Extending WIFI range with antenna

I have a Buffalo WZR-RS-G54 125* High Speed Mode Wireless Remote Secure Gateway in my home which I use so that we can connect to the internet using laptops from anywhere in the house. Unfortunately, our house is quite long, and I find the signal is weaker than I would like when I have a laptop on the opposite end of the house from where the unit is. I can usually connect okay with two bars showing on the signal indicator on the laptop, but every now and then I will lose the signal and the laptop will try to connect to the neighbor's wireless next door. The Buffalo unit has two internal antennas, but it also has a MC style jack where you can hook up an external antenna. What is a good, inexpensive antenna I can buy that would extend the range?

My house is long also. Same problem as yours. One solution would be to relocate the router, putting it more central in the house, maybe in the attic, running cat5 cable to its WAN connection.

If it works, but the signal is low, you might need much antenna. I would go for a low gain directional antenna, not an omni.

You might be able to use a reflector behind the router. The unit would block a lot of the signal, and figuring out where the antennas are actually located inside the unit might require opening the box. The reflector needs to be about an inch away from the antenna, and oriented in parallel. That might be hopelss, but it's free to try. Maybe the "original" EZ-10. That solved my signal problem, but I have an external antenna on my router.

formatting link

You might take that router back, and get one that has external antennas. If that doesn't fix the problem, then the EZ-12 reflector from freeantennas could easily be added.

An external directional antenna might cost more than a new router. The Netgear WGR614 router is $34.99 at Amazon.

The BUFFALO WLEDA2 9dbi panel antenna is $35.99.