>OK everyone, back here looking for more expert advise.
>
>I am not very happy with the truck stop internet service. I
>have an internal card on my computer with no antenna. I
>think that the lack of antenna is the main problem. Who
>knows where to find a USB mobile antenna? I guess that is
>what I need. I look online and see half a zillion antenna
>and connector combinations. I am also unsure as to what freq
>etc. I have both TA and Pilot service. Thanks in advance
Ok I see your problem; it is common with many laptops that have internal 802.11 cards (including mine). The antenna for an internal wireless card is in the cover or screen part of the laptop. Even right now, if I move my laptop two feet to the left, the signal disappears. Sometimes you may see my truck turned away from the truck stop antenna because I use a reflector to increase the signal.
With internal cards there are two solutions if there is no jack.
One is to open up the laptop and ‘rewire’ the internal card to an external antenna. I don’t recommend this unless you have really good micro-electronics background.
The other option is to build a (don’t laugh at this, this is what geeks call it) re-antenna. There is a site that describes how to build an antenna that ‘attaches’ to your laptop (back of the screen) to act like a link to an external antenna. I can’t find it now but when I get a chance I will post it. Basically it is simply a piece of Plexiglas which has a tuned piece of wire connected to the jack for the antenna. It is critical that the wire is tuned to the frequency of the wireless antenna.
Opps Sorry I forgot; 802.11a is at 5 GHz and 802.11b/g is at 2.4 GHz. thse are microwave frequencies and don't do well with metal or trees with leaves. I think that T/A, Pilot and FlyingJ use 802.11g.
Hope this helps.
