I have benn looking for an USB Network Adapter with an external antenna connector. I would like to use it with a notebook computer. I would add an external antenna to the unit. I do a lot of travelling and find myself with limited connectivity while staying at a hotels. This is particularly true if I get a room that is assigned at the ends of the hotel. Their signals are usually being transmitted near the elevators that are in the middle of the hotel floors. Can somebody recommend an adapter?
Luis I have been working on a small USB portable antenna for the last couple years. I think it is the best on the market. I have put a lot of money in designing this antenna. The Signal Seeker out performs all other small antennas. I have them on eBay at a discount right now. You can look at my feed back of what several hundred other people are saying. I hope I don't get bashed for mentioning this on here. But I am so pleased with this antenna I never hardly ever leave the house without it. When I'm traveling I can connect just about anywhere. When I stay in hotels I don't know of a time I could not connect. I usually would be able to connect to several different hotels. Ed
You DON'T NEED an antenna with USB adaptor ! The adaptor can be on up to 5m of cable (more if you have powered hub), more then enough for any hotel room. I use D-Link GWL 122 which comes with 1.2 cable with a cradle / stand on the end. If necessary putting a V shaped card covered with aluminium foil behind works with weaker signal. Regards, Martin
" I've used it. Note that you probably don't even need an antenna, because you can position the unit so that the internal antenna is sufficient.
Personally, instead of that, I'd get the WLI-TX4-G54HP, which is a high power Ethernet converter. It plugs into your Ethernet port. It can also take an antenna, but you're unlikely to need one. I get excellent reception from an access point located quite about 175 feet or so from my house. The downside of this is that it requires a separate AC adapter, while the USB device doesn't. I don't think that a USB high power version is possible without the use of a separate power adapter (some notebooks have one higher power USB connector for this reason, but its proprietary with a hole off to the side that certain peripheral with a keyed connector can use).
You could also try a high power CardBus adapter for your notebook. It also takes an antenna. I get excellent results with it, but the downside is that you can't really position it for best reception.
Antennas often don't help a tremendous amount because of the losses in the antenna cable. It's much better to have a USB or Ethernet connected device that you can position for best reception, be it on the floor, hanging from a light fixture, or up on a shelf. Still, it's nice that Buffalo includes an antenna jack on their products, since many wireless devices omit this.
Just take piece of card say, 12" x 6", bend it in half at 45 deg (i.e. V shape), cover the inside in aluminium foil and stand it on it's edges around the back of the USB adaptor / dongle. It reflects the signal towards the antenna in the adaptor and provides better and steady signal. Regards, Martin
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