Wifi and Antenna

[kaspaas]

Hi,

I currently have a ADSL Modem/Router/WiFi combo from D-Link with 2dBi antenna.

It provides not much WiFi coverage in the office - I'm getting a single bar signal strenght according to my MS XP connectivity indicator.

If I replaced the 2dBi antenna with a 12dBi omni, how much stronger would the signal be? Would the reach increase substantially?

I realise that the biggest problem is rather the laptops "whispering" than the WiFi AP not being strong enough.

How would such a move influence the neighbours in the office park?

(The policy is that people must use ethernet cable when working at their desks. WiFi is a "nice to have" when moving your laptop to another office for a team session)

 

[psichron]

Wish I payed more attention to antenna theory class now.

Anyway, read this: http://www.australsurveillance.com.au/indexantgain.html

So basically a 10dB increase in antenna gain will be the same as a 10x increase in transmitter (laptop output) power. It will be both easier for your laptops to communicate with the AP and for the AP to communicate with the laptops.