There's nothing quite like using a wireless laptop on my deck in the back of the house while I'm watching the kids play on the swing set. The only problem is that my (only) wireless access point is in the front of my house, so my connection is very spotty and consistently disappears on me. I immediately pondered two alternative solutions:

1. Move the access point to a more central location in the house
2. Add another access point on the other end of the house

While both solutions would require a hard wired Ethernet port on the other side of the house (which I had), the real problem was when it came down to it, my wife would not allow me to put one of those "ugly electronic devices" in the middle of her family room. (Of course, all of the hundreds of toddler toys that were currently scattered all around my family room were works of art.) So, rather than fight the battle, I needed to find a third alternative. 

Using an Antenna

A possible answer came on a recent trip to the computer store. I was just browsing, not even thinking about my problem, when I came across a Hi-Gain Omni-Directional Antenna from Hawking Technology. It claimed on their website to significantly improve the strength of the signal, performance, and wireless network distance of your current wireless access point. Not only was it only $25 (a new access point would have cost me about $100), but the installation required no software and was supposed to be a snap. Wow, if this was true, my problem was solved since I could put the antenna in my office. 

Installation

I had a little bit of time on a Saturday morning, so I decided to set it up. I was anticipating about a 10 minute set up, but as always, I underestimated what it took me.

The contents of the box was fairly straightforward - the antenna, wall mounting screws, and a weird looking wire connector. After reading some interesting background on why wireless signals can be weak, I started into the installation. The first step was to remove the antenna from my access point/router, and verify that I have the correct connector for the antenna. That was straightforward enough.

The next step was to hook the new antenna up to the access point. It was clear from looking at the connection that it would not fit. That's where the wire connector came in. I attached the wire connector to the access point and the other end to the antenna wire, and we were up and running.

Testing it out

Now for the real test. Was my signal strength increased when I sat out on my deck? I took my new laptop outside on the deck, but was dismayed when the signal was so weak that I still could not make a network connection.

Dismayed, but not giving up hope, I went back to the documentation to see if I missed something. There were references to needing two antennas - one on each end of the sending/receiving portions of the network. It mentioned the directional antenna, but not the omni-directional antenna, though. So, I wasn't sure if this applied to me or not.

Again, stumped, I decided to email Hawking Technology's technical support. The answer I received was not surprising at this point: "In order to see significant boost, you need to put a Hi-Gain Antenna on your receiving end. Network traffic is two ways so boosting just one side of your network isn't going to give an improvement."

This was disappointing because that would mean I would have to purchase (and carry around) an antenna for every laptop that I wanted to increase the signal for. This was not acceptable for my situation, so I unfortunately had to resort to purchasing another access point. Now I just need to find a way to convince my wife that it's a piece of art!