Wireless Hacks

Add-on Laptop Antennas

Improve the range of your laptop with an add-on antenna.

Possibly the most frequently asked question at any wireless user’s group is “how can I make it go farther?” The single most effective means for increasing your range is to add antenna gain. Most people think of adding an external antenna to their access point, or replacing the existing antenna with one of higher gain. While this can help all of your wireless clients, most people ignore the need for a good antenna on the client side. While some laptops (such as the Apple iBook and Sony Vaio, to name two) ship with antennas embedded in the laptop screen, many people are using add-on wireless cards.

These cards leave an annoying little “lump” sticking out of the side of the laptop, parallel with the keyboard, and very close to the table top. This is the laptop’s only antenna, and in most cases it can be greatly improved on.

Not all wireless cards accept external antennas. Some (like the Zcomax XI-300 and Proxim RangeLan-DS) have removable antennas, allowing removal of the little plastic “lump,” and will accommodate two external antennas using Pigtail adapters [Hack #66]. Others (like some Cisco and Senao/EnGenius cards) have no internal antenna at all, and work only with an external antenna.

Adding an external antenna to your laptop has two important effects. First, most antennas have much higher gain than the tiny dipole antennas contained in many wireless cards. Second, and possibly even more important, ...