I live in a very rural area back home so doubt it would work. Here in bangkok is another thing and if i where here longer i would deff give it ago as it looks simple.

Anyways. I have been having problems with picking up wifi signal (i have an unlimted true wifi account). Now this is partly due to my laptop reciever strength and partly due to being in a small blind spot.

Anyway i looked on the net today And found that it is very simple to position a usb wifi adapter in the centre of a 'normal' (not offset) satillite dish, put by your window and watch the signals beam in. Some poster claimed 8km signal range. In a big city like bangkok your likley to recieve thousands of signals and plenty of hotspots. So therotically free wifi forever. ThAnk you starbucks etc! All for less than 100 bucks! A quick google comes up with loads of info and how toos so looks simple. For a bit more cash (and if u have access to the condo roof like i do or a garden) u can go mega fancy and get a rotating dish! (not sure how this would would work with the cables but sure it could be centrally routed how else is it done normally?)

Usb extenders mean you can put the dish a long way away. Love to give this ago. Anyone here tried it?

Decent antenna's can indeed greatly extend the range.

However, 8 km range numbers etc are only possible in open air. The frequencies used by wifi are terribly bad at penetrating solid matter (walls etc) or even humid matter (tree leaves etc).

So if there are obstructions, even the best antenna won't get signal!

USB wifi dongles are notably bad at receiving signals (very small antenna), much worse then any laptop wifi I have come accross.

Your best bet is either to find a USB dongle with a connection for an external antenna (not many around), or more easy, buy an access point (NOT a wifi router!) which can be set as a wifi client (think most do). Then hook up a decent antenna to that. You would have to connect the AP to your laptop with a LAN cable.

There are AP's around (TP link has a model) which can act as a range extender, hook up a decent antenna to that, put the AP somewhere in your area and most likely your true Wifi will suddenly appear full strength on your laptop. No cables needed!