Long range wifi antenna help!

[jidemunn]

Attempting to get my parents free wifi through our neighbors' connection, however, they just gave us the wifi name, and password saying that we'd have to do the rest. Which is understandable, and very nice of them either way. So, the neighbors are across the street, and having been an idiot, my dad did research, found old equipment, and purchased some of it.

Now, I know a bit about routers, and computers, but not this much. I'm not macguyver with tech, at least not as much as I'd like.

So, my dad purchased these items.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015QF7EMK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HIJCB8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DWFPDNO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Now, they go together physically, but I cannot seem to get them to work together. The router doesn't pick up wireless signals that are farther, or stronger than their laptops even with the antenna attached. Is there something I'm missing? Is the router incorrect?

I would like to scrap the whole mess and start over with one of those all in one units where it's a long range antenna, with a built in router repeater bits, but we don't really have the money to do that.

Please help with whatever you can!

 

[RealBeast]

It is unlikely that gear can be used to pick up your neighbor's wireless signal as you need a two way wireless connection from the neighbor wifi and wireless signals don't usually have sufficient strength to be useful at a distance without directional APs.

The first thing to do is download a free wifi analyzer app on your cellphone and post the signal strength that you get for the neighbor SSID (wifi network name). We can go from there.

 

[kanewolf]

A directional outdoor access point like an Engenius or Ubiquity is the easiest way. You would put the AP (configured in router mode) outdoor or in a window pointed (it is directional) at the neighbor's house. As @realbeast says, you need to know the signal level of the neighbor's WIFI. If their router is at the opposite end of the house, then it may not work no matter what hardware you buy.