[jmelrose]

Ok, all sorts of questions. The folks trafficing the Networking board don't seem very active, which is far from a problem on here (especially lately), so I hoped some wireless guru on here might be able to loan some expertise:

First, I am wondering if I use an external antenna on a Airport Extreme Base Station if if that means the built-in antenna no longer is used. In order words, if I get a directional antenna, does that mean going behind the direction the antenna is facing will get no signal, or just not the boost? I have a side of my house I want to boost, but my DSL is off-centrally located in the home. The side not needing a boost is my living room, and I'd hate to find out I get no signal anymore, as it currently works quite well.



Next: I have a linksys wireless router connected to satellite internet. I need to get access to my cabin, which is around 200 or so feet away. Is there a way I can use the AE basestation and antenna to relay the linksys signal to my AlBook? I know the antenna in it won't be strong enough. Is there a way of attaching an antenna to the Albook airport card via PC card? Otherwise, will the AE/w antenna do the job?


Finally: During the summer I am a northern Wisconsin camp administrator, and we are, for the first time, getting satellite broadband for our main office and staff use. (We are in the middle of nowhere, so for us to be able to post photos to the web and allow our international staff "zippy" access to their email, this is the route we've chosen. Cabled methods are unavailable in the area, due to its remoteness.)
I don't remember the provider we are going with, but our plan is to have the satellite set up and connected to a wireless router (a linksys) which will then connect to the main office and the staff offices wirelessly. The computers (all PCs, except for mine) will have Linksys WUSB11 Wireless Network Adapters on them.
As I plan ahead for how to access the connection from my home (at the camp), I am concerned about range/signal strength. I have a Powerbook G4 (Al15"/1.5ghz), and the lovely built-in Airport antenna that comes with it. <sarcasm off> The wireless router has a range of approximately 300 feet, and these 300 feet are mostly trees and open air, not much metal to interfere with signal. However, I am highly doubtful that I will be able to access the router from where I live, about 60 yards or so away.

So, my question is, what can I do to improve the powerbook range?
Is there a way I can take my ABS with me and use it to boost the router's signal?
What if I put the ABS in a building 1/2 between the router and my house to act as a relay... would that make a difference?
Or, is there a piece of hardware I can buy which I can install at the wireless router, my computer, or inbetween the two to use the internet connection?

Thanks for reading all this.I'll look forward to hearing back from y'all.

Best wishes,
jmelrose

[amazing]

This would be a good question to post in the Apple forums, there's a lot experts there.

As far as I know, only another AE can connect wirelessly with the base AE to extend the range. In other words, I don't think that an AE can connect wirelessly to a Linksys. You could, of course, bury an ethernet cable from the Linksys to your cabin, which would allow any other cabins in your area to have faster access. If you're going to do that, I'd suggest getting a cheap Netgear router for your cabin.

As for the Linksys in both installations, be sure to get 802.11b wireless routers. The range in the g-wireless routers drops off faster than the b-wireless, from tests that I've seen and from my own experience with 2 Netgear wireless routers (the Netgear b-wireless had better signal away from the base station than the g-Netgear at the same distance.) And I'm noty talking "airport bars of reception" which is notoriously inaccurate, I'm talking broadband measurements, or even Kismac measurements.

If you don't want to go through this hassle, get a wireless PMCIA card because it will have better range than the built-in. Again, don't get a g-PC-card, get a b-wireless card. I've got a Cisco Aironet, and the range is comparable to an iBook. You could test the wireless range on your home system, to compare it to your built-in airport. If it doesn't extend your range, you can take it back for a refund.

[teknopimp]

these guys carry external antennas:

http://technowarehousellc.com/quan.html