Wireless Router/Adapter Antennas

[Olo401]

I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with any of the add-on extended range antennas on the market. I recently purchased a new Wifi-N adapter and while it works a lot smoother than my old Linksys one I still have issues with keeping a stable connection.

Full disclosure: Yes, I'm connecting to my neighbor's wifi. Several neighbors in fact.. The in-house DSL is so slow (max 12k/sec down) that I just can't stand it.

[Arnwulf]

This is what I did for a friend of mine, works like a charm.

http://www.instructables.com/id/WIFI-Antenna-Hack!/

[Olo401]

Oooh that's pretty damn nifty.. I haven't played with my soldering iron in a looong time either so should be fun!

[levish]

12Kb/sec is only 2x faster than dial-up, something is seriously borked or someone in the house is torrenting. If they're torrenting ask whoever is doing it to limit dl/ul rates on their client.

Is it that slow for everyone or just over wireless?

Sorry I'm no help with regards to external antennas the only ones I used were for commercial applications.

Might also want to try the parabolic thing suggested (example) at the expense of looking wierd.
http://www.amazon.com/2-4Ghz-Square-.../dp/B001934U4Y

[sruon]

A cheap trick is to put a sheet of aluminium under antenna... or

Spoiler: show

http://www.gizmodo.fr/savedfiles/antenne-spy.jpg
http://adsltele.free.fr/images/antenne-ricore-4.jpg

Cheap and effective from what I heard

[levish]

^ right, thats what makes the antennas directional, and what made the commercial Wifi Bridge I used, work so well I believe.

[Olo401]

12Kb/sec is only 2x faster than dial-up, something is seriously borked or someone in the house is torrenting. If they're torrenting ask whoever is doing it to limit dl/ul rates on their client.

Is it that slow for everyone or just over wireless?

Sorry I'm no help with regards to external antennas the only ones I used were for commercial applications.

Might also want to try the parabolic thing suggested (example) at the expense of looking wierd.
http://www.amazon.com/2-4Ghz-Square-.../dp/B001934U4Y

Well it's only the two of us using it (I set it up so that the wireless signal is WPA) and the only thing my landlord does is check his email. We've had this issue for years with Verizon.. they basically claimed that the problem is that the underground lines into the house were old (even tho the house itself is only about 25 years old) and to replace them would cost a shitload of money and a dug-up lawn. I know their story is total bullshit but my landlord is an idiot. After that happened and I got on wireless I basically told him not to include the Verizon bill in my share of the utils because I refuse to use it.

[levish]

Even for checking/sending any sort of email with attachments 12Kbps is snails pace. What Verizon is saying is not necc. BS, thats the major downside to DSL (that its so sensitive to installation and interference).

Did he put DSL filters on everything? Did he do any of his own wiring? Even one rogue phone / fax machine or poorly located phone wire can screw stuff big time without causing much in the way of problems for normal phone use.

[Olo401]

Yeah I've checked multiple times for filters because everytime someone picks up the phone or it rings at all, both the phone and DSL signal get cut for a few seconds after. Plus his DSL acts like a satellite signal would in the rain, snow, wind, etc.. very choppy.

[Blarg]

A cheap trick is to put a sheet of aluminium under antenna... or

I was stupid and broke my receiver using the aluminum trick. My receiver had it's plastic covering break off a while ago so I didn't foresee that rubbering aluminum over the metal parts trying to position it correctly would electrocute and kill it

So I just got a new receiver and did it a different way and the aluminum adds 2-3 bars for me and improved the signal% by at least 20% which is pretty nice.

I'm not sure what kind of formation the aluminum should be to give the best results. Bowl shaped, box shaped tall or short. Do you know what works best?

[Cjskater]

Yeah I've checked multiple times for filters because everytime someone picks up the phone or it rings at all, both the phone and DSL signal get cut for a few seconds after. Plus his DSL acts like a satellite signal would in the rain, snow, wind, etc.. very choppy.

Definitely a damaged line if weather affects it. It doesn't cost much to repair a wire and they definitely don't have to dig up the entire lawn, its like burying a really small pipe. All they do is cut ahead of where its damaged and then rewire and rerun it back to the house/after the damaged area. I had my old DSL company rerun it completely (well, they decided it was best at least), twice, on a quarter mile long driveway and they did it for free (most companies do this).

The phone problem does sound like a filter as well.

Edit: I bet if you guys got a repair tech to come out just once they'd fix it all for you.