Wi-Fi Signal Booster

Gillor

Off to Tenerife in a couple of week’s time.

Although our hotel has access to free wi-fi in and around the reception area I can just about pick up a signal in our room but it is so weak as to be almost next to useless.

Would some type of USB signal booster help and if so, any recommendations suitable for a Samsung NC10 Netbook running XP?

Gloomendoom

I always pack one of these when travelling.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-TL-WN722N-150Mbps-Wireless-Adapter/dp/B002SZEOLG

It makes a huge difference in weak signal areas.

Get one with the stand included. It's more convenient than having the thing sticking out the side of your laptop.

jshm2

You would need to ask reception if you're allowed to use a wifi signal booster first.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-TL-WA850RE-Universal-Extender-Configuration/dp/B00AHXXJVW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471887716&sr=8-1&keywords=tplink+wireless+extender


It may be better to just get a USB wifi adaptor with an antenna instead.

Gillor

jshm2 wrote: »

...It may be better to just get a USB wifi adaptor with an antenna instead.

I think you're right so going along with @Glendoom's suggestion.

Thanks for the replies.

buglawton

I'd go for a directional aerial that you use together with the USB dongle already mentioned. You'll probably need an extension cable too. This rig-up has the best chance of working and isn't crazily expensive.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-ANT2409A-9dBi-Directional-Antenna/dp/B000N9B66U/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1471929322

NiftyDigits

Gillor wrote: »

Off to Tenerife in a couple of week’s time.

Although our hotel has access to free wi-fi in and around the reception area I can just about pick up a signal in our room but it is so weak as to be almost next to useless.

Would some type of USB signal booster help and if so, any recommendations suitable for a Samsung NC10 Netbook running XP?

Old Skool eh? XP?

Unless you have a particular love for XP, you may be pleased to know that Samsung provided the ability to install and activate Windows 7 for free in their last firmware update.

It is right here
Check that it is the right update for your machine.

Once installed, that's it. You can just install Windows 7 using a Samsung re-installation disc and it will activate.

You can put a 2GB module in if you haven't already done so: http://www.sammynetbook.com/samsung-nc10/samsung-nc10-2gb-ram-upgrade-guide/

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2GB-1x2GB-MEMORY-RAM-SAMSUNG-NC10-N110-N150-LAPTOP-NETBOOK-UPGRADE-/231498155296 You can find for less. That's just an option guaranteed to work.

The only crap thing about this Netbook is no AHCI mode. So not optimal for SSD, which would really transform the performance.

I was able to enable AHCI mode on my ACER Aspire One ZG5 model from 2008 (by enabling all of the hidden menus), so I don't know what happened to Samsung there. Netbook is now fun to use. No waiting for things to happen.
They (Samsung) did have an option to switch it on in the earlier firmware, but it was reported to not work anyway. They blocked access to the menu in the newer versions (06CA onwards) and added the ability to activate Windows 7 in the latest. But no AHCI mode is a big failure.

Gillor

Thanks Buglawton but unless I am mistaken doesn't this need to be connected to a router, which would be difficult in a hotel.

buglawton

It's just a dumb high gain directional antenna for receiving wifi so needs to be connected to one of those USB dongles that has a stick aerial that can be unscrewed, then you screw the end of the cable of this onto the stub. Read the reviews, people use them on yachts etc to pick up wifi from shore.

Gloomendoom

Gillor wrote: »

Thanks Buglawton but unless I am mistaken doesn't this need to be connected to a router, which would be difficult in a hotel.

No, you simply unscrew the omni-directional stick aerial on the device I linked to and attach that directional aerial. You then point it at the hotel's router/access point.

If you can find one, you could just buy one of these...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Outdoor-150Mbps-Wireless-Adapter-Antenna/dp/B00DJ23D3W

I have one, screwed to a wooden base for stability, and it is superb. I have connected to a wifi access point a nearly a quarter of a mile away with it. It's bulky though.

Gillor

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Old Skool eh? XP?

Er! Not really.

My main machine is a desktop running Windows7 64-bit on what was considered to be reasonably highly spec’d machine three years ago.

The Samsung is only a “spare” I use almost exclusively on holiday for simple surfing, emails and picking up BBC iPlayer and I’ve got XP pretty much watertight with a combination of inbound/outbound firewall + virtualisation/sandboxing + anti-exploit + anti-executable/application whitelisting.

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Unless you have a particular love for XP, you may be pleased to know that Samsung provided the ability to install and activate Windows 7 for free in their last firmware update.

Great info. thanks. I’ll give it a try this weekend. Doesn't make the machine slower than it already is does it?

NiftyDigits wrote: »

You can put a 2GB module in if you haven't already done so..

Already done it.