Wifi amplifier

docetes

Does anyone know of a non do it yourself wifi amplifier?

Cuddlesworth

No. They don't really work and some are illegal in this country.

softdancomputer

check Maplin, they have some wifi range extenders

e-sull

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

No. They don't really work and some are illegal in this country.

Why illegal?!

wolfric

e-sull wrote: »

Why illegal?!

Because of the huge amount of wifi traffic, any more power and they'll interfere too much together. Imagine what it would be like if every ipod, radio and speaker blasted out at 100 DB. It'd make things very hard to hear all mashed up together (metaphoricly speaking obviously as sound is a mass wave and wifi is electromagnetic)

e-sull

ya i getcha.. would that not really only be a problem in urban areas though??

Snowbat

Yes but EU regulations limit the maximum transmit power of 2.4GHz devices to 20 dBm EIRP.

If this is for a point-to-point link, directional antennas are the way to go - gain on receive *and* transmit plus a reduction in signals and noise from unwanted directions (with line-of-sight and the right antennas, 10km is no problem). If it's for better coverage inside a building, look at deploying multiple access points.

Cuddlesworth

As above, there are power limitations and by boosting the signal you create more noise and interference. The fact remains that the weakest part of a wifi setup is generally the laptop not the router. That's why directional antennas and good lines of sight work much better.

docetes

basically the problem is that the walls in my friend's house "are too thick" so I was thinking if I could get an "amplifier" and place at the other end of the house, she could get better WiFi coverage

Snowbat

Yes, you can do this with either a range extender or an access point. A range extender is easy to install - just put it where it can get a wireless signal from your router and it will relay to the new area. An access point requires running an ethernet cable (or powerline adaptors) from it back to the router but it will give better throughput and generally more stable connections.

Saganist

docetes wrote: »

basically the problem is that the walls in my friend's house "are too thick" so I was thinking if I could get an "amplifier" and place at the other end of the house, she could get better WiFi coverage

Homeplugs are what you need !

http://tinyurl.com/3xgkg29