WiFi Extenders

Bigpeetee

Guest
There has been a number of threads on WiFi extenders.

Just bought this from ebay:

41dBm Mini Desktop WiFi USB Booster Planar Antenna Set | eBay UK

It's a USB wifi booster that comes with two antenna, the first a rubber antenna that gives omni direction (all around) and a flat planar antenna that is directional, a bit like a dish.

For £23.99 inc p+p I think it's great value and took 8 days to arrive from Hong Kong.

For example, in my dining room I went from 4 wifi base stations to 12, one going from very poor to excellent. The Planar antenna gave even more.

So how does it work in the van?

I parked up in Llandudno, using the laptop I got a couple of signals, when I used the booster with the omni I got loads of signals, including Bt Openzone, the cloud and Mc Donalds.

With clear line of site from the top of the Great Orme, I used the planar antenna on my dashboard, I could get signals from Anglesey if I pointed the antenna at Anglesey or Loads from Llandudno itself if pointed there.

The planar antenna could do with a plastic box if it's to be left outside for any time, it comes with a mount and I just fixed that to a piece of ply.

One word of caution, the booster uses a lot more power than the internal wifi so the battery of the laptop won't last as long.

Looking around the internet, there are conflicting reports as to the maximum power output a wifi should be, these boosters are between 5-10 times the recommended power. Not a problem if you are away from anything, but use them at home and you could start to cause problems with other wifi users locally.

Rule is: only use it if you need to, anyway, it flattens your battery quicker when in use.
 
Bigpeetee said:
Looking around the internet, there are conflicting reports as to the maximum power output a wifi should be, these boosters are between 5-10 times the recommended power. Not a problem if you are away from anything, but use them at home and you could start to cause problems with other wifi users locally.

Rule is: only use it if you need to, anyway, it flattens your battery quicker when in use.
Click to expand...

The maximum power you should use is the minimum power that will do the job. You might find that you can adjust the power output in the control software.

I notice that this uses the same chipset as the Alfa AWUS036H that I have been using and am very happy with.

If the software that comes with the Techex does not have power adjustment, you might find that the Alfa software will work with your unit. The ability to raise and lower the power both saves your battery, reduces interference to others, and prolongs the life of the transmitter, as it can run hot at maximum power.

Alfa Driver Downloads

Another feature of the Alfa software you might be able to take advantage of, is the virtual WiFi hotspot, which lets other nearby laptops, iPhones, etc share your long distance connection - handy if you travel with a partner with her own laptop, or want to use your smartphone's WiFi connection to transfer data, etc.

Peter
 
Well, remember that the connection to a wireless access point is bi-directional.

The laptop needs to send data as well as receive it. So I presume this unit boosts the transmission power to enable greater range, and incorporates a directional antenna to improve reception of the received data.
 
Wifi (Adsl) routers have a higher transmit power than those either built in to a laptop or a USB Wifi module or the 3G dongle, most of which have a wifi ability.

If the power output of a laptop is increased the range to a router is increased.

The antenna either in a laptop is usually a quarter wave, same in a dongle or adapter, so by adding an improved antenna increases the signal in both transmit and receive.

A higher gain again (a planar, yagi, parabolic) antenna will increase the effective radiated power (ERP) even more. Therefore the distance between the unit and the router.

Same difference between using a simple loop antenna on the back of a portable, then adding a yagi antenna (Normal TV antenna) increase of received signal.

Downside of high gain antenna is the narrowing of the beam width, like when turning dish towards satellite.

So yes improving the transmit power of the remote unit (laptop) will result in longer transmission distance, improving the antenna will improve even more.

With 3G dongles, by moving the dongle closer to the window by the use of a USB extension cable means that the internal antenna receives a signal that is less attenuated by walls etc.

The 2400mhz wifi signals are attenuated much more than the 900 MHz 3G, the new 5800mHz for wifi are attenuated even more by buildings, trees etc but it's easier to get more gain from an antenna (size for size)

Hope that clears up some confusion.

For the technically couldn't care less, sorry for the length of reply. Post cards are still the option of some!!
 
Well said and very clear.
some one who knows what he's talking about
Lorry
 
A Month wait?? Mine took 8 days, I got it quicker than other equipment ordered from the UK on the same day. I was very impressed with the service.
 
OK, I've taken your recommendation Pete, and ordered one yesterday. I'll report on how long it takes to arrive.

I am going to cancel my Virgin Broadband and go with BT, as can pretty much guarantee picking up Openzone or BT Fon anywhere near a built up place espec with an antenna this should be the case. I'll have to go against my principles to subscribe to BT but that's another story. I'll ditch them as soon as anyone else gets on the openzone bandwaggon.

So it's goodbye to the Three Dongle except for emergency use.
 
I have similar sentiments about using BT, BUT, they do give good coverage using Openzone and FON.

The broadband works, very little down time, reasonable speed etc.

Then I hate McDonalds, but their Wifi is usually quite quiet, so they have their use.

Tried Virgin, started good then went downhill.

