need a few answers about extending a wireless signal

i live in a resort in fiji. they have a wireless router in the office, which is about 120 feet from my apt. if i put my laptop right up against the sliding glass door, i can get about two bars of wireless signal, but if i pull it back even a few inches the signal is gone. the owners are willing to get me whatever wireless signal adapter i want, however, the thing is that i don't have any clue what is the better longer stronger signal extender. this is something i am just not educated about, and need some help. one of the owners is coming to america soon, and i need to tell him what to buy. thanks for any help provided.

 

Try getting an external USB wireless adapter for your laptop.

These things have pretty good antennas on them.

Cost is about $30-

 

thanks for the information, and i'll take that into consideration. however, i think you missed an important point mentioned above. the owners are willing to get me whatever i want, so saving money isn't an issue here. making absolutely sure that i can get a very strong signal anywhere in my apt is the top goal. and because i am on such a remote island, there is no trial and error. whatever they buy is it. i'm stuck with it. so i don't want to take a chance on getting it wrong. i would really appreciate it if you guys could educate me to some specific models, which will deliver, without question.

 

What router is it? It might be wroth upgrading antennas (if those are external and removable)
It's a cheap yet good solution to go with a high powered USB card.

 

i believe it is a dlink dir615. and there is already one large antenna on it.

i don't understand what you mean by this: "It's a cheap yet good solution to go with a high powered USB card."
they use an external wireless router hooked up to the systems in the office, and i am about 140 feet away in my apt, using a laptop.

 

The wireless usb adapter is for your laptop, not related to the router. A USB adapter has the possibility of having better antennas than the ones in your laptop, hence the recommendation for a USB adapter. You have to be careful which adapter you get though, some are very good, while others not so much.

It might be possible to upgrade the antenna on the router for one with higher gain thus providing better range.

 

D-Link DIR-615 has two antennas although these are not removable/upgradeable.
It can be however flashed with DD-WRT which allows for increased transmit power- not something that will surely improve range but it can help to an extent.
As for the high powered USB card I meant something like this.

 

the antennas on the dir 615 are removable. they just screw off. the owners here already added a larger antenna, which barely gets me a signal right at my sliding glass door.
i like what i have read about the usb adapter you recommended. i will let them know about this. thanks!

 

You are sort of right and lucky at that.
Now that you've mentioned it there are versions with non-removable antennas like this one and versions with removable antennas like this one.

I haven't noticed the other mainboard when I researched my previous answer.