Are Wi-Fi BOOSTER ANTENNAS any good?

eBay shows a lot of listings for "Wi-Fi BOOSTER ANTENNA". Some of them
claim compatibility with Linksys WMP11 (802.11b) I have.

Are they more than hype?

TIA, Eugene

On 22 Jun 2005 15:36:39 -0700, "Eugene F." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>eBay shows a lot of listings for "Wi-Fi BOOSTER ANTENNA". Some of them
>claim compatibility with Linksys WMP11 (802.11b) I have.
>
>Are they more than hype?
>
>TIA, Eugene
My dad bought one that was supposed to work with Linksys .g network
MADE BY LINKSYS and it did not do anything! I downloaded the software
from Linksys, the software that came with the device did not work, and
guess what, no luck at all!

On 22 Jun 2005 15:36:39 -0700, "Eugene F." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>eBay shows a lot of listings for "Wi-Fi BOOSTER ANTENNA". Some of them
>claim compatibility with Linksys WMP11 (802.11b) I have.
>
>Are they more than hype?

You mean like this one?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5784114216

I think it's marginal. The problem is not the antenna (although I
have some issues with vertical collinear antennas). It's the attached
coax cable. That's 6ft of what I'm guessing is RG-316 coax at about
0.4dB/ft or 2.4dB loss in the coax. The antenna may have 7dBi gain,
but the overall gain is 7-2.4 = 4.6dB.

Also, notice that the vertical radiation angle of the antenna and the
skew (main lobe uptilt or downtilt from horizontal) isn't specified.
That's because a 7dBi omni has a vertical beamwidth of about 15
degrees. That's fine if it were perfectly horizontal, but not with
that arrangement. My guess(tm) is that there's about a 10 degree
uptilt in the radiation pattern, resulting in most of the RF going to
the sky instead of to the horizon. That's useful if you want to talk
to airplanes, but not for stations at the same elevation.

So, between sending most of the RF into the sky, and losing about half
the power (and rx sensitivity) in the coax, I consider this antenna to
be a loser. The only place I could think it would be useful is to
improve inherently horrible antenna locations, such as the back of a
PC (with a PCI wireless card) or inside a shielded vehicle, like a van
or panel truck.


--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831.336.2558 voice http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
# (E-Mail Removed)
# (E-Mail Removed) AE6KS

Jeff,

<<< The only place I could think it would be useful is to improve
inherently horrible antenna locations, such as the back of a PC (with a
PCI wireless card) ... >>>

My case exactly. Should I use the one from eBay or are there better
ones?

TIA, Eugene

On 23 Jun 2005 09:06:29 -0700, "Eugene F." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

><<< The only place I could think it would be useful is to improve
>inherently horrible antenna locations, such as the back of a PC (with a
>PCI wireless card) ... >>>
>
>My case exactly. Should I use the one from eBay or are there better
>ones?

No opinion as to the source, quality of the construction, or terms.
eBay seems good enough.

However, unless you have a need for all around coverage, I would
suggest you look into a *DIRECTIONAL* antenna rather than an omni.
Small patch antennas with coax pigtails can be found for somewhat more
money, but have more gain. However, the idea is not to get more gain,
but to reduce reflections and possibly interference pickup that would
be present if the antenna were an omni. If your desk is up against a
wall, putting an omni antenna next to the wall (on a shelf) wastes
half your signal going into the wall. If the wall is reflective, you
get multipath. Therefore, I suggest using a directional antenna of
some sorts, which doesn't have this problem.


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

Eugene F. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Jeff,

> <<< The only place I could think it would be useful is to improve
> inherently horrible antenna locations, such as the back of a PC (with a
> PCI wireless card) ... >>>

> My case exactly. Should I use the one from eBay or are there better
> ones?

I just added a "Hawking HAI6SDA Directional 6dBi 2.4GHz Antenna" from
Fry's to a Netgear PCI card. The computer was facing the router, so the
original antenna was behind the computer. This new antenna has about a 1
meter cable with the right connector, and changed the WindowsXP indication
from 2-3 bars to a solid four bars. It was on sale for $14.99 the day I
picked it up. http://shop3.outpost.com/product/3931628
http://www.hawkingtech.com/prodSpec.php?ProdID=143



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

<<< I just added a "Hawking HAI6SDA Directional 6dBi 2.4GHz Antenna"
from Fry's to a Netgear PCI card. >>>

It it compatible with Linksys WMP11? I'm not sure what "Reverse-SMA
connector" is.

Why does the web-site description
(http://www.hawkingtech.com/pro*dSpec.php?ProdID=143 ) list software
compatibility ("Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000//NT/ME/XP and more!")?
Does it need its own driver?

TIA, Eugene

Eugene F. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> <<< I just added a "Hawking HAI6SDA Directional 6dBi 2.4GHz Antenna"
> from Fry's to a Netgear PCI card. >>>

> It it compatible with Linksys WMP11? I'm not sure what "Reverse-SMA
> connector" is.

http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/rad...st.php#linksys
says the WMP11 is RP-SMA. The HAI6SDA comes with an RP-SMA cable.

> Why does the web-site description
> (http://www.hawkingtech.com/pro?dSpec.php?ProdID=143 ) list software
> compatibility ("Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000//NT/ME/XP and more!")?
> Does it need its own driver?

No driver. I think that's marketing speak. The other data sheets, for
active components, list the OSs supported, so this data sheet does.

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

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 05:25:20 +0000 (UTC),
(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>Eugene F. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> Why does the web-site description
>> (http://www.hawkingtech.com/pro?dSpec.php?ProdID=143 ) list software
>> compatibility ("Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000//NT/ME/XP and more!")?
>> Does it need its own driver?

>No driver. I think that's marketing speak. The other data sheets, for
>active components, list the OSs supported, so this data sheet does.

Methinks the problem is that there's no really clear definition of the
terms involved. Here's my contribution to the mess:

Windows Compatible: Doesn't blow up when installed.
Windows Ready: Doesn't work, but might some day.
Microsoft Certified: Out of date drivers. Updates required.
Windows Required: Assumes Windows is working.

I hope this helps.


--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831.336.2558 voice http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
# (E-Mail Removed)
# (E-Mail Removed) AE6KS

"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Methinks the problem is that there's no really clear definition of the
> terms involved. Here's my contribution to the mess:
>
> Windows Compatible: Doesn't blow up when installed.
> Windows Ready: Doesn't work, but might some day.
> Microsoft Certified: Out of date drivers. Updates required.
> Windows Required: Assumes Windows is working.
>
> I hope this helps.
>

Certainly put a smile on my face.
One of my favorites was "My AOL is so secure not even I can get in..." but
these certainly beat Microsoft orifice and Media Spewer (Player)
cb