On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:16:08 +0100, "R. Mark Clayton"
wrote:


"Hillman" wrote in message
...

Get very mixed reception on my new Dell laptop plus O2 mobile broadband.
As this is always used in a fixed location ie my front rom, is there
such a thing as a fixed aerial or disk array, external or attic based
to boost signal strength?
Thanks




--
Hillman

Depends on how clever the O2 dongle is and importantly whether it has an
aerial socket (some do have them hidden under the trim).

You will probably benefit from a short external stub if you can fit one.

You used to be able to get 900MHz band aerials with SMC connections.

Anything more clever will depend on base station direction power etc. But a
long cable run will not work well at say nearly 2GHz.

I assume that this is a USB dongle. Why not get a USB extension lead
and see if repositioning the dongle will help.
Even if the dongle has an aerial socket you need some super good cable
to extend from there to an aerial otherwise alll the gain you get is
lost. There are many examples on the Net of putting a dongle, on an
extended USB lead, into the centre of a dish - even a wok to improve
the signal. Also, there is a very simple cardboard and cooking foil
reflector that can be made, which is quite small and this can increase
the signal also.
Go to
www.youtube.com
and enter the words
wifi aerial
into the search box. Up will come a few ideas that might help you.
You can also find designs, large and small, on this web site:-
http://www.wlan.org.uk/antenna-page.html
The USB contraptions are near the bottom of a very long page ( I don't
think the person who contructed this site knew much about web design
but it is a good resource). You'll find other links from this site.
Low power WiFi signals can be sent several miles with the right type
of antenna.


---
Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.
---