hooking up a computer to an external cantenna - 20 foot away

I would like to hook up a PCI wireless network card ( external antenna
connector) or with a USB wireless adaptor to a Cantenna.
Problem is computer is in the basement approximately 20 feet away from
the cantenna.
can this be done without tremendous signal loss ?
Are there any alternatives ?

 

Have you considered an external directional antenna with it's own USB thing
in it? They make off the shelf directional antennas with a built in USB
transceiver, and have used them with two 10 FT usb extension cables, + the
built in 6 FT one (total 26 FT).. Why in the heck would you even want to
consider a "cantenna"? That term is usually used by cheap people thinking
"pringles can antenna" that they can make cheap or free. Several
manufacturers make "external USB directional antennas", but about $100, not
free like a pringles can.

 

A USB adapter on the cantenna fed by a 20' USB cable should work fine with
no losses

Guy

 

Can a USB adapter be used as the transmitting/receiving element in
a waveguide cantenna at all? I thought they used different mechanisms.

 

A picture of Bob's is at:
http://members.cox.net/tulsaalstons/images/IMG_1571.JPG
I presume that Bob's looks like mine. An internal view of mine:
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/usb-can/im000742-800x600.jpg
And the folks that got me interested in USB dongle reflectors:
http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/

 

Cantenna was only meant as a generic term for an external antenna.
See a couple of people have used them as an example in their photos of
their answer.
Seems to work for them why insult the humble Cantenna.
Bought a Cantenna commercially out of laziness and a good reference
standard. Ypi ovrepaid at a $ 100. I paid around $ 50.
My son is still angry at me for being so stupid as to pay $ 50 for a
can.
Do you need any cans ? Still have some lying around.
Regarding the USB adaptor in the parabolic antenna is the adaptor just
stuck into the middle rear of the parabola or is somehow connected to
an antenna wire ?

 

I see no problem with buying a www.cantenna.com product.
I don't think the pretty can is worth $50, but it's certainly worth
something. I have suggested to them that they should also do a USB
version, but I didn't get the pleasure of a response.

Would he pay someone to paint his fender after a crunch, or would he leave
the replacement fender primer? Did he build one for you for free?

The new zealand solution, Bob's solution, and my solution use an unmodified
USB dongle, no new wires. The dongle should nominally be positioned at the
focal point of a parabola. The positioning for my can was up for debate,
and I haven't tried the suggested alternatives. I used the calculator at
http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

I can't tell what the commercial http://www.keybola.com/ uses.

Jeff and David both like the idea of tearing open the adapter and soldering
something to the adapter to use a standard cantenna.
(a pringles can is different from a cantenna waveguide.)

Jeff doesn't have a reference site, but David's makes nice reading.
http://www.nodomainname.co.uk/cantenna/cantenna.htm

 

Thanks for your input.
I can see the USB pen type adapters could be positioned easily.
What about an external USB adaper such as Linksys /Network Everywhere
NWU11B network adaptor in such a situation.
There are screws on the bottom to open it up.
Antenna is on a pivot about 2 1/4 inches long.
What would you recommend to build the external antenna ( parabola shape
I assume) ?
Would a Dishnet satellite dish be of use as a good reflector for the
antenna ?

 

Thanks for your input.
I can see the USB pen type adapters could be positioned easily.
What about an external USB adaper such as Linksys /Network Everywhere
NWU11B network adaptor in such a situation.
There are screws on the bottom to open it up.
Antenna is on a pivot about 2 1/4 inches long.
What would you recommend to build the external antenna ( parabola shape
I assume) ?
Would a Dishnet satellite dish be of use as a good reflector for the
antenna ?

 

Thanks for your input.
I can see the USB pen type adapters could be positioned easily.
What about an external USB adaper such as Linksys /Network Everywhere
NWU11B network adaptor in such a situation.
There are screws on the bottom to open it up.
Antenna is on a pivot about 2 1/4 inches long.
What would you recommend to build the external antenna ( parabola shape
I assume) ?
Would a Dishnet satellite dish be of use as a good reflector for the
antenna ?

 

Thanks for your input.
I can see the USB pen type adapters could be positioned easily.
What about an external USB adaper such as Linksys /Network Everywhere
NWU11B network adaptor in such a situation.
There are screws on the bottom to open it up.
Antenna is on a pivot about 2 1/4 inches long.
What would you recommend to build the external antenna ( parabola shape
I assume) ?
Would a Dishnet satellite dish be of use as a good reflector for the
antenna ?

 

David Taylor uses one of the full sized USB adapters. I've only used the
dongles.

What are you trying to do, anyway? You might just need a reflector.
I just built a "windsurfer" and I see 13 dB improvement, for a cost of
nearly nothing. I printed the template on the backside of some HP photo
paper where I had printed photos I didn't want, used a glue stick to paste
some aluminum foil to it, and I was done... It took me about twenty minutes
because I kept dropping the assembly on the floor as I was trying to tape
it together. http://www.freeantennas.com EZ-12
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/windsurfer-dining.JPG
The signal with the reflector is not only 13dB stronger, it's more stable.

I had previously used the EZ-10, but I gave it away, and I thought I'd try
something new.

"Painting" a big dish requires a little better pattern that you are going
to get from a USB dongle... maybe.
Trevor Marshall used a Primestar dish, but that's close enough to use some
ideas. He built a biquad as the driven element, yet another choice in
antenna types in its own right.
http://www.trevormarshall.com/biquad.htm

 

Thanks for all of your help.
Now that I reread the thread with some expertise ( ?) there is a
tremendous amount of usefull practical information that is shared and a
number of very exceptional links on the topic.
I built an antenna with a small USB adapter.
Works amazingly well.
Only problem is that signal strength is low in reception with link
qualtiy very high.
Netstumbler only picks up a low percentage of the hits.
Additional info aside from the limited info from the adapter utility
would be usefull. (SSID does not always show up, does not readily
identify if encryption is turned on).