Any ways of increasing signal of my intel 3945 wireless card?

Hi, like the title says is there any ways of increasing the signal? maybe a way of adding external antenna?


Alan

 

Short answer: No

 

Updating to the latest drivers for card/adapter and getting the latest firmware for router,and like you said extrennal antenna's if you router is capable of doing this.

 

It IS possible to add an external antenna yo your laptop but it would require that you add an antena coaxial port to your laptop and it's rather tricky.

You can either add the antenna connector internaly, like so
http://mtarena.blogspot.com/2006/06/add-external-antenna-sma-connector.html

or you can buy a usb/coaxial module but those don't come cheap.
Certain PCI network card will also contain a coaxial antenna port.
http://www.cantenna.com/laptop.html

 

thanks for all the input! i guess im going with a usb adapter with extended antenna

 

you could always add a coating of tin foil to your house.

 

Erm...not taking into account all those other complicated options..you Do know that if you go into the driver properties for your Intel Wireless Pro card, there are various options for Maximum Signal Quality and Other options regarding coverage, right?


- Jordan

 

What kind of router do you have? You can update firmware on certain models and boost the output signal from the router to increase range. You can also buy range extenders that just replace the antennas on your current router.

As far as boosting just the internal card, no. Some external ones you can rig an antenna, but the internal ones you're pretty much stuck where you're at. As always, update drivers on your wireless card as they are released.

 

thanks for the help! i can connect fine with my netgear router, but I need to increase my signal for my school network. I going with an usb adapter with extended antenna. Is there a better choice?

 

uck...you're not really expecting the lack of real antennas as is the case with most usb wireless cards to have a better effect on your wireless signal - are you?

typically, the antennas built inside the laptops give the best range - though from laptop to laptop this will differ as some have better antennas/antenna design than others

Overall, a PCMCIA wireless card may prove to be a better option than a USB adapter as it typically has more surface space for those small antennas inside them versus usb versions..

You should note though I am only referring to the commonly available ones with internal antennas.


- Jordan

P.S. Actually as per your topic, when you DO set the device properties manually for the Intel Pro Wireless card - you ARE boosting the signal as opposed to having it in it's default 'low-power conservation state' as is the case when it's on battery power. None the less, I can't stress enough that you should set those options manually to *always have the best signal strength and quality at all times. If you want to save power with wireless - merely turn the card off when not in use

 

thanks for the tip, i am going with an usb adapter that has an removable external antenna and going to upgrade it to maybe a 10dbi antenna. Is it good enough? lets say i am about maybe 300-500 feet away

 

Actually, the USB connector itself doesn't house the antenna (at least not in this case), the USB only serves as a USB/Coaxial adaptor to put an external antenna, in this case probably a 12 inches long one. It's not very esthetic but it's damn efficient.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7646/1118/1600/Dsc00003.jpg

 

Note: As can be read in my original post - my reply only concerned the wireless USB adapters with 'internal' antennas.

- Jordan