Department about us using a wireless extender (think there's one for £35 on ebuyer) but they didn't seem too receptive to that.

Would a better antenna help, do you think, or is there any other solution? It would ideally need to have a USB connection as I can't think a PCI card could fit into the laptop.

[Smasher]

Look what I found

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=465175

(looks like this is the only product of its kind!)

[s_kinton]

Look what I found

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=465175

Although not ideal, you don't really have any control over the IT hardware outside your room, so its worth a shot.

Don't forget all Hexus members gets free shipping on orders over £20 exc VAT

[kmac]

Have a look at this before you buy to understand the basics...


http://www.wifi-antenna.com/property.php

http://seattlewireless.net/AntennaHowTo

[Smasher]

Have a look at this before you buy to understand the basics...


http://www.wifi-antenna.com/property.php

http://seattlewireless.net/AntennaHowTo

Thanks kmac, had a look at those links yesterday and today, I'm aware we're only going to pick up whatever signal is available, though it seems with this one we can also buy a higher-gain antenna in case this one isn't good enough. Hope that sounds about right

[Smasher]

Look what I found

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=465175

(looks like this is the only product of its kind!)

I'm going to order this tomorrow, just posting here in case anyone has any last comments.

[kmac]

Its worth a shot as Kinton has said - what you need to look for is a wi-fi client with the best "receive sensitivity". This indicates how faint an RF signal can be successfully received by the
receiver. The lower the power level that the receiver can successfully process, the better the
receive sensitivity.
Look for something with receive sensitivity of -98dBm or more (e.g. -100dBm etc). Not all manufacturers publish this. Note the scale is logrithmic so -98dBm is twice as sensitive as -95dBm

Some manufacturers quote this in terms of power (mW or W) in which case you need to get the highest amount of power ( W)

The following shop seems to list sensitivities for some of their products so may be worth checking out first
http://www.thewifishop.net/usb-wi-fi-cards/cat_28.html

Just checked the Edimax product in you r link and it has a receve sensitivity of
Receive Sensitivity -70dBm@54Mbps
Try and get one with a much better receive sensitivity - (sensitivity decreases as spped increases so at 108Mbps this will be not very sensitive at all)

[kmac]

Had a short surf around and for the money the Edimax looks good. You have to spend a lot more e.g. £50 to get devices with a hogher receive sensitivity so its probably worth a punt at that price

[Smasher]

Thanks for that kmac, had a look and I may as well try out the Edimax, but in case that doesn't work out I'll take another look at the wifi store

[Smasher]

OK, received the Edimax and to be perfectly honest the laptop's built-in wifi seems to pick up a better signal so I'm not sure where "High Gain" comes into the equation.

However, it seems possible to use both at the same time (there are two wifi icons in taskbar) to get a reliable signal, but the internet drops when using one or the other, any way around that??

[bogart]

Not sure about your statement of using both together, I may be wrong but think you only use one or the other. I bought a seperate card for my laptop (Zyxel PCMCIA) and like you found out the signal was worse than the laptops internal Intel one! Ive had the same scenario with the house pc too. Fitting a supposed 9DBi large antenna on the PCI card gave a worse signal than the small antenna supplied with the card.

[blueball]

Pringles tins FTW

[Smasher]

I'm looking into the pringles option thanks for that, looks interesting

ionicle mentioned a wireless access point - is it actually possible to use a router (Thomson Speedtouch ST585 v6) to reproduce the weak signal from the main building? I've got hold of one this week would that be a better option, if it's even possible?

[KowShak]

Fitting a supposed 9DBi large antenna on the PCI card gave a worse signal than the small antenna supplied with the card.

I bigger aerial is more sensitive at picking up wifi signals but they also seem to be more sensitive to picking up interference too. I'm onto my third wifi aerial on one PC, I went from the original to a 7dbi upgrade, on to the current 9dbi aerial. The bigger aerial gives much better signal strength / speed but if any of the cables out of the back of the PC get too close to it the speed drops away. If you can get the bigger aerial away from the PC (e.g. on an extension cable) it won't pick up the electrical noise coming out of the PC so much.