My solution which I will try this weekend:<br><br> The Quicky <br><br>Does anyone think for a moment before they name stuff? <br><br>This thing seems to be the ticket.<br><br>1) connects directly to USB<br>2) Software driver tells the computer to use it as an antennae.<br>3) The USB can be extended with a cable and<br>4) the antennae is connected by mini coax so I go to Radio Shack and get a mini to CATV coax male/female and a CATV coax to mini female/male and I can use the house installed CATV coax to put this antennae way up in the attic.<br><br>Or I can use it all by itself. There are tons of times I am just getting a signal so this thing if it really does crank the signal will come in handy.<br><br>Still working on boosting the cell phone signal although I haven't put any aluminum up in the attic yet to reflect the signal. <br><br><br>If it all works I will still miss not being connected. I wish I had self control. It was cool being surprised this morning to find that the Tampa Bay Rays are tanking and the Yankees have fallen to 4th place. <br><br><br><br>

That looks handy, thanks for the tip.<br><br>But, (there always is one) I would expect it to suck the electrons out of the battery real quick. I'll be interested to see how it affects battery life. <br><br>Edit - That will help as long as the signal coming to the laptop is strong enough, can't boost the incoming other than from the source you know, maybe the antenna is better.<br><br>------>#1 - JD's Trivia game<br><br>------>#2 - MM-MCF Trivia game<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Reboot on 09/08/08 01:03 PM (server time).</EM></FONT></P>

Hadn't thought of the battery but at least where I will first be using it I will be plugged in. That does remind me that I need to get a car adapter for my MBA because that is the second place I will be using it. Roving neighborhoods to post my email. I will post a before and after on my signals using iStumbler as well as battery usage.<br><br><br><br><br>

You're right this thing may drain the battery. I have had it running successfully for 20 minutes and the metal box is hot to the touch. I would guess it to be about a half watt of juice being expended inside it. 500mWatt receiver sounds about right.<br><br>It has boosted my normal base station from 76 to 100 percent and my neighbors signal from 27 to 76.<br><br>This weekend I will try out a real life example. I haven't added any distance on the wiring yet.<br><br>[edit] I can also pick up 8 wireless networks in my neighborhood instead of just two.

The install is slightly complicated but not in some absurd way. There is a pkg and a restart. Then the next good thing to do is turn off your Airport and then plug the dongle into the USB. Network preferences shows up as well as a wireless utility which shows available networks. Getting on an encrypted router is no big deal if you know the password. An Airport base station might need to be querired to find the complete network password which is different than the one you normally use. Airport utility hides this part from you.<br><br>Yes it is hot, I would guess 60 C.<br><br>