low cost good repeater or extra antenna?

I have a Dlink 802.11b wireless network and I am on the ledge of working and
not working because of poor signal. I was told by D-link to buy a repeater
or an antenna. Few questions:

Which would be better?
Which would be more cost effective?
Do I have to buy D-link stuff or can I go to like radio shack?

Any help appreciated. Thanks guys.

Gabe

Gabriel Afana <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I have a Dlink 802.11b wireless network and I am on the ledge of working and
> not working because of poor signal. I was told by D-link to buy a repeater
> or an antenna. Few questions:

In all cases, adding reflectors to the APs increases the signal
appreciably in one direction. http://www.freeantennas.com
I liked the EZ-10. 10 minutes, straight lines.
Materials in the house already.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bhh97r$ou3$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Gabriel Afana <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > I have a Dlink 802.11b wireless network and I am on the ledge of working
and
> > not working because of poor signal. I was told by D-link to buy a
repeater
> > or an antenna. Few questions:
>
> In all cases, adding reflectors to the APs increases the signal
> appreciably in one direction. http://www.freeantennas.com
> I liked the EZ-10. 10 minutes, straight lines.
> Materials in the house already.
>
> --
> ---
> Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

There are two other people in the house with the wireless connection...but I
am the farthest away. If I put some kind of reflector, I dont want to kill
the signal on the other two computers....would a repeater act as a bridge
without affecting the other users? Most of the time my network works on my
computer...but sometimes the signal just drops enough to drop me....would a
big antanna help?? Right now its just got that little 2 inch antenna that
comes with it on the back of the computer.

Gabe

Are you using an Access point, or running in Ad Hoc mode? Better range with
AP.

"Gabriel Afana" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:UfW_a.18811$(E-Mail Removed) et...
>
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:bhh97r$ou3$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Gabriel Afana <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > > I have a Dlink 802.11b wireless network and I am on the ledge of
working
> and
> > > not working because of poor signal. I was told by D-link to buy a
> repeater
> > > or an antenna. Few questions:
> >
> > In all cases, adding reflectors to the APs increases the signal
> > appreciably in one direction. http://www.freeantennas.com
> > I liked the EZ-10. 10 minutes, straight lines.
> > Materials in the house already.
> >
> > --
> > ---
> > Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5
>
> There are two other people in the house with the wireless connection...but
I
> am the farthest away. If I put some kind of reflector, I dont want to
kill
> the signal on the other two computers....would a repeater act as a bridge
> without affecting the other users? Most of the time my network works on
my
> computer...but sometimes the signal just drops enough to drop me....would
a
> big antanna help?? Right now its just got that little 2 inch antenna that
> comes with it on the back of the computer.
>
> Gabe
>
>

Gabriel Afana <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> There are two other people in the house with the wireless connection...but I
> am the farthest away. If I put some kind of reflector, I dont want to kill
> the signal on the other two computers....would a repeater act as a bridge
> without affecting the other users? Most of the time my network works on my
> computer...but sometimes the signal just drops enough to drop me....would a
> big antanna help?? Right now its just got that little 2 inch antenna that
> comes with it on the back of the computer.

The back side of the reflector still has signal, and the EZ-10 doesn't seem
to be all that tightly directional. The EZ10 is free. Give it a try.

My laptop used to work with me sitting on the couch, but occasionally it
would drop out. It didn't work anywhere else at that end of the house
because the couch was lined up with a window in the direction of the
antenna. Now it's fine all over the living room, and out into the
kitchen, so it is extended without being too narrow.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

"Gabriel Afana" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:UfW_a.18811$(E-Mail Removed) et...
>
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:bhh97r$ou3$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Gabriel Afana <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > > I have a Dlink 802.11b wireless network and I am on the ledge of
working
> and
> > > not working because of poor signal. I was told by D-link to buy a
> repeater
> > > or an antenna. Few questions:
> >
> > In all cases, adding reflectors to the APs increases the signal
> > appreciably in one direction. http://www.freeantennas.com
> > I liked the EZ-10. 10 minutes, straight lines.
> > Materials in the house already.
> >
> > --
> > ---
> > Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5
>
> There are two other people in the house with the wireless connection...but
I
> am the farthest away. If I put some kind of reflector, I dont want to
kill
> the signal on the other two computers....would a repeater act as a bridge
> without affecting the other users? Most of the time my network works on
my
> computer...but sometimes the signal just drops enough to drop me....would
a
> big antanna help?? Right now its just got that little 2 inch antenna that
> comes with it on the back of the computer.
>
> Gabe
>
No need to mess with the antenna on the AP -- use a high gain antenna on
your client setup (assuming you have a card that will accept an external
antenna. If not, get one.)

