I've been struggling to find the right wifi adapter. I'm trying to get wifi access from the university but I'm barely off range, I currently use the alfa AWUS036H which only works if I combine the antenna with a coffee can to extend the range. I need something that will consistently get me consistent and fast internet. Note: I only have one internet provider available at my location, which had worse internet than my current set up (less than 150kb/s speeds) and cost me about 45bucks a month.
Thanks all tips/advice is greatly appreciated.
It really doesn't matter what wifi adapter you get if the AP signal is barely reaching you, the results are going to be pretty much the same.
If you want to try and pick up a weak signal, you're going to have to get a bigger antenna. Something like this might work well:
[url]http://www.amazon.com/HIGH-POWER-RANGE-SENSITIVITY-CLIPPER-ADAPTER/dp/B007M7RP6Q/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1397275773&sr=8-5&keywords=wifi+antenna[/url]
If you could somehow combine an antenna like that with a range extender, you could have a decent setup.
is it possible to set up a range extender with university wifi though? don't i need access to their router?
Gigabyte: I just bought that adapter you posted the other day and ended up returning it. It does worse than my alfa set up and it was piss poor quality. The 2 antennas for example on the sides are entirely fake just for decoration.
[QUOTE=DarkSiper;44523826]is it possible to set up a range extender with university wifi though? don't i need access to their router?
Gigabyte: I just bought that adapter you posted the other day and ended up returning it. It does worse than my alfa set up and it was piss poor quality. The 2 antennas for example on the sides are entirely fake just for decoration.[/QUOTE]
Range extenders more or less act as repeaters. They aren't terribly sophisticated. However, there would still need to be some overlap since you would need to install the repeater in range, which I presume isn't possible.
If the coffee can sort of works, you probably need a decent directional antenna.
[URL]http://www.amazon.com/USB-Yagi-directional-Antenna-802-11n-2200mW/dp/B003LLS5JI/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt[/URL]
Two watts is maybe a bit overkill, but you know what I mean. You just need a way to focus your signal at their access point and your antenna needs to capture theirs.
[editline]12th April 2014[/editline]
Or if push comes to shove, look into mobile internet. Tiered bandwidth sucks hard, but at least its somewhat reliable and fast.
depending on how their wifi is set up, connecting a repeater to school wifi may not even work properly anyways
[QUOTE=Demache;44523979]Range extenders more or less act as repeaters. They aren't terribly sophisticated. However, there would still need to be some overlap since you would need to install the repeater in range, which I presume isn't possible.
If the coffee can sort of works, you probably need a decent directional antenna.
[URL]http://www.amazon.com/USB-Yagi-directional-Antenna-802-11n-2200mW/dp/B003LLS5JI/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt[/URL]
Two watts is maybe a bit overkill, but you know what I mean. You just need a way to focus your signal at their access point and your antenna needs to capture theirs.
[editline]12th April 2014[/editline]
Or if push comes to shove, look into mobile internet. Tiered bandwidth sucks hard, but at least its somewhat reliable and fast.[/QUOTE]
Do you think that antenna would be worth the buy? I'm worried I'll get similar results because of interference and I don't properly know where the router is located(very large university).
And mobile internet.. I don't think that is an option since I doubt I can get unlimited bandwidth these days without getting throttled. I use a lot of internet bandwidth...
[QUOTE=DarkSiper;44523826]is it possible to set up a range extender with university wifi though? don't i need access to their router?[/QUOTE]
If the university AP is open and doesn't have encryption, you can use a repeater on it, but you don't really want to. Repeaters only repeat the signal strength they receive, so if a repeater gets a 50% signal, they'll repeat 50% or worse.
Not to mention that if you don't have smart wifi drivers that identify an AP by its MAC address rather than SSID, you don't be able to connect to it properly.
[QUOTE=DarkSiper;44523826]Gigabyte: I just bought that adapter you posted the other day and ended up returning it. It does worse than my alfa set up and it was piss poor quality. The 2 antennas for example on the sides are entirely fake just for decoration.[/QUOTE]
Oh dear. Maybe you could try one of these:
[url]http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-ANT2409A-Directional-Antenna-connector/dp/B003CFATNS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397288136&sr=8-1&TP-LINK+TL-ANT2409A[/url]
My friend has a similar one that I tried one time and it boosted my signal quite a bit compared to the dinky little standard antenna.
[QUOTE=GiGaBiTe;44524376]If the university AP is open and doesn't have encryption, you can use a repeater on it, but you don't really want to. Repeaters only repeat the signal strength they receive, so if a repeater gets a 50% signal, they'll repeat 50% or worse.
Not to mention that if you don't have smart wifi drivers that identify an AP by its MAC address rather than SSID, you don't be able to connect to it properly.
Oh dear. Maybe you could try one of these:
[url]http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-ANT2409A-Directional-Antenna-connector/dp/B003CFATNS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397288136&sr=8-1&TP-LINK+TL-ANT2409A[/url]
My friend has a similar one that I tried one time and it boosted my signal quite a bit compared to the dinky little standard antenna.[/QUOTE]
I can try, I mean I've tried higher dbi antennas they don't always give you better performance so I wouldn't know which of those to buy.. atm I'm using a 2dbi antenna with a coffee can which seems to work better than the 5, 7 and 9 dbi antennas I have. Wifi signals seems to be the strangest of science I can never understand it :(
[QUOTE=DarkSiper;44524408]Wifi signals seems to be the strangest of science I can never understand it :([/QUOTE]
Because practically everything can interfere with the signal.
Phones can, TVs can, walls can, the atmosphere expanding and contracting can, etc.
[QUOTE=GiGaBiTe;44524376]
Not to mention that if you don't have smart wifi drivers that identify an AP by its MAC address rather than SSID, you don't be able to connect to it properly.[/QUOTE]
Why not just change the SSID of the extender? I can do that on my shitty belkin
[QUOTE=Levelog;44525769]Why not just change the SSID of the extender? I can do that on my shitty belkin[/QUOTE]
The repeaters that I've dealt with had to have the same SSID as the AP they were repeating, guess it's just a Linksys/Cisco thing.
Ah. Yeah, must be. I had Left Twix and Right Twix going for a while. (I know it's really fucking lame)
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