So I just moved into an apartment directly opposite one of my University's gyms and dorms. From the front room, which faces the gym, my housemate's iBook can pick up the University's wireless signal, although I can't on my Powerbook from the back room. Is there any device we could buy that would pick up the University's wireless, and rebroadcast it, so that we could get wireless all over the house, and not pay for it (apart from the 40K we pay the university)?
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Stealing Wireless
- Thread starter ribbonthecat
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Are you telling me your College doesn't include broadband access to on-campus apartments? Or are you off-campus but nearby?
Anyway, I don't think so. Some networks support range extenders, but I believe they're hardware specific.
Anyway, I don't think so. Some networks support range extenders, but I believe they're hardware specific.
Basically, you need two devices:
- One to capture the wifi signal
- One to rebroadcast it
Personally, I'd do this:
1. Setup a machine w/ a wifi card (and ext. antenna), connect it to a hardware router via ethernet (as the WAN device).
2. Configure the router as you would any router.
The biggest point of failure will be in the machine w/ the antenna. It'll be prone to attacks and what-not, but if you harden it too much you may render your connectivity useless. Find the balance.
- One to capture the wifi signal
- One to rebroadcast it
Personally, I'd do this:
1. Setup a machine w/ a wifi card (and ext. antenna), connect it to a hardware router via ethernet (as the WAN device).
2. Configure the router as you would any router.
The biggest point of failure will be in the machine w/ the antenna. It'll be prone to attacks and what-not, but if you harden it too much you may render your connectivity useless. Find the balance.
To clarify, I am a student at the University, and they do not provide broadband to off-campus housing. I am perfectly allowed to go on campus, however, and use their wireless, so I'm not sure if the title of this thread is technically correct.
Try a cantenna
Check this out. I use one on my network from my house to the field (quite a distance) and it works great. You can attach it directly to your airport card (make sure you have the right connector from the antenna to the airport card, or you can attach it to a wireless lan router or base station). http://cgi.ebay.com/Super-Cantenna-...741079106QQcategoryZ61816QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
ribbonthecat said:
Check this out. I use one on my network from my house to the field (quite a distance) and it works great. You can attach it directly to your airport card (make sure you have the right connector from the antenna to the airport card, or you can attach it to a wireless lan router or base station). http://cgi.ebay.com/Super-Cantenna-...741079106QQcategoryZ61816QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
ribbonthecat said:
there are some linksys routers with opensource firmware that can supposedly turn a regular WAN router into a wireless repeater. i've never done it, but look here for more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G
just to be clear, though, did you take your powerbook to the front room and try connecting? because it may not be position, it may just be differences in the airport card and antenna between your powerbook and your roommate's ibook. most likely its a mix of the two.
ribbonthecat said:
If you have a Titanium PowerBook, you could add an external antenna to it.
http://www.macworld.com/news/2003/04/08/quickertek/
This will probably work well for you. http://www.dlinkshop.com/product.asp?sku=2582440
You can use this range extender to repeat most any 802.11g signal. DLink also has a heavier duty business grade model. If you are getting a weak signal you can add a high gain antenna. I would get at least 10 dbi. DLink carries both 14dbi directional and 18dbi omni directional antennas. But I would just buy one from Hawking since they are generally cheaper.
http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/index.php?CatID=32&FamID=58
Once I use to work in the networking department at Compusa and found customers got very little gain from antennas of less than 10dbi gain. As for the range extender DLink is the only big name I know of that specifically makes dedicated repeaters.
The only problem you would really have is if your college network uses one of those login programs from Cisco. You might be able to get around that with a repeater from Cisco networks, but they are expensive
.
You can use this range extender to repeat most any 802.11g signal. DLink also has a heavier duty business grade model. If you are getting a weak signal you can add a high gain antenna. I would get at least 10 dbi. DLink carries both 14dbi directional and 18dbi omni directional antennas. But I would just buy one from Hawking since they are generally cheaper.
http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/index.php?CatID=32&FamID=58
Once I use to work in the networking department at Compusa and found customers got very little gain from antennas of less than 10dbi gain. As for the range extender DLink is the only big name I know of that specifically makes dedicated repeaters.
The only problem you would really have is if your college network uses one of those login programs from Cisco. You might be able to get around that with a repeater from Cisco networks, but they are expensive
.