Extend My Wireless Range

I am at a college in which the school network is not good.

I live in an apartment on campus and next to me are many other apartments which have their own unsecure router wireless networks.

My wireless card sometimes only picks up the school network or nothing.

I am forced then to use ethernet.

I dont want something that I need to buy.

Is there any software program that will extend the range of my wireless card?

That is what I have
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Card

 

No, but a freeware antenna enhancement might work.
You can use this even if using a PCMCIA adapter, or the antenna is built into the wireless case.

Move it around and watch what happens:

Steps:

• Build a parabolic reflector. See: http://www.freeantennas.com/
  It takes me about 15 minutes with shirt cardboard, a glue stick and aluminum foil. But I am very crafts challenged.
• Use Netstumbler for guesses as to how to orient the parabolic reflector.
  http://www.netstumbler.com/

If you are using a notebook, consider sticking the reflector underneath the PCMCIA stub. For notebooks in general, use a Corner reflector, or just stick a metal cookie sheet underneath the laptop and in various other orientations. (the wireless adapter antennas in laptops using PCMCIA tend towards a vertical orientation, those with antennas horizontal).

 

You should ask permission before using others open wireless networks .
I now see that Bill has made some good recomendations.
Placement of your laptop can make a big diffirence. Metal and heavy objects as well as metal foil in insulation in the walls can have a major impact on reception. A lot of the signal although reception is considered line of sight is actually the bounce around. So moving a small amount ( inches , feet) can make a big diffirence.
Netstumbler can help you diagnose signal strength. Often most of the routers are all set to default settings. Most indeed are two brands D-Link ( default network name SSId is the word default) and Linksys ( ssid Linksys or wireless). Since these are generally set at defaults of channel 6 - channel 6 routers may be problematic since the reception may be bouncing between more than one similarily set up router so that actual reception is erratic. The amazing thing is that the Windows wireless utility is set for ease of use and does not even report channel number so that users do not know of conflicts. And if the channel of the router they are attached to changes channel ( some can be set ot automatic or changed manually in the control panel of the router) the user is generally unaware of the change.
There are other usefull utilities for setting up wireless networks such as Winc or there was one program with a bar graph of signal strength called aerosol. Also network magic can be usefull.
The antenna in a laptop lid overall are very good. The laptop (PCMCIA ) cards are nowhere as good. The antennas in them are very small.
Antennas are usefull. They work not by increasing signal strength but by focusing it. Bill pointed you to a very good source for inexpensive reflective antennas. Perhaps you can make a simple reflective antenna with a reverse umbrella and tin foil.
A very simple USB wirless adapter antenna can be made with a generic ( relatively cheap ) USB wireless adapter and standard usb cables .

see: http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/

You can always sell the wireless usb adapter after

http://www.wifi-shootout.com/

Remember to ask permission of any wireless networks before piggybacking.

 

Let this be a lesson to you - ask permission !

Singaporean faces jail for tapping wireless network to make bomb threat

SINGAPORE (AP) -- A Singapore court charged a man for posting a bomb hoax online while illegally tapping into a wireless Internet network - both offenses which carry jail terms, court documents showed Friday.

Lin Zhenghuang, 21, was charged Thursday with posting a message on a popular technology Web site on Jul. 22, 2005, saying there was a bomb at a local bus depot, according to charge sheets obtained from the subordinate courts.

Lin, using the online moniker "krisurf," is accused of posting a message titled "Breaking news - Toa Payoh hit by bomb attacks" in the forum of the Web site hardwarezone.com, the documents showed. Toa Payoh is a district in central Singapore.

Lin's alleged post, which was made just after the London subway and bus bombings earlier that month, had so alarmed other site users that they contacted the police, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

The court granted Lin a week's adjournment to mourn a relative's death, the report said, adding Lin said he intended to plead guilty to the charges.

Lin faces up to seven years' imprisonment and fines of up to 50,000 Singapore dollars (US$32,500; €24,900) for sending a false message about a bomb.

Lin also faces 60 charges of tapping illegally into nine unsecured wireless Internet networks between July 2005 and February 2006, the court documents showed. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a fine of up to S$10,000 (US$6,500; €5,000).

Lin is the second person to be prosecuted in the city-state for illegal wireless Internet access under the Computer Misuse Act. A Singaporean teenager was charged in November 2005 for a similar act.

Leaders of Singapore, a staunch U.S. ally, say the wealthy Southeast Asian island nation could be a prime target for terror attacks. In the wake of the July 7, 2005, London bomb blasts on three subway trains and a bus that killed 56 people, Singapore deployed a new armed police unit dedicated to securing the city-state's subways and stations against possible terror attacks.




link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ST&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-01-05-01-27-23