14 DAY TRIAL // Wi-Fi home networks have become somewhat of a standard occurrence in just about any modern residence, especially if home owners also love to have around all sorts of wireless-enabled gadgets, such as smartphones, notebooks or Internet tablets.
However, in certain situations that depend mostly on the router's placement and its actual capabilities, the network signal strength and, consequently, the data transfer rates it enables, can be far from perfect, leading to slower browsing and quite a lot of frustration building-up (as you might notice, this is somewhat of a personal experience).
Anyway, if relocating the router or purchasing a new, stronger one are not exactly viable options, you might want to check out the Signal Boosting Wi-Fi Antenna available from Hammacher Schlemmer, which they claim to be able to increase a home computer network's wireless speed and reliability in areas of weak signal strength.
The antenna has a “spatially-diverse design” that has been optimized to receive signals in all polarizations (a spherical signal pattern) capturing weak signals that lesser antennas drop, resulting in better reception, especially beneficial for streaming video.
This rather strange-looking accessory attaches to an existing wireless router, replacing an existing antenna without the need for software installation or reconfiguration, while its flexible gooseneck positions the antenna in an upright position for optimal signal reception.
The device from Hammacher Schlemmer should work quite fine with the large majority of routers available on the market and in users' homes, since it's compatible with 802.11b, g, and n, 2.4GHz wireless routers (no dual-band, sorry).
Plus, it weighs just around 1.5 ounces, so it's not much of a burden, either.
The Signal Boosting Wi-Fi Antenna from Hammacher Schlemmer sells for around 60 US dollars, which is a bit much, since a few dozen dollars more will get users a new, full-fledged, latest-gen wireless router.