Quote: Originally posted by simonnev on 31/3/2014Going for the Alfa AWUS036NH, connected to a raspberry pi for passing on the signal as a wifi router, for tablets etc without a usb connection.
Simon
I am sure you will be impressed, particularly given the modest investment needed to greatly improve signal gathering. I await your findings with interest.
Sounds from your posting that this freebie signal detection program would be of interest:
I have used my Alfa with a Yagi directional aerial in place of the "stick", that could impress with its ability at peeking between caravans etc. Here inSSIDer was useful. But overall the yagi has not been needed very often, though I carry it in case it is.
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My problem is though that if you pick up a signal from somewhere like a pub or site reception you are very often limited to 30mins per day useage before you are either asked to pay, or they simply cut you off and expect you to move on. I have used a dongle in the past, but now mainly just use a tablet and seek out local hotspots. The BT hotspots around harbours and some town centres work fine without any restrictions, but the Fone and linking into someones home hub are very poor indeed.
What l would really like is a more portable fix to this problem that doesnt involve having to plug anything into the mains to enable it to work, so that if l need to, l can use my tablet whilst sitting in the car, or ideally when out and about in remote areas, but is this possible with any of the devices mentioned above?
Julia
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Alfa AWUS036NH works very well for me; I used it in Cyprus in May, and was able use a free wifi service provided by a club which was about quarter of a mile away - using the inSSIDer program, this wasn't visible without the booster - with the booster, a good strong signal! The panel (square) antenna did not however seem to make any difference in this case - perhaps better in other circumstances?
Gram
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