Pigtails
Use a short length of feed line to connect your wireless device to an antenna.
While
some wireless equipment has no external antenna connector available
at all, many devices ship with a tiny, non-standard port to
accommodate an external antenna. Most antennas use a standard
microwave connector [Hack #63]. Typically, to connect
one to the other, you need a short length of cable with one of each
sort of connector. This connector is commonly referred to as a
pigtail adapter. A pigtail in all its glory is
depicted in Figure 4-29.

Figure 4-29. A Lucent pigtail with an N male end.
Pigtails are available from a number of sources. They typically sell for $10 to $20, depending on the length and type of cable, and what connectors you need on each end. Be sure that you know what sort of connector [Hack #65] you need on the card side as well as on the antenna side. Most 802.11 manufacturers will also sell you a pigtail adapter for a phenomenally inflated price ($80 to $100 or more, for virtually the same piece of cable).
Pigtails have extremely high loss compared to a larger cable (such as LMR400), and usually use a cable such as LMR100 or LMR195. It is generally a good idea to keep your pigtail lengths as short as possible, and run larger, lower-loss cable for the bulk of your antenna run. Be sure to observe the type of connector, as well as the gender (male or female) that you need ...