I'm taking my desktop PC away with me this winter as a 23" monitor makes a much better TV than a laptop. It's normally connected to the internet via a LAN cable as has been for years. I like cables. They just work.

However, I'd like the option to keep her connected whilst overseas. As my apartment won't have internet, I normally have to use a laptop to download things and stay in touch with people.

I'm wondering about these motorhome antenna things that people use to pick up weak, free wifi from ages away, but I don't have a lot of money to spend. Is a USB adapter or PCI-E better? What about a boosted antenna?

Basically, my plan would be to leach off the hotel I'll be running, but it might be the other side of the street or a couple of buildings down. Any ideas?

Whilst I can't afford it, this looks promising:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-pce-ac68-pci-e-600plus1300mbps-80211n-ac-24-5ghz-dual-band-ac1300-wireless-adaptor

Although I'm led to believe it's a waste of money unless the router I'm connecting to is 802.11ac (which it definitely won't be).

Although, will this offer more portability for laptop use as well & go longer....?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/edimax-ew-7811dac-ac600-wireless-dual-band-directional-usb-adapter-with-5-dbi-antenna

Depends on how far away it is. We managed to get a wifi signal in our student home from the university campus about half a mile away using a pringles tube. It was a bit hit and miss though and the signal would sometimes drop out.

Please explain further!

You should be able to just google wifi+antenna+Pringles. Basically you make a hole in a Pringles tube, attach your antenna and connect the other end to the router where the stick antenna goes.

There are plenty of articles on the Internet for making a "Pringles" antenna. What is important is that the wireless adapter you use must have an externally connected antenna - i.e. the antenna cannot be built into the card, it needs to screw onto the antenna connector.

We use the 802.11n version of this: http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/deta ... -T2UH.html

We put it inside a stainless steel casing (water proof industry terminals) and run a cable outside to an antenna mounted on the case. Using an antenna with a couple of meters of cable allows you to freely position the cable and using the Pringles adapter allows you to then direct the signal for more range in a specific direction.

Thanks gents. Done plenty of reading now. Seems like a good idea if you're going to be using it outside.

I'm not sure that it would be sensible to do that in the snow!

Given the basic principle is that a directional antenna is better over longer distances, but I'm limited to using the adapter indoors, do we think I'm better off choosing the Edimax for cheapness?

Directional can help indoors as well. A lot of people use it when they have a weak signal going from one end of the house to the other. If you can place it in a window facing the hotel, that would help. That is why the adapter should allow for external antennas.

Thanks Dave. In which case, this:



Would seem to be ideal, at £18. Yeah?

Otherwise, I'm looking at spending that just on an adapter and then buying an antenna separately...