USB Wifi Dongle

[amaravati]

Is it possible to connect a T23 to the net via a wifi usb dongle. I've looked on the net and can't find any clear indication on it.

I'm currently setting up a wifi network for a monastery and would like to get a T23 online using a wireless network. However the laptop is quite isolated, and I'd like to build an extended antenna for it, connecting into the USB port. Is this possible. I'm also open to any suggestions about other ways to connect an external antenna. The laptop currently has a Linksys wireless card installed.

Many thanks,


Jake

[dsigma6]

Sure, you can use it so long as the device has USB...which it does. I never had luck with usb wifi, as the signal was always poor. Admittedly, I used aftermarket brands, but they never fail me when it comes to PCMCIA wifi cards.

[amaravati]

Thanks,

Any other suggestions on attaching an external antenna to the T23 and its wireless card (Linksys Wireless B Notebook Adapter).

Jake.

[rkawakami]

Depending upon the exact model/manufacturer of the wireless PCMCIA card, there could be an antenna jack into which you can plug in any external antenna of your choice. Most jacks are MMCX or RP-MMCX (reverse polarity). Others, you can hack into and connect a pigtail (with most any type of connector you can think of).

If you Google "external antenna pcmcia" you can find some resources.

[schen]

You can try some other cards that have the connector for the pigtail already onboard. The IBM Hi-Rate and Hi-Rate128 have them. They are clones of Lucent/Orinoco/Proxim card. There's also a Dell clone of it that's very easy to find. Anyway; a quick search on ebay or Google will find a wide variety of antenna that people use for Wardriving and such. Anyway, these cards are cheap and Windows has built-in drivers so them might be worth trying out. There are also a number of sites out them that specialize in distance wifi. I once found a site that showed how to use a USB Wifi device with a parabolic antenna around it and attached to the computer with an extension!