WLAN experience

During the past year i used a ALFA AWUS036H adapter with a one feet 9dbi vertical antenna.

It is soooo much better than the built in Intel chipset that i can only highly recommend it. Most of the sailors i met are using the same.

They come in different versions, mainly with more transmit power. be aware that in some countries (like Germany, the transmit (TX) power must not exceed a certain limit.

Also when using the adapter with the driver that allows to adjust the power, try as low as possible first.

To connect it to the Laptop (i used a DELL 6400ATG and an Asus EEPc) i used a simple 5m extension cable. Here i would recommend an expensive one with golden connectors since the others rot away quickly.
If you plan to sail for one year take at least 3 adapters since they are only around 30 Euro each anyway. If you leave them in the rain over night just open the housing, dry it in the sun or with a hair dryer and use it again.
After a few weeks it might stop working. Also if you let it hang outisde, the condensation over night kills it.

You might mount it into a box but also think about the heat the HF part is producing.

I used a piece of rope glued to the tip of the antenna to just fix it to a genoa halyard. It is a big difference if you have the antenna inside or outside the boat and also if you have it 2 m higher. (see the pictures above and "find" the antenna :- ) )

The Alfa WLAN adapter comes with drivers for most operating systems and most Linux distributions can also use them. There is also a Window7 driver available.

I was more than happy with the unit and even on remote anchorages i could pick up and connect signals of one mile away or more.