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Extending Wireless on 2008 iMac
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Central PA
Status:
Offline
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Is there a way to extend the wireless range on the April 2008 24" iMac? I'm trying to access a free wifi network (city project in Philly) and just barely getting a signal. I'd like to pull in as much as possible. What can I do, either using the internal Airport Extreme or going with some external wireless adapter.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles
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Offline
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I guess you'd have to use a USB adapter because the built-in antennas are internal.
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"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Oct 2005
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can airport express connect to the free wifi and share it to the iMac?
I'm not sure if it's possible, but if it does it'll surely extend your wireless range..
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Caught in a web of deceit.
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Originally Posted by outaru 
can airport express connect to the free wifi and share it to the iMac?
I'm not sure if it's possible, but if it does it'll surely extend your wireless range..
You can't do that (unless you attach the iMac via Ethernet to the Airport Express), but how would that help you anyway? It's not as if the Airport Express has excellent RF anyway. Plus I find the Airport Express as a client way less reliable than the iMac. Go figure.
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Moderator  Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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You might get a third-party wireless base station that supports external antennas - I know my D-Link does that - and then connect with a cable to that one, I guess. Not that I've tried it.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Central PA
Status:
Offline
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I think I found the solution. I have a Linksys WRT54G router that I'd bought because I heard about the DD-WRT firmware. Loaded that, set the router as a client bridge, and connected it to my iMac with a cat5e cable. I can now pickup wireless networks around me whereas I couldn't keep a connection with anything outside the house before. Since that works for me hopefully the same setup will work to connect to the city wireless that I need to access (at another location).
Now I feel like experimenting to see just how far I can pull in a signal from if I use a different antenna on the router (they're removable).
Also wondering if I established multiple connections on one computer how would it make use of them? Seeing all the non-encrypted networks around I wondered if that could be done. Just in theory, I wouldn't do that to someone else. What about multiple connections to this city wireless network? It'd be equivalent to running multiple computers so its not misuse, just everything on one Mac.
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Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Feb 2006
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802.11n pretty much does what you are suggesting: multiple frequencies from the 802.11b/g spectrum and the 802.11a spectrum are bonded to provide the increased bandwidth. That of course happens at the hardware level. Making multiple connections to the same wireless network at a software level will do nothing or more harm than good. Making multiple connections to discreet networks makes sense in theory, but I doubt that it would be possible/functional.
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