Looking for USB (or firewire) wifi signal booster for MacBook Pro

[Armak]

Hello!

I'm in New Orleans, just moved into a building that's over 100 years old, and there is no infrastructure available to support a cable line or DSL. However, I'm just near enough a nearby cafe that I can kinda/almost get their open wifi network in my apartment... Just enough to show up in the Airport list, but not enough to keep a connection open.

I was hoping that there's some kind of usb or firewire attachment I could get that'd boost the receiving power of my laptop. Dragging my computer down to the various coffeeshops in the neighborhood is not only a drag, but getting increasingly risky as the summertime rainstorms increase.

thanks in advance for any advice/recommendations,
_Randy

www.BurningAnnie.com

 

[alphaod]

You would have to either get a external card and then a cantenna or get a router and set it up as a repeater.

No DSL is weird unless you're saying you have no phone service either. Have you tired cellular?

 

[Armak]

Yup, no DSL because no functional landlines. Lots of the city's infrastructure is borked since the storm (not that it was so great before the storm!).

An "external card plus cantenna" sounds like what I'm after, although I've never heard either term before. Any recommendations?

What is the cellular solution? My cell phone (AT&T) has internet; is there some way of sending its connection to the powerbook?

thanks much,
_R