Increase the range of a Linksys WRE54G Wireless Repeater

On a casual walk around my apartment I discovered that a neighbor in my neighboring complex was sending their wireless signal into my apartment. After connecting to their unsecured network I realized that it was 4X faster then my current DSL connection. The problem, I could only get a "very low" connection from the wall in my daughter's room. So after some thought I purchased a Linksys WRE54G Wi-Fi range expander. Setting this up at the wall in my daughters room slightly solved the problem by rebroadcasting the "very low" signal throughout my apartment but it still held that title of "very slow" and often dropped the connection. So after some more thought I decided to invest in a cAntenna. The only way to use the cAntenna was to hook it into my laptop and sit in my daughter's room with the cAntenna hanging out the window. Sure enough, I got a "very strong" signal from that. But being forced to sit in a room, surrounded by Dora the Explorer, just to get a faster internet connection wasn't what I wanted to do. I wanted it to be a wireless connection. So I got my cAntenna, spliced it into the WRE54G, aimed it at the neighbor's and BAM! Now I have a "very strong" connection that is repeated throughout my apartment. This is how it's done!

Prepare the cAntenna
Step 1: Cut off the RPSMA connector
Step 2: Strip the cAntenna pigtail. Pull back the shield from the center conductor and
make sure they're not touching each other.

Prepare the WRE54G
Step 1: Unplug the WRE54G and remove the power cord
Step 2: Remove the 4 rubber pads on the back of the WRE54G
Step 3: Remove the 4 screws found under the rubber pads
Step 4: Open WRE54G and locate the existing antenna connection(below)


Assemble the WRE54G/cAntenna
Step 5: Carefully solder the cAntenna conductor to the existing WRE54G antenna conductor(below)


Step 6: Carefully solder the cAntenna shield to the existing WRE54G antenna shield(below)


Step 7: Drill a small hole in the side of the WRE54G to feed the cAntenna wire out
Step 8: Put the WRE54G back together

Now simply mount the unit, aim the cAntenna, and setup the WRE54G with the installation CD.(below)



The cAntenna will pick up the distant wireless connection; feed it into the WRE54G; then the WRE54G will repeat the signal throughout the area around it.