Boosting wireless signal?

[Rick]

I have a customer who would like to setup wireless across two buildings.

We've tried a couple of things, including a large directional dish which improved the signal dramatically... But it still isn't good enough.

I have seen signal boosters, but they often say "for use only with blah brand router" etc... Can boosters be used with ANY wireless router? Or do they have to be manufacturer specific? I cannot find a booster specific to this model router.

I have also been told that access points can act as signal boosters, but I've yet to get this idea to work. Is this possible? I've tried playing with options etc..

My thought was to add a signal booster near a window and be done with it, but I can't find a signal booster? Then I was told I could use an access point as a signal booster, but I do not see how.

The current sitaution is there is a building at the bottom of a hill (router / access point location). There is also a building at the top of the hill (Signal must reach here). The signal reaches through the windows and certain parts of the buildling, but is extremely poor quality and spotty at best.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Look at the WiFi Indoor Wlan Signal Booster made by Nublu Technologies.
You can buy it e.g. at http://www.adslresource.co.uk for about £100.-

The test-results say it can be used with D-Link, BenQ, Belkin and Netgear wireless equipment. The gain achieved is about 30% (e.g. 20 metres an a reach of 60 meters for a good access point), only works on 802.11b and g.

The article also stated that a similar or better signal improvement could be gotten with the help of a tin can or even a Pringles can. Unfortunately they did not say HOW such a can was used.

 

[climbamtn]

i have two linksys routers, one i use as an access point on the same channel and same ssid it helps the signal in my neighbors house by 30% increase in signal. low gain directional antenna helped increase the signal 5%. there are linksys signal boosters on both routers. which increased the signal 10-15%. they say they only work with 802.11b but my network is 802.11g only. tomshardware.com shows they work for both. my distance was not increased at all or not enough to notice only the signal strength. what was never above 60% signal is now always 90% signal but again my distance never changed more than a foot or two. my neighbor that keeps me aware of signal strength is only 300 feet away but at least 5 walls between devices. when it rains hard the signal strength is lower.
good luck.