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How To Add An External Antenna To AirPort Base Station

Posted by Hemos on from the pump-up-the-volume dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I came across this article yesterday on how to add an external antenna to an airport base station 2.0 in order to extend its range. Takes about 20-30 mins to complete and with the instructions is very easy."

6 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Possible for version 1.0, too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a tutorial to get external antenna for the first generation Airport Base station:
    http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/Airport/Airpo rt.html

  2. Better tutorial, better pics by Sillypuddy · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.vonwentzel.net/ABS/ExtendedExtreme/ Also tells you the difference between the modem version and the regular version of the airport extreme -joe

  3. Re:Hmm by Oculus+Habent · · Score: 4, Funny

    The AirPort 802.11b "Snow" as opposed to the "Graphite"

    I like the simplicity of the "one name" naming scheme, but it's a PITA to figure things out when someone says, "It's an iMac."

    What color?

    Blue.

    Bondi, Blueberry, or Indigo?

    It's a light blue.

    Does it have a DVD-ROM drive?

    I dunno.

    Is it slot-loading?

    What does that mean?

    It means I'll come over tomorrow.

    --
    That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
  4. Already published on /. by adelayde · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I already had an article I wrote regarding pigtailing the Airport on Slashdot back in April, so why the same story? I notice that there's a bit of repition here, there was another story published on /. recently that was also covered in the same article I wrote.

    I'm not trying to say I did it first here and I appreciate that others may have different or better information, but to be honest, I can't see that this article improves over what I wrote before. My article covers pigtailing the airport and the use of a number of different types of home made antennae with the base station, including range tests as well as disecting both the Aiport and Airport Extreme.

    Perhaps the editors should check a little harder about previous postings when weighing up whether to publish new ones?

    1. Re:Already published on /. by hexdcml · · Score: 5, Funny

      ... you're new here aren't you ;)

      --
      Fight Crime - Shoot Back!
  5. Re:Or you could buy what you need by YouHaveSnail · · Score: 5, Informative

    Or if you want to extend the range of the AirPort 802.11b base station that you already own, and whose warrantee has very likely already expired, then that too is your business.

    It's useful to point out that the performance of any 802.11[abg] base station, Bluetooth node, cell phone, cordless phone, or really any RF device depends an awful lot on the environment in which it operates. Obstacles, reflections, and interference from other devices all play a role. So your AirPort base station may work great when you bring it home, but not so great when you move to a different apartment with different walls. Adding an antenna to your existing unit may improve the performance for a lot less money than adding another base station or replacing your entire network with AirPort Extreme.