[quote=Ostrogoth]First, thx for your informative posts over at SlickDeals.net.
Second, TF were including the Moto WR850G in one of their wireless packages just a few weeks ago, so you never know. FYI, if you get a router without removable antennae, you can usually install a new connector with just a little bit of soldering.
Third, if all else fails, build one of the parabolic reflector patterns from freeantennas.com like this one: http://www.freeantennas....ts/template2/index.html[/quote]

Yeah, I seen the 850G but I have a Dlink DI-524 and just picked up the Linksys WUSB54G for $10 on here. ( I hope they will play nice together )

Oh, I almost overlooked your thnx , your welcome!

Just as a reminder to those who would buy this... Make sure your Router or whatever your using this with can have the antennea replaced. I purchased one of these not realizing that and now I'm not sure what to do with it. Main reason I goofed was because I when I purchased this I was thinking of my old router and not visualizing my new one in my head... silly.

This did absolutely nothing for my wi fi. Am I missing something or have I been flinged over!

Donna

Thanks for the shout out.

@Donna: A higher gaine focused antenna, like this one, can make a lot of improvements, if you orient it correctly and place it in an ideal spot, but also keep in mind that a antenna upgrade isn't going to magically boot your signal strength if it's already extremely weak or poor, or if there are a lot of obsticles in the path of such signal. Wifi doesn't travel through stone very well for example so if you've got a brick wall in the way you might be out of luck on that one. But anyway look at this way, the radio in our router/access point only puts out so much power into the air, usually something pretty miniscule, the FCC limits it so as not to cause interference with other devices, and/or so it doesn't cause brain tumors!. Anyway so the radio puts this power on the antenna, which radiates it into the air. When you upgrade the antennae, your still radiating the same amount of power, only you'e focusing it a little more into either a narrower ray, or in some cases a shotgun blast. The standard antennae that comes with wifi products is an omni directional meaning it shoots the signal 360 degrees, you can imagine the signal emanating from it like a doughnut--fatter and stronger in the middle, andtrailing off as it extends upwards and downwards, with a dead spot at the top and at the bottom of the antennae. Anyway so higher gain antennaes focus this power so it's less all directional and more intense in one direction. Kinda like the tin cone on a flashlight around the bulb. The one F sells I believe is a forward flat panel which means it directs the signal 180 degrees in front of the panel. You should in theory get better signal in front of the panel, while getting none to little signal behind it... So make sure you are orienting the antennae correctly for starters. Also it helps if you can to mount the antennae up high on a wall, or on top of a bookcase, or even the ceiling, because this will lessen the amount of obstacles the signal has to travel through to get to a far away room by putting it above furniture that the signal would otherwise have to travel through. Be mindful of stone walls, and also keep in mind that metal and even water I believe cause the signal to reflect. So in short, you weren't hoodwinked, a high gain antennae can make a lot of difference if positioned properly and given the right circumstances, but as I said the radio still outputs the same amount of power, so if the line of sight is obfuscated, or if you're trying to reach the 4th floor from the basemen, it's not going to work miracles. In that setup if you have a large home, usually what you would want to do is put additional access points strategically around the home. I have for example three wireless access points that together cover my entire home plus a good portion of the yard along with gazebo. Anyway you achieve that by giving them all the same SSID while different channels1, 6, and 11 are the recommended)

Which is another point, if you are suffering from poor signal everywhere, you ought to try changing the channel on the radio. If something is causing interferrance on the channel you're using (say like a neighbor who is using the exact same channel as you) that can cause poor signal strength off the bat. Most routers default to channel 6, so it's usually a good idea to go to 1 or 11 if possible just to avoid the noise that channel 6 gets. If you look at your laptops wireless management program you'll probably find a feature called "wireless survey" that'll scan the air and tell you which channels are already being used around you. You should space your channels 5 apart to avoid signal bleed which is why 1, 6, and 11 are most commonly used, but if all are unavailable, just shoot for the spot that's less used, it'd be better than nothing.

Anyway sorry for the book, but wireless setups are a strange and mysterious animal. There is any sorts of reason why you aren't seeing any improvement with the antennae, I would suggest just playing with it, that is sometime what it takes. Kinda like fidgeting with the old rabbit ears. Best of luck!

I got a couple of these the last time round. They work. I used them on a couple of PCs that are far away from my main router. This antenna was able to get the signal strength from barely usable back up to what is needed for a really good connection. Since the PCs also sit on the floor they have very poor "line of site" back to the router. This antenna connects by a cable back to the wireless card and lets you put the antenna in a better position, higher up. You point the antenna in the direction of your router and you are good to go.
You would not want to use this on a wireless router unless it is only connecting to wireless devices that are all in one direction from the router. It takes your wireless signal and changes it from output that looks like a table lamp (in all directions) to an output like a flashlight (all light focused in one direction, but very bright.) If you put this on your main router then all the wireless devices that want to connect to it would have to be in the direction that the antenna (flashlight) is pointing.
Now if you only want to connect one PC to your router and you put one of these on both the router and the PC and point them at each other, then you can get a good signal even if the PC is a very long way from the router.