I currently use a high power PCMCIA card with a 6dbi omni indoor antennae.
This works well for 1/4 to 1/2 mile if I put the antenna on the cabin roof,
but this is very impractical, especially if it is raining. What I would
like to do is mount a permanent exterior antennae and run it through a
network bridge to my own onboard wireless network. Can anyone recommend a
good high power bridge and antennae?

john

"larry" wrote in message
ups.com...
I just got a new laptop with wi - fi aka wireless LAN. Wow is all I
can say. After moving a couple of times in Christiansted, St Croix, I
got myself in a hotspot where I can connect and stay connected in the
cockpit, downloading files at 3 MB per minute. Using web mail and
google newsgroups, I have almost all the services that a traditional
ISP would provide. A major exception is the lack of encryption - thus
the security to do e-commerce. If I run the computer at the nav
station, I get much weaker connectivity where I can connect sometimes
and get cut off and have jagged and spiky connectivity. There is no
port or jack on the laptop (a Sony VIAO PCG-GRT260G) for an external
antenna and I am looking for a way to send the "clear line of sight"
good signal down to the nav station. Any Ideas? TIA Larry