Cheap wifi nic card with antenna jack?

hi,
I want to build a wifi antenna and hook it up to my laptop, can
someone suggest a cheap wifi card with an antenna jack? I have a
hawking nic already in my laptop, will i get much better reception
with the hormel can antenna? If so can I somehow disassemble the
hawking and wire the tin can antenna into it or should I buy one with
a jack? Thx



Lenny

Try Wi-Fry... :-)

http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/

Try Wi-Fry... :-)

http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/

"Lenny" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>I want to build a wifi antenna and hook it up to my laptop,

OK....

>can
>someone suggest a cheap wifi card with an antenna jack?

By "card", I presume you mean PCMCIA or PC Card type of wi-fi device.

>I have a
>hawking nic already in my laptop,

Any particular model Hawking NIC?

>will i get much better reception
>with the hormel can antenna?

Hormel? Didn't they invent spam? Are you sure you want to be known
as a spammer? Maybe if you wear one of these:
<http://www.spamgift.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=1141>
nobody will notice.

>If so can I somehow disassemble the
>hawking and wire the tin can antenna into it or should I buy one with
>a jack? Thx

I'll presume that you have no idea which Hawking product you own and
therefore will have limited success with your adventure into Learn by
Destroying. However, I can offer some general guidelines.

If you look at serial number label on the device, you'll probably see
an FCC ID number. Plug the number into the FCC ID search at:
<https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm>
and look at the inside photos. That will give you an idea of whether
a coax cable pigtail can be attached. The general proceedure is to
tear your device apart, remove or disconnect any internal antenna, and
attach a coaxial cable pigtail. The soldering is critical and has a
huge impact on performance. If you've never soldered before, this is
not a good beginners exercise.

See:
<http://repair4laptop.org/wireless_lan_antennae.html>
for a few clues.

My guess is that the typical Hormel Spam can is too small to be useful
as a 2.4GHz antenna. I'm not sure what you're thinking in the way of
how the antenna is to be used (vehicle, bicycle, coffee shop, fixed
location, etc) so there's no way to recommend a specific type of size.
If you plan to build your own, I recommend one of the biquad types:
<http://martybugs.net/wireless/biquad/>
<http://www.lecad.uni-lj.si/~leon/other/wlan/biquad/index.html>
<http://www.brest-wireless.net/wiki/materiel:biquad>
<http://www.wlan.org.uk/g8ota%20double-quad.gif>
<http://www.vallstedt-networks.de/?Fotogalerien/quad2>
<http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~redwood4/>
<http://www.wikarekare.org/Antenna/bicircle.html>

A good question is how much gain do you need. I have no idea because
you didn't supply any clues as to how it's to be used. As a rule of
thumb, if you *ADD* 6dB of antenna gain (minus coax cable losses), you
will double your range. 12dB gain will give you 4 times the range.

As to the build or buy decision, that's yours to make. If you think
you can build any of the above, then I suggest you build something.

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558