On Wed, 31 Jul 2002, Jonathan Hutchins wrote:

> What I'm looking for in a wireless card is an 802.11a card with an external
> antenna connector for that Pringles can...

My wpc11 card has an external antenna jack.  It didn't come like that
though, but it was pretty easy to modify.  I simply flipped the plastic
cover off with my fingernail, pryed the jumper switch away from the
circuit board with a soldering iron, scraped away some fresh copper, and
layed down a rg/6 connector in a fresh pool of molen solder on the board.  
The circuit trace that went to the card's tiny internal antenna now leads
to the connector.

With just a 15 minute soldering job, my wpc11 picks up sites many blocks
away with a small external antenna.  I'm now working on a simple waveguide
type antenna to boost that range for miles.  I hear the soup cans kick the
pringles cans, many dB's over.

I hear the Cisco cards may be a bit more expensive, but they have 
incredible power output.