Being someone that has spent far to much money on those new longer range routers, special antennas, and those range extenders, the Hawking Hi-Gain USB Wireless-G Dish Adapter looks pretty appealing.

It looks like a mini satellite dish, and it pretty much is. The adapter is equipped with an 8dBi directional antenna; most routers come with a 2dBi antenna. That translates into a range increase of up to 300%, but I expect the actual numbers are a bit lower.

You might be like me and have absolutely no idea why a directional antenna is better than an omnidirectional one. Good ole’ Hawking’s got you covered, you’ll find the diagram below makes it crystal clear.

On the front of the dish is a array of LEDs that tell you the signal quality and allow you to adjust the dish to get the best possible connection. The connection is a standard USB port.

I don’t think you’ll be lugging this around to use at your local Starbucks, but if your has some junky signal quality, and you’ve tried everything else, this seems like a good thing to try.

If you’re one for convenience, you can run to your local CompUSA (or BestBuy, Staples, etc.) and get it for around $80, but if you shop around, you can find the Hawking Hi-Gain USB Wireless-G Dish Adapter for prices as low $53 (you’ve got to add shipping, though). More information along with a few testimonials and reviews can be found on Hawking’s site.

[via The Red Ferret]