From: black.hole.4.spam{at}gmail.com (Don Hills)

In article , Ellen K.
 wrote:
>The photo in the article looked like they plugged the antenna into their
>laptop, in the location where mine has a couple of USB ports.  So, such
>an antenna plugs into a USB port, or that was a coincidence?

Wireless networks need a "2-way radio" or "transceiver"
to convert the digital signals to radio waves and back, just as you need a
"modem" to convert digital signals to tones that will travel down
a phone line. This transceiver can take a number of forms. For a laptop, it
will either come built into a PC Card (PCMCIA card), or into a USB
"dongle" about the size of a USB memory stick.

The one in the Pringle can article was a PCMCIA transceiver. They usually
have a small antenna attached to the card, or you can unplug the antenna
and use an extension lead to a better antenna which is what they did with
the Pringle can antenna. Antenna extension leads aren't very efficient at
Wifi frequencies, so they become self-defeating - as you extend the lead to
put the antenna where the signal is better, so you lose more signal in the
lead. Again referring to the Pringle can, if he extended the antenna lead
by 20 or 30 feet so he could sit inside with the laptop while leaving the
antenna outside, he'd get poor results.

The clever way around this is to use a USB transceiver. You can put the USB
transceiver where the signal is good (such as at the focus of a dish
antenna) and run a relatively long USB lead back to the laptop without
losing signal. Hit Google with the words "wok usb wifi" and
you'll get dozens of hits showing how to use a cheap USB dongle and a wok
to achieve multi-mile ranges. Here are some suggestions:

http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/>
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/g.mckenzie/Radio%20Dish/Radio%20aerial.htm>

I can understand if you don't want to go to this much trouble, but it does
illustrate what can be achieved with only a few dollars and simple hand
tools.

--
Don Hills    (dmhills at attglobaldotnet)     Wellington, New Zealand
"New interface closely resembles Presentation Manager,
 preparing you for the wonders of OS/2!"
    -- Advertisement on the box for Microsoft Windows 2.11 for 286

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