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Thread ID: 117996 2011-05-14 22:06:00 Need to extend wireless nedkelly (9059) Press F1
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1202150 2011-05-14 22:06:00 My cousin has one of those silver and grey Linksys router sitting in a room in the top of his house, the house has good wireless signal but he wants the wireless to extend to his garage.
I was there yesterday and the only way I could even get a signal was to use my Alfa hi-power usb wireless card and a 8db gain aerial.
What would be the easiest and cheapest option to fix this issue?
nedkelly (9059)
1202151 2011-05-14 22:24:00 I used an antenna which i bought off ebay.cgi.ebay.com sahilcc7 (15483)
1202152 2011-05-14 22:37:00 Dont think that will work for him, his router has concealed antennas and he uses the built-in wireless N card in his laptop nedkelly (9059)
1202153 2011-05-15 05:03:00 It's not cheap ($173 at Ascent) but the Netcomm NP121 wireless bridge might do the trick .

It consists of 2 units . One unit plugs into a LAN port on the router and provides 3 local LAN ports + wireless bridging to the other unit . The remote unit provides 4 LAN ports and a wireless access point . The units have detachable antennas so there is the option to use an antenna with gain if necessary (at either or both ends)

Netcomm make a cheaper unit (NP124, $137) but it has internal antennas and only one LAN port at the remote end .

The NP121 is a more useful unit . If it didn't work in the current application, it could be used elsewhere as I use it: to connect TV + media players + capture device to my desktop + internet
BBCmicro (15761)
1202154 2011-05-16 03:11:00 I extended the range of my my little MP3 FM stereo transmitter from the confines of our house to several streets away simply by winding some single-core insulated wire around the unit and stringing 10-15 feet of it around my office. I used single-core insulated hookup wire and a 25 metre roll cost just $5:90 at Jaycar.

I see no reason why that would not extend the range of a wireless router, especially if it has a small antenna on it, which my transmitter does not. If it does have one, wind 10 turns or so around it, or just around the case will do if there is no external antenna. In this case there is no antenna so 5-10 turns around the case should do it.

Reasonably effective coupling of UHF RF signals is very easy to achieve and no direct electrical connection is needed. Antenna wire polarisation can be vertical, horizontal or draped whichever way it falls. If there isn't enough signal where you want it, move the antenna around until there is. Least signal is found off the end of the wire, most is found off the sides.

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
1202155 2011-05-16 03:23:00 The linksys router combo is one of the ones that only has internal aerials. nedkelly (9059)
1202156 2011-05-16 03:51:00 I extended the range of my my little MP3 FM stereo transmitter from the confines of our house to several streets away simply by winding some single-core insulated wire around the unit and stringing 10-15 feet of it around my office .

I see no reason why that would not extend the range of a wireless router, especially if it has a small antenna on it, which my transmitter does not .

I probably know a great deal less about antennas than you do, but wouldn't the fact that the frequency is much higher for WiFi make a difference?
Agent_24 (57)
1202157 2011-05-21 11:14:00 I probably know a great deal less about antennas than you do, but wouldn't the fact that the frequency is much higher for WiFi make a difference?

No, the higher the frequency, the better the coupling into the external antenna. The range increase would not be as good as the little FM Tx, but it could well be a lot more than you'd expect.

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
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