ALFA 1000mW High Power USB Wireless Network Adapter (AWUS036H) $16.50 + Free Shipping (expired)

This thing works great. I paid $40 for mine w/ 9dBi antenna a while ago and it was worth the price.

How much does it truly extend the range?

Quote from KiinGPurP : How much does it truly extend the range?

Some more details here from this product page

I was more asking the guy who already bought one

Quote from KiinGPurP : How much does it truly extend the range?

Not sure what kind of "values" you want, but in my experience my wifi signal where I used it went from 2 bars in windows (not sure of the percentage) to 100% signal strength (percentage taken from Alpha software).

Maybe your just confused 2 much nah that is helpful I was more wondering about actual range and if it helps through walls and such.

Quote from KiinGPurP : How much does it truly extend the range?

I also bought 2x at the same price as that other guy got them.
This thing's range is very good. I had access points that couldn't even be seen before connect with this adapter.

Just to make sure, this adds WiFi capability if I don't already have it right? I don't really need range but I do need a wireless adapter that works with MAC/PC. If this is just a range extender/Antenna I'll pass.

i have one of these... it wont work on mountain lion... otherwise it had a good range and worked well getting into WEP networks

Quote from Potato42 : Just to make sure, this adds WiFi capability if I don't already have it right? I don't really need range but I do need a wireless adapter that works with MAC/PC. If this is just a range extender/Antenna I'll pass.

yep if you dont have wifi getting this and pluggin it in will give you wifi.. but it doesnt work with mountain lion

Quote from KiinGPurP : I was more asking the guy who already bought one

I bought a couple of these last year. While I have no hard measurements to give you, I do know that I have been able to hear (and connect ) to nodes up to 1 mile away from a hilltop.

Scanning for nodes using the integrated wifi in my HP laptop would show one or two very weak AP's. After plugging in the Alfa unit, I would see 10-15 nodes. several very strong.

Highly recommended - if I didn't have a few still sealed in boxes, i would buy more. Hmmm - maybe I will anyway

Quote from Potato42 : Just to make sure, this adds WiFi capability if I don't already have it right? I don't really need range but I do need a wireless adapter that works with MAC/PC. If this is just a range extender/Antenna I'll pass.

Yes it does indeed.

While this does seem to get a lot more access points and better signal than other adapters, its incredibly slow. The max I can get out of this adapter is around 5 Mbps, which for some people is fine. But it isn't worth it in my opinion because I'd rather get my full connection speed when I want to download something.

If you have slower than 5 Mbps internet or need the range then it's pretty good. Also you can crack WEP keys with this adapter as well.

Quote from Potato42 : Just to make sure, this adds WiFi capability if I don't already have it right? I don't really need range but I do need a wireless adapter that works with MAC/PC. If this is just a range extender/Antenna I'll pass.

No, its not just a range extender, its a wireless adapter with extended range. You can always disable your current internal wireless adapter and plug this into the USB port and use it instead.