Anyone using a usb wifi adapter with antennas to extend their range for accessing wifi in Lowes/Coffee shop parking lots? That way you don't have to be right up against the building I'm not talking about a booster. I want to know what wifi adapters people have found that work well. I used to have one from Alfa networks that worked pretty well. I may get another one
Extended range wifi adapter
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Pick one!
I used to use a couple of 2.4 ghz long range adapter cards, mine were the small plastic case with a couple of antennas on a USB cord, and an external antenna port. One was the ETEKCITY brand, can't remember the other one. With a small antenna on the roof of my vehicle I could sometimes access free wifi sources about a quarter to a half mile away. The problem is, in a crowded wifi area, you will be receiving dozens of wifi signals and your throughput can actually drop to very low speeds. And remember this too, if a hacker is a quarter mile away and wants to cause you trouble, he can make use of the same long range to hack into your system! In a crowded wifi area, use it breifly, do what you need to do, then log out and unplug the dang thing! Think it can't happen? Think again, my Mobley has been hacked into a few times. It can happen to you!
But out in the boonies like a campground with only a few wifi sources, they work well, most of the time.
Terminology: It can be a bit confusing, and common terminology will make it worse. Typically, a wifi 'booster' is actually a wifi repeater, also called a range extender. It usually needs to be somewhere between the access point and your laptop using it's factory built-in wifi card.
A long range wifi card typically will plug into a USB port on a laptop, and you will need to disable the laptop's built-in wifi card in the settings, and 'install' the new hardware, and then enable it. These typically have one or two short antennas to improve reception, and some of them can be found in the 1000mw and 3000mw power levels. 3000 mw is 3 watts, and it will 'boost' or 'extend' your range...but it is not a 'booster' OR an 'extender'.
Keep in mind that a 1000 milliwatt or 3000 milliwatt (1 or 3 watt) device hanging on your laptop USB port will drain the laptop battery faster than the built-in wifi card..and may possibly reduce power along the USB bus, meaning if your smartphone is also plugged into your laptop, it may not be able to receive a charge.
I have found that the small USB 'dongle' wifi cards were generally adequate for use out to around 500-1000 feet, and they are small, cheap, and not near as power hungry, usually in the 100 mw range, which is 1/10th of a watt.
My advice? They are cheap. Buy a couple different kinds or brands and experiment. See what works for you.
Pick one!
I used to use a couple of 2.4 ghz long range adapter cards, mine were the small plastic case with a couple of antennas on a USB cord, and an external antenna port. One was the ETEKCITY brand, can't remember the other one. With a small antenna on the roof of my vehicle I could sometimes access free wifi sources about a quarter to a half mile away. The problem is, in a crowded wifi area, you will be receiving dozens of wifi signals and your throughput can actually drop to very low speeds. And remember this too, if a hacker is a quarter mile away and wants to cause you trouble, he can make use of the same long range to hack into your system! In a crowded wifi area, use it breifly, do what you need to do, then log out and unplug the dang thing! Think it can't happen? Think again, my Mobley has been hacked into a few times. It can happen to you!
But out in the boonies like a campground with only a few wifi sources, they work well, most of the time.
Terminology: It can be a bit confusing, and common terminology will make it worse. Typically, a wifi 'booster' is actually a wifi repeater, also called a range extender. It usually needs to be somewhere between the access point and your laptop using it's factory built-in wifi card.
A long range wifi card typically will plug into a USB port on a laptop, and you will need to disable the laptop's built-in wifi card in the settings, and 'install' the new hardware, and then enable it. These typically have one or two short antennas to improve reception, and some of them can be found in the 1000mw and 3000mw power levels. 3000 mw is 3 watts, and it will 'boost' or 'extend' your range...but it is not a 'booster' OR an 'extender'.
Keep in mind that a 1000 milliwatt or 3000 milliwatt (1 or 3 watt) device hanging on your laptop USB port will drain the laptop battery faster than the built-in wifi card..and may possibly reduce power along the USB bus, meaning if your smartphone is also plugged into your laptop, it may not be able to receive a charge.
I have found that the small USB 'dongle' wifi cards were generally adequate for use out to around 500-1000 feet, and they are small, cheap, and not near as power hungry, usually in the 100 mw range, which is 1/10th of a watt.
My advice? They are cheap. Buy a couple different kinds or brands and experiment. See what works for you.
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