Phoenix Network Forums

Anyone here ever tried a wireless adapter that had an external antenna? I am thinking of getting one but i want to know that the range will truly be increased before i do. I have some trouble with the one i have now. On the other hand i have been using this cheap on since the last one had a run in with the dog Is it worth it to go for external antenna or should i just go for a nice regular adapter? It will be PCMCIA btw.

LokNess

Whether or not you want an external antenna depends on your situation. If your AP is 2 feet away from your computer, or you get fine signal strength anyways, then there's no need, and you could even use the built-in wifi of your notebook.

However, if your signal is dropping out at long-range, or if you want to do a little, ahem, "reconaissance" of your neighbors' networks, then you'll want an external antenna. Most PCMCIA wifi cards don't even come with connectors for an external antenna, but you might like a good all-around card such as the Proxim 8470-WD. It comes with an MC-style connector, and it's Atheros-based, so it works well with Linux.

If money is no object, and you want to most range possible, look at the Ubiquiti SRC 300mW a/b/g card (http://www.ubnt.com/super_range_cardbus.php4). It's got smoking transmit power, works with 802.11/a/b/g, and has *two* MMCX antenna connectors. Just beware that this card, unlike the Proxim, does NOT have an internal antenna so you'll have to use at least a tiny external antenna at all times.

I hoped this helped somewhat!

It did a lot actually I really didn't know any brands to look into so i really appreciate that. My router is not far away from the desk but from the rest of the house it has trouble and of course i am sure that recon would go poorly with this card. I dont need super range but I do need a pretty wide range. I will look into those two cards and see what I can find. Any recommendations on where to buy from?

Thanks again
LokNess

Any place that doesn't look too fishy is probably ok. If you're willing to watch it for a good deal, Ebay is great - there are usually plenty of WG511T's up on the block but you'll have to monitor it for a good price. Those "Buy It Now" wardriving kits on Ebay aren't really worth the price - you're better off building your own. Rokland (www.rokland.com) also has fair prices and a good selection, plus they have somebody on AIM (S/N: rokhelper) that you can message to get help from.

I have a proxim card with a external antenna and it works great

The laptop has a built in wireless and the range of the proxim card with antenna is clearly better (however the proxim card without antenna is $hit) had to buy the proxim card due to the software requiring a PRISM chipset

If you don't want g access, the prism2 2.5 3 based smc elite connect 2532 is also a good choice. It comes with an internal untenna but has two external jacks on it and 200 mw of transmit power. Hook it up to a cantenna or whatever you want to use and you're set. Personally, I have been able to access wifi networks roughly 2KM away.

my suggestion to you is to buy a canyon PCMCIA (RaLink chipset) card, and do just a bit of electrical engineering (as in, removing the plastic antenna and soldering the pigtail connector)

it's cheap and it works great (tested several times)

Amen. I must say I agree on the Ralink chipset - cheap and open, so it thankfully works with Linux and most *BSDs.

While on the topic of wireless, I found a good refurbished apple Ibook M6497, does anyone know if this comes with pcmcia slots so I can still use my smc wifi card under linux for ppc?