I want to get better reception range with my Toshiba Satellite

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dannyual767

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Fernandina Beach, Florida
I'm running XP and the built-in wireless card works great. However, there are parts of my house that have very poor signal.

When I'm at work and on break in the lounge, the wireless is so weak that its almost unusable.

What about those wireless devices that plug into USB ports? I've looked at some on CompUSA's website. Many are for USB2.0 and I don't think I've got that. I've just got a whole bunch of the standard USB ports.

Thanks for any help you can give.

I think that with the proper cable (2.0 on one end and std USB on the other) I can use these "2.0" devices.

Will I get better range? Anyone have any experience with any of these things?
 
How old is the laptop? If you plug in any USB device (newer ones mostly, such as an mp3 player, mouse, etc.) do you get the message that says "this device can perform faster"? If so, then you have USB 1.1. if not, then your ports are USB 2.0. And those usb dongles may or may not give you better range. You could always see if you can put a range extender antenna on your router to boost the range throughout the house.
 
Walls, doors, and floors will also effect the stregth of your wireless signal. Your best bet for at home is to have your router centrally located, so you can get a better signal all around.
 
My Toshiba isn't quite 2 yrs old yet. I think that it must have the 2.0USB ports. I think I was led down a wrong path when I was looking at a picture of some other port on CompUSA's website. It led me to believe that the new 2.0 ports were different.

I've read the reviews of some of the products on Comp's website. Some seem to offer a signal improvement. I think that I'm going to give one of them a try.

I'm also thinking about installing a better antenna on my home D Link router for better router coverage. However, at work I'm still going to need a better antenna for my laptop to pick up our wireless coverage in the break lounge.
 
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