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The Boost for Speed package package consists of a
TurboTenna 007GT, a 6FT LMR-100A RF cable and a
Planet WL-U356A 802.11g USB2.0 adapter. The USB adapter can
flexibly work with a desktop PC computer and a laptop, delivering a
value for the best of both worlds.
Some Centrino laptop users expressed that
they couldn't connect the Centrino wireless to an external antenna when
s/he needs WiFi signal improvement. The +12dbi
TurboTenna 007GT powered
Planet WL-U356A is a handy solution as you can simply plug it into your
laptop irrespective of the state of the Centrino. You'll experience a
speedier wireless connection with a stronger signal.
Setup is easy and straight forward.
 Simply
install the CDROM driver of the USB wireless adapter to your computer
and connect it to the
TurboTenna 007GT using the 6FT RF cable. The
WL-U356A adapter is connected to the computer using any USB cable. This
is a great convenience as you don't have to worry about the special
matching connector and you can extend the length of the USB cable
without incremental RF attenuation. Next, set the beaming
direction towards the signal source until you get the strongest signal
bar.
Sometimes you may find a bunch of SSIDs
from your neighborhood (see picture below) that the
TurboTenna 007GT
has made it possible to pick up the signal remotely.
There are two type of SSID detected: shown
in the picture with and without a lock. The SSID with a lock indicates that the
WiFi signal is WEP, TKIP or AES password protected and you won't be able to
make a connection to it even though the signal is strong unless you have
access to the password. However, it doesn't mean that you can readily
access the SSID without a lock if the access point is programmed to
allow the connection from a list of MAC addresses. What is a MAC
address? It is a unique ID of a network device consisting of 6 groups of
HEX characters such as highlighted 00:02:2D:A5C5:7A in the diagram. In
general, those who don't encrypt the WiFi signal would seldom border to
set MAC address protection. As you can see here, only 4 out of 10 SSID
are password protected and none of them has MAC address protection.
The list of SSID is also useful to a
security expert, as s/he can uncover possible rogue access point(s)
hidden in the wireless network. A rogue access point is vulnerable to
network security if someone secretly install it to your LAN behind the
firewall and be able to access it from outside of your premises.
Some customers also install a second
TurboTenna 007GT
at the access point in addition to the computer beaming at each other.
This gives a wireless gain of 12dBi + 12dBi or 24dBi that proved to be
extremely effective in a point-to-point environment.
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