Could someone with computer knowledge tell me why in the particular park we are in I get 4 bars on my laptop but my wifes same brand same age laptop only gets 2 bars?We are using park wi-fi. Hers is 802.11g wireless and mine is 802.11a/b/g. wireless.Any thing short of buying her a new computer I can do to get better signal on hers?

She has a different wireless card than you and yours is stronger. i have the same problem, my wife always picks up more than I do. I think you can update the card, but I'm no that knowledgeable. I'm sure one of the gurus will chime in.

You can buy a USB wi-fi adapter for $30 or more (I have seen them at $20 on sale) and use a 10' to 15' USB extension cable to put the adapter up high. Then you wife's wi-fi should be be able to pull in signals better than yours.

Bill, Can you recommend a particular model and where to buy it? Quite frankly I get lost quickly just searching and have no idea what I'm looking at. Thanks for any help,

Bill and Fred,thanks for the replys.The adapter and cable will be the next purchase.As we all know when moma ain't happy nobody is.

About any USB wifi adapter will improve the signal when you put it up high, but Hawking high gain ones are commonly mentioned. I don't have one myself, we provide our own internet most of the time and our built-in wifi's seem to be fine. But I do know many others who have been happy with a USB adapter. Many run the cable outside through a window and Velcro or bungee the adapter to the TV antenna. Racerguy: If you switch locations for your own and your wife's computers does the situation change? Sometimes the orientation and location of the computer can make a difference.

Bill, we did try changing locations ,even going outside with it.It worked fine the first day here then when someone parked next to us it couldn't connect. When they left today all the sudden it was connecting fine(they were within 5 feet of us).I'm assuming her card is weaker than mine so the usb adapter will probably help in the future.Once we start full time we have a cradle point and a Verizon modem we will use most of the time.Will use park wi-fi  when possible to save on data usage on our card.Thanks again for the help.

I have one of these and am pleased with the performance. http://www.hfield.com/the-wi-fire/ I used to have a link to another solution, a DIY site that showed how to make a directional WiFi antenna that attached to your wineguard crank up antenna. You could use the wineguard antenna to point the wifi antenna at the signal source. I thought it was a great idea but since I had already purchased the WiFire I never bought the materials to build it.

Yeah, different laptops have different quality of radios.

I had a high-dollar HP laptop with (what else?) driver issues, trying to get the magic DLL to bring up the built-in. I was booting form Linux, since Linux comes with all the drivers, on a live CD.

I plugged in an external USB wifi that was laying around the shop and soon I was online and finding the right drivers.  Before long I had both radios, in the same place, and could compare them. One radio had 5 APs listed, the other just 4.

If you're going to be full-time in an RV, you should really think about an onboard computer. Putting an external antenna up through the roof, and putting the machine in a closet, means you can plug-in to the thing while youre inside without missing anything.

I have one, Tripstar, that could barely get any signal at all with the door closed...an all-aluminum and grounded, RV is just a faraday cage after all. Despite the signal loss concerns, I paid $25 for a cable extension to put it outside and I started getting AMAZING connectivity. (Sometimes too much!) Having tripstar there lets me do things like share the internet connection. Mine even hosts a website: http://CounterMoon.org.

I'm nowhere NEAR done with it all, but the computer parts are moving along pretty nicely.

In the future it'll have the whole weather-forcast-watching package, manage cameras for all the blind spots, and act as a security system, too.

The point is: this stuff is both cheap and easy. Mine was given to me. The software was free. The cable cost $25- not a major investment.

Currently installing cradel point router and verizon usb modem along with wilson truckers antenna.This works for many fulltimers.Also will buy usb wi-fi adapter and long usb cord for times I use park wi-fi.

Truckers can have different wireless needs- they spend some time at home, and more of the time on-foot. They also don't usually own the tractor, so anything they get that are fixed, has to be magnet-mounted and all that.

But if I was to get a vintage Airstream, collect the pension and start across the USA, I'd put in a little 'Tripstar' there, too. It's just so very convenient...if you can build one in.

They are so small, though, they can be a lot more portable. I was just seeing such a machine that's a little bigger than a man's palm, and it had 512M, a laptop hard drive, and wireless, too. Maybe truckers could use the stuff I'm fiddlin' with, too?

Far to technical for me,I'm old and lazy and will stick with what I have. Does not take up much room either.By the way welcome to the forum.I'm sure some of the more technically astute will enjoy your knowledge.

Well, I hear ya on the technicals. Understand I've been opening archive files (like .zips and the like) for nearly 30 years now. I've coded my butt off; I'm sick of it.  I suppose it's a matter of being old; I just want a tool to work, so I can get the job done.

Yeah, I've managed to pick up a lot on my way to this point, but one of the things I love about Ubuntu is that it *is* point-and-click. Installing a program is just picking it from a list and waiting for it.

Think a second. Erase all the cruddy time you waste wondering if you have an virus, cleaning viruses, and battle antivirus program, and do nothing but compute- read your mail, surf the web with NO unsafe places.  That's Ubuntu.

And the install's only 6 questions, one of them being your own name.  Sweet.

When you get a machine that's "too old" for Vista or "not worth bothering" to re-install, throw a copy of Ubuntu on there.  It'll open your eyes!