This antenna does work. It's all in the way you position it. It's design leaves a little to be desired but, if you position it just right, it works. I connected the antenna to my router, ran the cable under my scanner and up through the back so the antenna sits on top of the scanner. My signal went from "Low" and "Very Low" to "Very Good" on both my wireless N equipped PC and Laptop. Considering the router is on the other side of my apartment in my bedroom; some 60 feet away with a wall in between, it's great. I would recommend it. D-Link ANT24-0230 Xtreme N 2.4GHZ Indoor Antenna
When assessing the effectiveness of an indoor antenna like the Xtreme N 2.4 Ghz antenna, it is important to remember that range and bandwidth of a wireless connection depends on many factors, including the number of obstacles, the actual location of reception, and the wireless card itself. In my house, there are many walls and doors separating the dir-655 D-Link router and my laptop. The distance between the two is about 80 feet, hardly a short distance.
I gained one bar (from very low to low) and doubled the speed (from 6.5 Mbps to 13 Mbps+) with an ASUS Eee 1000 netbook that has a built-in 802.11n card. In the same position, a regular Dell Latitude laptop with a built-in 802.11g card gave me two bars (same as the ASUS) and 54 Mbps. I suspect that the ASUS wireless card has a rather limited range. So after spending considerable with antenna orientation, there is some improvement with the Xtreme N 2.4GHZ indoor antenna in that particular position (where I sit).
I should note that if I move to a slightly different position in the room, I receive a good signal (3 bars+) with a much higher bandwidth. So my sitting location is obviously not ideal for wi-fi reception. With two bars, I am still able to surf without too much trouble (i.e., interruptions).
I should add that I tested the Hawking HiGain Directional Corner Antenna, indoor, 15dBi - HAI15SC with the dir-655 router (I was told by the manufacturer that it should work with an N router), but that antenna was less effective than the Xtreme N 2.4GHZ indoor antenna.
The bottom line is: Do not expect too much from this antenna. It can help you improve your signal strength, but suddently you are not going to go from one bar to five bars.
I used this antenna to move WiFi transmission beyond a plaster wall and away from some other electronics. That seemed to make all the difference - I tested two spots where I previously had trouble and there are no dropouts and faster transmission.
I pretty much knew after reading the reviews for this antenna that it probably wouldn't boost my Dlink DIR-655's signal. I rolled the dice and decided to try it anyway. If you want to place the antenna in a different spot, within 3 feet of your router or network card, then this is something that will work for you. It would be nice if the antenna's cable was at least 7 feet longer, for better placement.
The antenna is easy to setup and includes screws and wall anchors, if you want to mount it on the wall. I hear you can buy some cable to extend the length on Ebay.
In conclusion, don't buy this if you are trying to boost your signal or improve the reception on a network card. Do buy this if you want to move the antenna within 3 feet of your router or network card. To improve your signal, a wireless repeater or repeater bridge will be a much better option, though it will halve your throughput(not an option for me). Get a router that supports DD-WRT and turn it into a wireless repeater or repeater bridge. You can also try moving your router to a better spot. Category 5e patch cable is cheap.
diffenently get a little better signal but not by much. the cable is about 5 feet too short to really be useful (its only about 3 feet long) and position the antenna in the optimal spot for improved signal receiption.
Our PC that uses a D-link DWA-552 draft-'N' wireless card has its three antennas very close together and extends out the bottom rear of the PC where other PC Cables drape down onto or near them. With the PC on the floor under a desk, the antennas are in a very poor location.
The "signal strength" would register between 50 and 60 percent from our router not really that far away (but with multiple walls, desk wood, and shelves inbetween).
Although the cable is only several feet long, using this device to move the antenna location away from the rear of the PC into a much better location a couple feet up a wall and a couple feet away from the PC resulted in constant signal strength of 100%. This increased throughput between 2x and 3x from what it was before and would stay there a bit more consistently in it's fight against signals from the neighbor's networks (at least two others are in range).
The antenna itself is probably a little bit better than the PC card's in that the antennas are further apart, but this would likely not be an advantage when hooking to a router.
The antenna elements don't look like ones with additional gain (fairly short). The big advantage that worked for us is the ability to move it into a better location/orientation -- and it being spread out a bit further than the PC Card alternative. It's not an antenna that gets better range due to being directional.
For us it worked great. - D-link - Wireless N - 80211n - Extreme N'
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