Tried Talk Talk, eventually when got going after 5 months actually quite good, but because of issues with reliability, call centres all around the globe who wouldn't help apart from one man in Durban RSA who actually resolved the problems in 2 Hrs. But never again.

Now with BT I get signal in most built up areas, and some not so built up.

Nothings perfect, but as my wife gets 0.5 Gig download per month with her Vodaphone contract, I use her Nokia as a modem, not always fast, but useful when I cant get it for free. This data was given free in addition to her mins and texts.

We also use Vodafone family, at £5 per month we get free calls between 4 Vodafone numbers, means the girls can always call us at no cost, so even though they haven't got credit they can call us. However, that's not always an advantage!!
 
all i know is i can be parked up in the middle of nowhere and get free wifi sometimes. tonight its really full on .in torrelavaga.nears santander.
 
Yes and after six cups of superb coffee... you get a free one!!

On a serious note, surely the main advantage with all this kit is a 'proper' external aerial!!
 
could be but at the moment i have been travelling round spain getting free access to the web. i find it incredible. heard its possible but now i know its true.cant do the why ,how bit .but its working. its possible to get a programethat breaks into the coded wifi but too tec for me. i do know that lots of people are buying directionable anntennas from my mate . lots are being sent to him with recomendations from friends. i dont speak german very good but picked uo the gist of the conversations. i need a good battery for a siemans amilo cy 23 any ideas.
 
Wifi shares a limited number of frequencies that overlap.

It isn't good to have a lot of powerful signals, concider each router as the centre of a small cell, the laptops generally need to work within only a few metres of the router, around a house, maybe into the garden. So the power doesn't need to be great.

Effected Radiated Power (ERP) is a combination of the actual power generated by a transmitter multiplied by the gain (or loss) of the antenna system.

Most wifi antennas in laptops are built in, so therefore surrounded by metal, bodies etc so the actual ERP may well be quite low.

The base has a slightly higher power and better antenna as it is the remote device that initiates the set up, so if it cannot see the base, then it doesn't start.

So a poor system in the laptop is designed to only transmit a short distance, say 25 metres or so in a house.

The building absorbs much of the signal, indeed in some Victorian houses have walls so solid that transmission between one side of the house to the next is difficult if not impossible.

If the router is placed adjacent to a window there is less transmission loss through glass, I put mine in the roof space and a laptop received it approx 250 metres away.

So by improving the antenna at the remote end will improve transmission distance, a power booster will improve it even more.

Also, if adjacent properties are using the same channel, there will be greater interference, therefore lower range.

So if you're with BT Put your router in the roof or by a window, share the signal!!
 
I'm listening, and just recently signed up with BT, so how do I connect one of these antenna's (which one) to the BT hub? TIA

:)
 
Can't attach an antenna to the BT hub, but you can locate it in the most favorable location if you are getting poor reception on your laptop.

I found the loft was best for me as floorboards and plaster ceilings absorb less than brick/block walls, just trial and error.

If you have a desktop PC it's best to connect with a cable as you get greater speed to the router, but will still only get the speed of your broadband connection to the internet.

The antennas that have been discussed on this forum are used to extend the range of your laptop and increase the opportunity of gaining access top free wifi.

I used this at my works, where I shared my broadband connection with the small business next door, It's a Victorian building and the Wifi signal from the router to the laptop was non existent.

We used a booster with an omni antenna and now he has great wifi connection to my broadband.
 
Looks very interesting, also has a screw on antenna so a larger one could be attached to increase the range of the base.
 
I will write more details later, but as I am now connected to a router in Wales from my wild camping spot in the middle of Exmoor ... I think I am getting good range. This is a good place to experiment with different antennas and power as there is NOTHING nearby, except a couple of ponies.

My experience with FON has also been very positive since I arrived in the UK. Amazingly, they remembered my FON account from 5 years ago, when they were giving away free routers. So I took one for free and as a reward, I am finding free connections here in the UK pretty easily. I did set up a FON hotspot at the time in my house. As far as I know, only my wife ever used it.

My previous experiences with FON in other countries was that they didn't have much coverage and even when I connected, it usually didn't work.

Heading west...

Peter
 
Good going that, still a long way to go before you beat the world record WiFi transmission of 237 miles (382km)!!

Admittedly it was mountain top to mountain top using large parabolic antenna, but it's amazing what distance you can cover with low power, especially if there is nothing in the way and it's electrically quiet.
 
don't get that about FON after 5 years ; the deal is that if you don't give , you don't get ....if you switch off , after 3 weeks they take away your roaming privileges ; fair enough in my view

not likely that anyone will replace BT at FON in the UK , they are now part owners ; but if you don't want to go with BT , why not just buy a FON router , plug it into whatever router you have , and your are in the club [ you know what I mean ]

good news is that other countries are jumping on the bandwagon

in portugal the biggest cable operator has joined , and ZON@FON is now available

in france NEUF/SFR have joined and you can use NEUF WIFI FON or SFR WIFI FON ; unfortunately they did what BT did to begin , and their customers had to opt in ; numbers growing quickly though
 
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