Hawking's HWU8DD Hi-Gain USB Wireless-G Dish Adapter
posted Dec 15th 2005 2:00PM
One of the curses of living in the expansive Engadget mansion, with its thick stone walls and cloud of wireless
signals floating through the air, is the difficulty we sometimes have in picking up a WiFi signal out by the hot tub.
We've tried other signal boosting/capturing methods before, with varying success, but we've got high hopes for the
uber-geeky-looking HWU8DD Hi-Gain USB Wireless-G Dish Adapter from Hawking Technology, because something this
conspicuous just has to work well. As its name indicates (or maybe not), the HWU8DD hooks up to your laptop or
desktop via USB and focuses its data-sucking powers directly towards your access point. Hawking claims that this device
(which would go great in this guy's house), with its new
8dBi directional dish antenna, "extends wireless connection distances by up to 300%" — well we're gonna take this bad
boy for a test drive, and if you find us blogging from the jacuzzi surrounded by bottles of Cristal and pics of gadgets
with their cases removed, you'll know that this product lives up to its claims.
[Via Wi-Fi Net News]
I used the Hawking 2ft omni and amplifier for a wireless hotspot. Awesome products. I'll try this out when it's available.
"Unfortunately there are no featured merchants listed for this product"
I wonder what the price on this bad boy is?
Looks like i'll have to stick to my chunky soup can antenna which is probally cheaper to make anyways...
Do they have a helmet mount for this? That would be sweet!
"Conspicuous" is the word. I'll bet the side of the box says "WARNING: This product intended only for industrial environments and the domiciles of those COMPLETELY comfortable with their 'geekiness'."
That said, I'll pick one up (presumably on-line) when they hit the retail circuit...
awwww-AH! GEEK OUT!
le freak...tres Geek...
GEEK OUT!!!
In early 2004 some imaginative Kiwi students dreamt up a similar idea (but higher gained ~12-15dB), based around parabolic Chinese cookware! Naturally it's cheaper, & you can use assorted USB WiFi dongles on hand rather than being locked into a specific type. Check their "boutique version" => http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/btique.jpgIn early 2004 some imaginative Kiwi students dreamt up a similar idea (but higher gained ~12-15dB), based around parabolic Chinese cookware! Naturally it's cheaper, & you can use assorted USB WiFi dongles on hand rather than being locked into a specific type. Check their "boutique version" => http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/btique.jpg