The reflector idea is great for increasing the gain of your existing
antenna. What are you using for a client device? (USB, PC card, wireless
Ethernet bridge?)

Don W.

It
"Don W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:3b-dnaFbk6mSEaGiXTWc-(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Gabriel Afana" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:UfW_a.18811$(E-Mail Removed) et...
> >
> > <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:bhh97r$ou3$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > Gabriel Afana <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > > > I have a Dlink 802.11b wireless network and I am on the ledge of
> working
> > and
> > > > not working because of poor signal. I was told by D-link to buy a
> > repeater
> > > > or an antenna. Few questions:
> > >
> > > In all cases, adding reflectors to the APs increases the signal
> > > appreciably in one direction. http://www.freeantennas.com
> > > I liked the EZ-10. 10 minutes, straight lines.
> > > Materials in the house already.
> > >
> > > --
> > > ---
> > > Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5
> >
> > There are two other people in the house with the wireless
connection...but
> I
> > am the farthest away. If I put some kind of reflector, I dont want to
> kill
> > the signal on the other two computers....would a repeater act as a
bridge
> > without affecting the other users? Most of the time my network works on
> my
> > computer...but sometimes the signal just drops enough to drop
me....would
> a
> > big antanna help?? Right now its just got that little 2 inch antenna
that
> > comes with it on the back of the computer.
> >
> > Gabe
> >
> No need to mess with the antenna on the AP -- use a high gain antenna on
> your client setup (assuming you have a card that will accept an external
> antenna. If not, get one.)
>
> The reflector idea is great for increasing the gain of your existing
> antenna. What are you using for a client device? (USB, PC card, wireless
> Ethernet bridge?)
>
> Don W.
>
>



Its a PC card and I am setup using an accept point.

"Don W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
newskCdnVFZAczBp6CiXTWc-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Gabriel Afana" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> newsX9%a.18935$(E-Mail Removed) et...
> > It
> > "Don W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:3b-dnaFbk6mSEaGiXTWc-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > >
> > > No need to mess with the antenna on the AP -- use a high gain antenna
on
> > > your client setup (assuming you have a card that will accept an
external
> > > antenna. If not, get one.)
> > >
> > > The reflector idea is great for increasing the gain of your existing
> > > antenna. What are you using for a client device? (USB, PC card,
> wireless
> > > Ethernet bridge?)
> > >
> > > Don W.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > Its a PC card and I am setup using an accept point.
> >
> It is possible (probably not practical) to position reflectors to
'collect'
> signal from the access point and reflect it to the built-in antenna on the
> PC card. A better solution (if the PC card has no external antenna
> connector) is to replace the card with one that can easily accomodate an
> external antenna or use a USB or wireless Ethernet bridge for a client and
> build a reflector as others have suggested. By putting the reflector on
the
> CLIENT antenna, coverage area of the access point is not affected.
>
> Don W.
>
>


I will try that right now

"Don W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
newskCdnVFZAczBp6CiXTWc-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Gabriel Afana" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> newsX9%a.18935$(E-Mail Removed) et...
> > It
> > "Don W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:3b-dnaFbk6mSEaGiXTWc-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > >
> > > No need to mess with the antenna on the AP -- use a high gain antenna
on
> > > your client setup (assuming you have a card that will accept an
external
> > > antenna. If not, get one.)
> > >
> > > The reflector idea is great for increasing the gain of your existing
> > > antenna. What are you using for a client device? (USB, PC card,
> wireless
> > > Ethernet bridge?)
> > >
> > > Don W.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > Its a PC card and I am setup using an accept point.
> >
> It is possible (probably not practical) to position reflectors to
'collect'
> signal from the access point and reflect it to the built-in antenna on the
> PC card. A better solution (if the PC card has no external antenna
> connector) is to replace the card with one that can easily accomodate an
> external antenna or use a USB or wireless Ethernet bridge for a client and
> build a reflector as others have suggested. By putting the reflector on
the
> CLIENT antenna, coverage area of the access point is not affected.
>
> Don W.
>
>

It helped a little but not much because even though my card has an external
antenna....I have a bunch of wires running right around it and I can't
really get the reflector in there good. However...whatever I did do helped
because my signal is already up 5%!

"Gabriel Afana" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:97c%a.18946$(E-Mail Removed) et...
>
>
> It helped a little but not much because even though my card has an
external
> antenna....I have a bunch of wires running right around it and I can't
> really get the reflector in there good. However...whatever I did do
helped
> because my signal is already up 5%!
>
>
>
That's a start. What are you using for an antenna?

Don W.