Increasing wireless range?? 5 or 7db antenna.

[riddellcomp]

Hello I want to increase the wireless range of a wireless netowrk a mate of mine has setup.
The distance from his AP to the last pc in the network is only about 15 metres but its going through two bedrooms and a bathroom to get there.

Ive seen 5db and 7db antennas on ebay so was thinking of buying two to put one on the pci wireless card and one on the AP.

Does it matter which one I buy, is 7db ok or is that for only certain applications? Is there a trade off somewhere. Will any Ap or wirless card be able to work with the 7db?

Appreciate the advice on this?

[NooNoo]

The only thing that will stop it working is if the connector is a mismatch - there are two major types - most are SMA the other is TNC. Google images should help you identify one from the other.

[HMIBarryLSalter]

The two abbreviations that NooNoo mentioned "SMA and TNC" are referring to the connection types on the back of the Access Point and the PCI Wireless card in your PC. This means, you need to look at the back of your access point and your PC and see what type of connections they have, then the antennas for each must have that connection or come with adapters to connect to those connections.

To answer your question, DB is a reference to gain, the greater the DB the greater the distance enhancement and 3DB "roughly" means twice the enhancement, 6DB is then Double Double and 9DB would be double double double again. So yes, 7 DB is better than 5 by a lot and most antennas that come with AP and Cards are only little 3DBs and are not far enough from source to get a clear path so almost all antennas come with a short cable where as the original did not come with any cable. However, as you are buying antennas, do not waste money on extensions, every extension cuts DB and I've not seen a loss rated but it's substantial waste.

Two more recommendations: pick antennas that are considered directional, they push in one direction better than in the other directions where the signal is not needed. secondly, once your network is working, make sure to secure it using both a web code and Mac address listing in the AP. The mac address is like a finger print and you can program the finger print in the AP plus set up a web code and keep people from messing with your network or using your network to do evil to others..

Barry,