He seems to be referring to one which is connected to the
card by a cable, so it is away from the back of the
(relatively) large metal case which blocks some signal
paths.
That depends on several factors like how much background
noise in the same RF specturm, how long the connecting cable
is (use the shortest one you can to locate it where you want
it), the quality of the cable, the strength of the signal.
There is no easy answer.
Some have the potential to do so, but being only one floor
up in a residential building, unless there is also a large
horizontal distance, you will probably have sufficient
signal without an external wired antenna, providing you have
at least an average quality wifi card and router.
Ok, I should get a decent card. Can I judge this by price. What is a
reasonable price (UK pounds)
Depends on who you ask. If you had trouble getting a strong
signal it is one attempt to improve it, but some people
don't like any more wires and dongled things coming from
their PC than necessary.
If you don't mind wires and have even more free desk space
something that is typically an even better solution is to
buy a router that can be configured in bridge mode, and
connect that to the PC via ethernet cable. That way there
is no signal loss over an extension cable and the antenna
system in a router is usually better than in a PCI /PCIe
wifi network card. Downside is they tend to cost a bit
more... not a lot, not even any more necessarily if you
spend the time to find a sale price on one, but they can
take a few minutes and basic networking ability to set up in
bridge mode (one with a decent manual should provide
step-by-step instructions).
I do mind wires, very little free space (actually none). The router
bought will be someone else's decision. I have permission to connect.
I would like everything in the case (out of the way)
Because you gave your router a unique name and see that in
the available access point screen. You can also use a
browser to access the webpage of a typical router and it
will list the connected systems, at least by MAC address.
You can get the mac address for your PC by doing (assuming
it's windows) a command prompt then typing "ipconfig /all"
and it will list all network adapters including the
corresponding mac addresses.
You can tell, I have never done this before. When it is set-up, I will
need to find its name.
Access Point Screen. I assume that this will be activated on card/
router set-up? Same with browser facility?
I did an ipconfig/all
Could not see the word MAC
I noted that IP Routing is set to 'no'. I assume that this confirms
that I do not have a wireless routing card fitted. Am I correct?
Yes it's a radio connection, but for most purposes (besides
setting encryption for security's sake, picking between
available access points and inputting a password) it appears
just as it would if you had a wired ethernet card.
Not familiar with wired ethernet card?
Yes that is a good idea, there are lots of networking
tutorials online these days, and most major branded network
cards and/or routers will also provide some instruction on
general setup of any router as well as unique settings for
that particular device.
Thank you for taking so much time to answer my questions
Best wishes
S
