Long range wireless question

[xbigtone]

Greetings all, new poster here.

I have NTL cable broadband with a Netgear WNR834b wireless router at home. Approx 100m away (with line of sight between the buildings) is my office with a PC and a Netgear WN121t usb adapter. My signal strength is pretty poor, perhaps only 5 lights out of 8 and i cannot get a consistent connection as a result.

What would be the best way of improving the signal strength? Is there any way that i can boost the gain at the recipient end without placing an aerial on the building at the router end?

Hope this makes sense, thanks in advance for any help

[AbyssUnderground]

Try getting a high gain external antenna and connecting that to the router/access point. You could also do the same to the wireless devices.

[xbigtone]

Originally Posted by AbyssUnderground

Try getting a high gain external antenna and connecting that to the router/access point. You could also do the same to the wireless devices.

Thanks. Does "wireless devices" include the usb adapter itself? From looking for antennae on the net, it seems that external antenna are only connectable to the source of the signal ie the router/access point. I cant find one that would boost the gain at the pc adapter. I am hoping as a preference ,to avoid attaching an antenna to my house, and would rather have it on the office building.

[v0id]

http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

[AbyssUnderground]

Originally Posted by xbigtone

Thanks. Does "wireless devices" include the usb adapter itself? From looking for antennae on the net, it seems that external antenna are only connectable to the source of the signal ie the router/access point. I cant find one that would boost the gain at the pc adapter. I am hoping as a preference ,to avoid attaching an antenna to my house, and would rather have it on the office building.

Yes, wireless devices means the usb adaptor itself (but USB adaptors often don't have an external slot on them, PCI and PCMCIA cards do)

If you have a high gain antenna on both places, the chances of having a good signal significantly increase. The antenna does not have to be outdoors, it can be on a stand indoors next to a window closest to the direction of the other building.

EDIT: I should also mention not to use that link above. In doing so you will risk damaging your equipment and/or cause interference to other wireless RF devices if done improperly. This is coming from experience as a radio amateur.