Making wireless reception better?

[Rufio]

OK. I have the VPR Matrix 200A5.

Great laptop, but crappy 802.11b reception!!!

How can I make my reception better? Can I mod it w/a better antenna? Or do I have to get a new mini-pci card?

BTW this laptop has built in 802.11b, and i am guessing that the antenna is internal. It seems like there is no antenna at all, because the range seriously sucks with it.

 

[sharkeeper]

Methinks it would be easier to boost your AP ERP then attempt modification of an expensive notebook. The former will increase the range with excellent results!

Cheers!

 

[Rufio]

thx for the reply shutteteam.

How would I go about doing a thing like that?

 

[ericboo]

I bought external AP antennas from HDCOM. Hopefully they have antennas for your AP. They work as advertised. Mine were less than $90 for a good 10+dbi gain.

 

[dquan97]

wrap the notebook in foil

 

[Beau]

Without taking it apart and sodering a new antenna to the radio, I doubt you could improve the reception of the machine itself.

You could amp the AP.

You could also just buy a new WiFi card for your machine that has a stronger transmitter (I have a 200mw in mine). Would be even better if you could get a card like an Orinoco that has a mini plug for an external antenna. If you had one, then you could also build a circularly polarized yagi for your machine, and get much better reception.

 

[Rufio]

Originally posted by: Beau
Without taking it apart and sodering a new antenna to the radio, I doubt you could improve the reception of the machine itself.

You could amp the AP.

You could also just buy a new WiFi card for your machine that has a stronger transmitter (I have a 200mw in mine). Would be even better if you could get a card like an Orinoco that has a mini plug for an external antenna. If you had one, then you could also build a circularly polarized yagi for your machine, and get much better reception.

Beau, do uhave any idea where i can learn more about building my own yagi antennas?

 

[sharkeeper]

You can make them from allthread, fender washers and a pringles can!

Seriously!


There's plenty of references on the web...


Here is an example

Cheers!

 

[Zap]

I followed the link that shuttleteam provided (BTW, thanks for that link), which took me to another link, which took me to another link, which took me to another link, which took me to another link, which took me to another link, which took me to another link, which took me to another link, which took me to another link, which took me to another link, which took me to another link, which took me to another link, which finally ended up wasting 2 hours of my life. Cool stuff. I've actually purchased $140 WLAN antennas :Q which may or may not work better than homebrew stuff. The Pringles Yagi antenna sounds cool, but a simple waveguide antenna may be better, plus it's easier and cheaper to make than the Pringles Yagi (imagine that!?!?!). One person benchmarked various homebrew antennas and found (in his particular application) that waveguide antennas gave better performance.
Tin can waveguide antenna
Dang it, now I'm wanting to try building my own.

wrap the notebook in foil

Bad idea.

get a card like an Orinoco that has a mini plug for an external antenna

Being able to use external antennas is probably the best way to improve performance. Few products support external antennas and different brands may have their own types of connectors, so choose the device before getting cabling/antennas. With the proper stuff you can shoot a signal for miles. I've seen claims of 20+ miles for 2.4GHz. My own experience has been just under 5 miles.