Making a long range booster antenna into a home 'hotspot'

[daisick]

I have an Adaptador WiFiSKY USB Ralink 3070 26dBi outdoor / 2000mW booster antenna that plugs into my laptop via the 5m usb cable. Can anyone please suggest how /what I can plug the USB into instead of my laptop to make it into a 'hotspot' in our motorhome for both myself with the laptop and girlfriend with her ipad wireless able to get on the internet?? Please if you can help, speak slowly as I am a bit thick when it comes to this type of thing, lol.

 

[bill001g]

I am going to assume you are using this device to connect to some remote location to get internet ?

Because it is USB based it pretty much only hooks to a PC. There might be a router that takes this but I don't know of any off the top of my head.

Without completely replacing everything I suspect the cheap way to accomplish this is to use your laptop as a repeater to the ipad. If the laptop has a second wireless card already built in your best bet is to try to run hotspot software on the PC using that card to talk to the ipad and this long range wifi card to talk to the internet. There are a number of hotspot packages, most people like connectify even though it is a pain to use the free version.

 

[Pooneil]

Although I can't tell you how to do it. There is a way to bridge the USB to the built in WiFi. Operated in ad Hoc mode, the laptop WiFi should be able to pass along the internet connections.

I don't have any experience with this company, it just came up on top a a Google search

http://www.wifihotspotcreator.com/

Wi-Fi HotSpot Creator shares your internet connection (DSL, Cable, Mobile Broadband Card, Dial-Up, etc) through the built-in wireless card on your computer. It uses the same technology and security that other commercially available Wi-Fi routers use but without the hassle of buying new hardware at your local store. It turns your computer into a Wi-Fi router instantly with the click of a button.

 

[daisick]

Hi there and thanks for the fast response. Yes I am using it to pick up the neighbors wifi and we are sharing the cost, it's only 50 meters away so we get a great signal. However rather than firing up the laptop every time it's easier and quicker to use the girlfriends ipad, and also if we both want on the net at the same time.
I thought there might be a router or repeater that I could just plug in to that would do the job and act as a kind of hotspot in one room? I have used the laptop as an ad hoc devise to be able to connect with the ipad before but it doesn't seem to work where we are at the moment and I didn't want to keep turning the laptop on just to use the ipad.
We found this on the internet http://www.motorhomewifi.com/product/iboost-d8-directional-system/ and it would do the job we want but it's £160 and the wifi antenna is only 8 dbi where as the one I have is 26 dbi. I have contacted the seller of this system but he says it's not compatible with his system and not possible simply to use my antenna in place of his.
I thought that with modern technology there must be some devise that I could buy and simply plug in.
Any help from anyone would be great even if it's to say it's just not possible and my search can end, lol.
Thanks again for your help.

 

[daisick]

Although I can't tell you how to do it. There is a way to bridge the USB to the built in WiFi. Operated in ad Hoc mode, the laptop WiFi should be able to pass along the internet connections.

I don't have any experience with this company, it just came up on top a a Google search

http://www.wifihotspotcreator.com/

Wi-Fi HotSpot Creator shares your internet connection (DSL, Cable, Mobile Broadband Card, Dial-Up, etc) through the built-in wireless card on your computer. It uses the same technology and security that other commercially available Wi-Fi routers use but without the hassle of buying new hardware at your local store. It turns your computer into a Wi-Fi router instantly with the click of a button.

Hi thanks for the information. I'm always a bit worried about downloading something like this unless I'm 100% sure it's ok.
But I really wanted some kind of devise I could just plug the usb booster antenna into and use as a hotspot to connect one or both of our computers to and didn't want to keep turning the laptop on to be able to use the ipad. There must be something out there that's suitable? And people that want to connect to a free hotspot near them or share a friends/neighbors internet via a wifi booster antenna??

 

[Pooneil]

I understand better now. I have very limited knowledge of the breadth of options so can't recommend something specific to that hardware.

 

[bill001g]

I have tried to find specs on that unit you have it is very hard since the company was bought out. They do not publish the real FCC ids where I could look up how they think they get that number.

If you look at this site that sells just wireless antenna http://www.wlanparts.com/wlan.antennas/ look how huge any antenna that is in the 20db+ range is. How can this company claim that much gain on such a small antenna.

In any case the most cost effective solution will be to replace this completely. There is a commercial router that might support it but it is over $450.

So what you first want is a inexpensive router to have in the house. Nothing real fancy anything in the $50 range. Now for outdoors you can use what is called a ubiquiti airgrid. This unit that is 20db is about $70 but it is huge almost 2ft x 3ft but it works very well. A smaller device is the engenius ens200 http://www.engeniustech.com/business-networking/outdoor-access-points-client-bridges/16617-ens200.

You just plug the outdoor unit into your indoor router with a simple ethernet cable. You have in effect built your own repeater.

One very strange thing to note is the ENS200 has only a 8db gain antenna but the total output power including the radio and the antenna is 26db. That other unit may be quoting total output rather than antenna out.

 

[daisick]

I have tried to find specs on that unit you have it is very hard since the company was bought out. They do not publish the real FCC ids where I could look up how they think they get that number.

If you look at this site that sells just wireless antenna http://www.wlanparts.com/wlan.antennas/ look how huge any antenna that is in the 20db+ range is. How can this company claim that much gain on such a small antenna.

In any case the most cost effective solution will be to replace this completely. There is a commercial router that might support it but it is over $450.

So what you first want is a inexpensive router to have in the house. Nothing real fancy anything in the $50 range. Now for outdoors you can use what is called a ubiquiti airgrid. This unit that is 20db is about $70 but it is huge almost 2ft x 3ft but it works very well. A smaller device is the engenius ens200 http://www.engeniustech.com/business-networking/outdoor-access-points-client-bridges/16617-ens200.

You just plug the outdoor unit into your indoor router with a simple ethernet cable. You have in effect built your own repeater.

One very strange thing to note is the ENS200 has only a 8db gain antenna but the total output power including the radio and the antenna is 26db. That other unit may be quoting total output rather than antenna out.

Hi Bill thanks for the info. and links. The company that comes up for wifisky.com on google seems to be Spanish http://wifisky.com/portfolio/adaptador-wifisky-usb-ralink-3070-26dbi-outdoor-2000mw/#! We are in Portugal at the moment and spend the summer in Germany but where ever we could find a solution to buy in Europe would be great. I would really like to use the antenna I have as it seems powerful and is quite small to use 'on the road' when we travel as well. We have an inverter in the van so can plug into a power supply for a router/repeater, it's just finding one that would work with this antenna and a USB connector?
I know of two people near by that have this system http://www.motorhomewifi.com/product/iboost-d8-directional-system/ so may ask if I can borrow to try out as a last resort if I can't find something to use with my antenna.