External Antenna w/ 15" AlBook?

[ChrisBrightwell]

Hi Everyone,

I did some searching and didn't find a precise-enough answer, so here goes nothing. If I missed a thread, someone please point me in the right direction.

My university recently began rolling out 802.11b access across campus, orignating from several buildings. I'd like to be able to sit in my truck or by the pond or whatever and pull a signal from one of these buildings, but that's going to require a directional antenna ... which the Powerbook currently does not have.

Has anyone seen a successful external antenna connection to a 15" Powerbook G4's Airport Express card while *still* using the battery? The Airport Express seems to be a requirement for Mac-based systems on the WLAN, so it looks like I'm stuck with that.

I thought about engineering a flat sort of ribbon cable to connect and taking off the door that goes between the card and the battery, but I'm not sure that such a project would work well enough to be worth the time.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

Anyone?

 

[NEENAHBOY]

I've been wondering this too, as the internal AirPort antenna is extremely weak. However, I don't really want to detract from the beauty of my PowerBook (strange as it may seem), so I was wondering if it was possible to swap out the internal antenna? Could I do it myself, or would I have to visit either an Apple Store or an Apple reseller?

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

Swapping it yourself would definitely void the warranty, nor are you guaranteed your desired results. The problem lies in the radio-attenuating aluminum housing.

 

[Eastend]

Hi Everyone,

I did some searching and didn't find a precise-enough answer, so here goes nothing. If I missed a thread, someone please point me in the right direction.

My university recently began rolling out 802.11b access across campus, orignating from several buildings. I'd like to be able to sit in my truck or by the pond or whatever and pull a signal from one of these buildings, but that's going to require a directional antenna ... which the Powerbook currently does not have.

Has anyone seen a successful external antenna connection to a 15" Powerbook G4's Airport Express card while *still* using the battery? The Airport Express seems to be a requirement for Mac-based systems on the WLAN, so it looks like I'm stuck with that.

I thought about engineering a flat sort of ribbon cable to connect and taking off the door that goes between the card and the battery, but I'm not sure that such a project would work well enough to be worth the time.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks.

I also need an antenna because of distance problems. You might want to check out this site http://www.quickertek.com/index.html
they seem to have a lot of antennas for PowerBooks and even PowerMacs.

Brian

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

I also need an antenna because of distance problems. You might want to check out this site http://www.quickertek.com/index.html
they seem to have a lot of antennas for PowerBooks and even PowerMacs.

I looked at their stuff but couldn't figure out how they connected the antenna to the card and fed it through the PC card slot ... all while using the battery and NOT voiding my AppleCare warranty.

Argh.

 

[Eastend]

I hear what your saying. The Quickertek site says it's easy? I need their base station antenna and I'm thinking of getting their new one, but nobody has used it yet? You can email Quickertek, their owner replies fairly quick. Also their company has got good reviews on some past products, I believe PowerPage reviewed (not really a review, I think they are using it) their older base station antenna.

http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/powerpage.woa/wa/story?newsID=14218

I have a Dual G5 that's 125 meters away from the nearest Ethernet hub so I'm thinking of using a base station with quickertek's new booster and then use a little better antenna for the G5.

Brian