Becuase the graphite airport does not offer the ability to plug in an external antenna, Rob performed a mod on his that enabled him to do so. This mod was found at http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/Airport/Airport.html. Take a look at this mod to find out how to do this to your graphite airport.
External Antenna for Apple's Airport
Apple's Airport is a very reasonably priced
wireless access point, however, it does not have provision for
connecting an external antenna. This is easily remedied if you
don't mind voiding your warrantee. The results look like the photo
below. The benefits of adding an external antenna are much greater
range. We found a 6 db gain omni antenna gave 10 to 20 db improvement
in signal to noise ratio. This theoretically should improve the
range by more than three times in free space. This is even more
than Lucent claims.
The Lucent Wavelan card used in the airport
has an antenna connector on it. It just isn't accessible in the
airport. All you need to do is take your airport apart, and carve
a place for your fingers to fit as you plug in your external antenna.
The first step is to remove the bottom
cover using a Phillips screwdriver.
The next step is to remove the guts of
the airport. You will have to disconnect the internal power and
10BaseT connectors.
The next step is to use your Dremel tool
to carve out a place for your fingers so you can insert and remove
the antenna.
The next thing you need to do is remove
the little black plug over the antenna connector on the end of
the Lucent Wavelan PCMCIA card. It is shown below removed to reveal
the female antenna connector you will plug the antenna into.
Here is a better view of the finished modification.
Antennas are available from Hyperlink Technologies,
and others. The connector you need is called an MC card plug. Be careful inserting it. These connectors are only rated for several hundred insertion cycles.
You can also roll your own. Instructions on using a surplus Primestar
dish are available here.
This modification surely voids your warrantee,
and it is possible you could break something by doing it, so I
disclaim any liability resulting from these modifications.
My thanks to Seth McNeil who actually made the modifications
on this airport.
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