WiFi Antenna - any experiences?

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking about getting a wifi antenna to be able to stay online on the streets, out of my car.. state park etc. Not sure if its a good idea though that's why I would like to ask if someone has experience with such devices - how good they are and if you can suggest any specific ones. I see there is a lot of info on the net available about how to make one from a metal can or kitchen ware - they look very simple, but how good they are? Anything really good available on the market for a good price?

I heard that wireless services provided by Verizon or Sprint are not that great, so I wanted to see if this any better.

Any ideas?

 

Check out kensington.com for wi-fi equipment there are lot more options offcourse and you will probably hear them soon.

 

Your best return on investment is going to come from a pringles can. The commercial antennas are decent enough, linksys has a lot of options finally. It's been years since I did anything like that. My wireless G network covers my house quite well now. It's a pain in the butt to carry around a giant antenna, so your realistically still limited to areas around your home or places you have set up a work area. Also, with a directional antenna, you have to spend time aiming it at your receiver, and with an omni-directional antenna you end up picking up a lot of your neighbors networks.

 

Thanks Edz - I found only 3 WiFi relaed products on their WiFi page http://us.kensington.com/html/6598.html, no antennas.

 

What distance pringles can allows? The purpose of having antenna is to be able to connect to any available networks around. I noticed there are a lot of private networks available if you pull into any parking lot on a bussiness plaza - the only problem if you are not close enough to connect or you are in a park or on the beach.

P.S. I'm picking my neighbors out of the house with built in card

 

what do you think about something like this http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/90.jpg or http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/usbscoop.jpg

here is source http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/

 

Check this out...

RF Linx Corporation
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Wireless antenna supplier
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www.rfcastle.com
Wirelessgrid Bridge
Distance To 30Mi (Intl), 108 Mbps 4.9, 5.3, 5.47, 5.8GHz 866-224-7292
www.airaya.com
Antennas and RF Filters
Custom designed RF Filters and Special Antennas 10 MHz - 6 GHz
www.ultra-crea.fi
Antenna Wlan
Search RF Wireless Product Vendors - Compare Product Specifications
www.globalspec.com
Extend WiFi Range
Parabolic reflector Kit Double WLAN Range
www.tritium.co.uk
Wifi Antenna?
Brief and Straightforward Guide to WiMAX
wisegeek.com
HF Windom rivals Yagi
Stealthy, inexpensive, only 66 feet High performance for 80-10M. aff.
www.antennasmore.com
You Want 802.11b Antenna?
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DirectoryFive.com/Wireless
Low Cost WiFi Antennas
Low Cost & High Quality WiFi Internet Antennas
www.antennasystems.com

 

Thanks Edz - I'll check them out!

 

There are plenty of experiences on the web getting crazy distances - something like a mile, but that would require pringle cans on both sides of the connection. Do a search for Yagi antennas, that's what people use for wardriving if I'm not mistaken. It has been a long time.

 

Yeah reminds me, take a look at wardriving.com

 

Yeah, kinda scary to get sued over this kinda of #rap. I was in the parking lot one day not far from a coffe shop while my wife was shopping.. so I tried to connect to their free wife (a lot of coffe shops do that today), but the signal was low to gett connected out of the car.. so I started wondering woudn't it be cool to have an antenna... than I could use it everywhere, but looks like its an offence.

 

Not if you are connecting to an freely made available wi-fi spot such as the coffeeshop you talked about.

Also if you use unsecured connections such as people that are publicly offering their connections for everyone to use.

But if you are breaching secured encrypted connections to use then you are breaking the law.

This might vary by state in the U.S.?

 

You made me feel a little better Edz