External antenna for Mac Mini?

Question

Level 2

165 points

External antenna for Mac Mini?

A friend has a G4-based Mac Mini (PowerMac10,2). Is there a way to attach an external antenna for its internal AirPort Extreme card so that it will pull in more weaker WiFi signal?

If attachment of an external antenna is not possible, what would be an alternative?
A USB stick that has an external antenna port?
Since she relies on local free WiFi signal (and hence is not on ethernet connection to the internet), she must pull in weaker WiFi signal to start with.

Please advise.

Mac Pro (MacPro1,1), Mac OS X (10.6.6), MacBook Pro (2007)

Posted on Mar 14, 2011 1:52 PM

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Answer 1

Asatoran

Level 4

2,532 points

Mar 14, 2011 4:17 PM in response to Kunio Mitsuma

A friend has a G4-based Mac Mini (PowerMac10,2). Is there a way to attach an external antenna for its internal AirPort Extreme card so that it will pull in more weaker WiFi signal?

While it would be technically possible to add an external antenna, it's gonna require some skill to pull it off. Better to get a USB dongle.

A USB stick that has an external antenna port?

If you can't find a USB dongle with an antenna jack. then get a USB extension cable. That way you can move the antenna to find the best reception. Often just moving the dongle higher will have noticable effect (instead of "hidden" behind the monitor, desk, cables, etc.)

If attachment of an external antenna is not possible, what would be an alternative?

If you're feeling ambitious, you could find a Wi-Fi access point that can be configured as a "bridge". Basically it would act as a "receiver" instead of a "transmistter". You'd then connect the access point to the wired ethernet jack of the Mac. It works very similarly to how a USB adapter would work, just that the connection is by ethernet instead of USB.

Not all units can act as a bridge, so you'd have to shop carefully. But may units will have an external antenna jack. So you could then get high gain antennas, which could potentially do better than a USB adapter. But the complexity is obviously going up so this is probably not the way to go for most people. But if the signal is really that weak, then a bridge with a really high-gain direction antenna could be the best option.

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Answer 2

Kunio Mitsuma Author

Level 2

165 points

Mar 14, 2011 6:29 PM in response to Asatoran

Asatoran - Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me.

I may surprise you when I say this, but the "ambitious" option you cited is exactly what I just successfully tested at my home. The idea is based on this approach: http://lifehacker.com/#!265142/turn-your-wifi-router-into-a-repeater

And, on eBay, I found a Linksys WRT54GL with Tomato already installed at a reasonable price. When it is set to *Wireless Ethernet Bridge* mode, it does exactly what I want it to do. So, when I bring this Tomato box to my friend's house, I will connect it to her Mac Min via ethernet cable. Since this Linksys box has detachable antennas, I can try to attach either a high-gain directional antenna and/or an amplifier to it.

Thanks again for trying to walk me through this. The discovery of the Tomato box is truly a God-send.

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