A Bluetooth Connection from a Mile Away
Bluetooth is best known for short-range, low-bandwidth wireless jobs: connecting a cellphone with a headset or syncing a PDA with a nearby computer. But just as a flashlight’s reflector focuses a small bulb’s light to make it appear brighter, the right antenna can boost a weak wireless signal. So I detached the stock antenna from a Linksys USBBT100 Class 1 USB Bluetooth adapter ($70; linksys.com) and replaced it with a larger HyperGain RE05U 2.4GHz antenna ($15; hyperlinktech.com). With that simple mod, I can make a Bluetooth connection up to a mile away—about 4,950 feet farther than most. Bandwidth isn’t increased, so it’s not a Wi-Fi killer, but now I can connect to my Bluetooth devices from anywhere in the house or yard.
