best usb wifi antenna for win7 32bit?

i have been reading on the forums and there seems to be alot of mixed information on plug in wifi antennas for win7 as far as what will work and what wont. the most common thing ive been reading is that many cant get the drivers to work with their antenna. i would like an antenna for our girls laptops when we visit the grandparents that reaches out to the pool house...about 150 ft away. i know they have a "G" router and although the girls pick up a signal..its very weak and drops often. id like one of the smaller plug in usb types that is not on a long usb cord or anything. is there one that is recommended that will work for certain with windows 7 32 bit? price is not as important as performance. thanks for your input.

Using an USB adaptor with an antenna may not be enough for that range. I can't really make an accurate prediction about which USB antenna to use because certain ones work better with different routers and the drivers come into play also.

It may help to get one from the same company as the router being used although there are too many factors involved to predict the outcome. Wireless G has it's limitations which is why there is wireless N.

If you want it to work right and don't mind spending some money to upgrade the hardware then going to a wireless-wired N router would be the way to go. You would need to run an eithernet cable from the router to a wireless N access point at the closest location to the pool house for the best possible connection.

This would give you the best chance at making this work but I realize it's probably more work, time and money than you want to put into it. You would also need to use wireless N capible network adaptors on the pool computers to pick up the signal. This type of set up would work for certain but it's still a matter of how much you want to put into it.

chev65 is spot on with his post G does not have good coverage at that range you need at least an N router. +1

thanks for the input guys..yeah we have a N router at home but this is my wifes parents and i didnt want to seem intrusive by telling them to upgrade their router lol.

matt98svt said:

thanks for the input guys..yeah we have a N router at home but this is my wifes parents and i didnt want to seem intrusive by telling them to upgrade their router lol.

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I figured that was the real problem and I know how you feel. The routers placement probably isn't ideal in respect to the pool house's location so is probably also limiting the signal strength.

You could try running one of those USB antenna's outside the pool house under the eves in a dry loction to see if the connection improves. I like the D-link DWA-140 myself.

Newegg.com - D-Link DWA-140 IEEE 802.11g, IEEE802.11n Draft 2.0 USB 2.0 Wireless RangeBooster N USB Adapter Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA & WPA2)