War-driving help? do Wi-Fi antanna's really work? what should I look for?

Here's the deal in the town I live in the cable/ISP ends at the highway just north of my place.
In other words no internet to the house. however there are a number of hotels that line the highway who offer free Wi-Fi but I'm like a half mile away from the closest one...

Anyway I have been reading up on these Wi-Fi range extenders--- cantenna, USB-Yagi, alfa.
There's like a gazillion do-dads out there that claim to increase my laptops Wi-Fi hopefully giving me the added range to connect to one of those free Wi-Fi connections.

so my question is--- what should I be looking for? any hints tips or suggestions would be muncho appreciated

In all honesty your best best is a directional radio transceiver dish on both ends, this will require your neighbors to have a dish too, so you are unlikely to be able to "leach" their internet.

I have have some experience with site to site long range wifi, but its really not great. If theres no way to get cable to your house, i very much doubt anything but a very focused radio or microwave link between them.

Half a mile is too far for any conventional wifi, but i suppose it depends on your local topography too.

The only way not to waste money, is to some how figure out who will put a proper line in for you, or you get an expert in to give you an assessment, anything else is pure guess work and luck.

Having used site to site links before, they are unreliable, your data rates will vary and it will be a general pain in the ass.

You need fiber or cable to the local exchange or a friendly neighbor unless you have wimax, either way, aint gunna be cheap!

sorry.

Ummm...

Back in my more rambunctious phase, a pringles can and spare wire hanger and wires did wonders for my... activities.

Anyway yea they will work, may be some legality issues, just make sure your sticking to public wifis.

ETA:

Its all line of sight btw, the less objects between you and the signal will help, Higher is better, I even toyed with the idea of long cable and balloons to get the antenna higher .

reply to post by Biigs


I already talked to the cable company...
they say they only service the city proper. but since I'm south of the highway I'm in the county so no service.
being a small town like we are there's no 4g networks either.

reply to post by HardCorps


There are also Satellite internet to consider, their speeds are getting to 10mbs range, not great, but not bad if its your only choice.



excede

reply to post by benrl


Okay...
but since my laptop has a built-in Wi-Fi card, how do I change from the internal antenna to an outside one?
Like the Yagi one they sell has a USB connection and comes shipped with a install disk--- but how would I do that on my own?

Edit to add.
Looked into sat-internet.
that's really pricy... worse than cell rates when it comes to downloaded data.

HardCorps
reply to post by benrl

 

Okay...
but since my laptop has a built-in Wi-Fi card, how do I change from the internal antenna to an outside one?
Like the Yagi one they sell has a USB connection and comes shipped with a install disk--- but how would I do that on my own?

Edit to add.
Looked into sat-internet.
that's really pricy... worse than cell rates when it comes to downloaded data.

edit on 28-3-2014 by HardCorps because: (no reason given)

69.99 plan is unlimited web with a set data cap for other traffic,

Installing a usb wifi card is easy, just put it in and it should detect and install itself depending on version of windows.

Also, make sure the card has a removable attena so you can change it.

here is a cheap way i pay 0 for my wifi

This video really helped me get a strong wifi signal for up to 0.5km from my house.

999zxcv
here is a cheap way i pay 0 for my wifi

Actually, someone else pays for your WiFi. You're stealing it. Perhaps they don't "get it" and have not secured their network, but stealing from a stupid person is just as much a crime as stealing from a smart one.

schuyler

999zxcv
here is a cheap way i pay 0 for my wifi

Actually, someone else pays for your WiFi. You're stealing it. Perhaps they don't "get it" and have not secured their network, but stealing from a stupid person is just as much a crime as stealing from a smart one.

who me

i use somebody's unlimited wifi account that they do not use it was a freebee for fixing up their computer so we both won and their is plans to broadcast wifi free from space soon .

and feckbook announced today that it will use drones etc to connect the 2/3 of the planet that do not have internet what could go wrong there

reply to post by HardCorps


Most Hotels require you to enter a password in order to use their WiFi. A lot of Hotels use WEP for their security, and that is very easy to crack, or...um... at least that is what I read somewhere.