which is the best wi fi device ??

I are several free wireless internet in our area but its very weak. I have a Integrated Atheros high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g) in my toshiba a135 s2276. I am able to connect with very low speed (and somtimes no speed at all). i am looking for a good antenna/adapter/card which can boost the signal and give me better coverage

any ideas ? and wats the cost ??

 

you migth want to check to make sure the power settings on your card at set to max power & max singnal/distance. Often those settings are either set to some default or lowest levels.

you can check this via control panel~hardware~network adapters

 

This is something I was looking into the other day. There are a lot of problems with claiming one card is a "winner" for Wi-Fi, since a lot of it doesn't have to do with the hardware - it's usually a software (driver) issue.

I do hear that Atheros cards are great overall. Intel Pro Wireless (IPW) cards are very popular, being used in the Centrino platform. Less popular brands, such as Dell and Broadcom are harder to run under Linux/Unix.

 

How To Build A Tin Can Waveguide WiFi Antenna

 

for linux, the best is the intel 3945

 

thanks 4 hte replies my software is altest and the card is optimized for max performance...its just signal strength is low and i need a booster !! so any idea ?

 

You can make an antenna like the one above, Or if you want to get all HI-tech you could by an amplifier that will recieve the signal then amplify it.

 

cud u explain the 'amplifier' bit.\, i am totally not technical

 

reciever/amplifier, Will recieve the signal and amplify it(make it stronger) More or less you recieve a weak signal and amplify it to make it stronger.

 

hey there,

do u havea good link or website which describes it ??

 

Not right off hand i dont, But i am sure if you do a search you'll pull up something, I'll do a search as well since i am not doing anything else. See what i can find for you.

 

something like this, But for wireless cards.
LIKE THIS

 

btw except for the weakest of signals as long as you are able to connect you will likely not see a difference in speed if that is what you are looking for. The connection to the router is simply faster then the router's connection to the internet. Even if you had 100% signal you are still only going to get a max of 12Mbs connection if they have fiber. And of it is a shared environment then you are likely capped at a max of 1.5Mbs download.

We have muni wifi here where I live and it's marginal at best but even on a 1 or 2 bar connection (who knows what that really stands for but here I will say about 15-20%/bar) at the 20%-ish connection I will get as fast as 1.4Mbs d/l speed. That is because the connection speed to the router is still a minimum 2Mbs connection.

What matters is the signal quality and the connection quality. But even then there is a point at which it will not matter as there is a cap on the actual internet bandwidth each connection is allocated. I think I butchered this explaination but maybe you get the idea...