Reach Out and Touch Someone

We have had a network set up for computing ever since we got the netbooks.  Only trouble with the system was that Elder Daughter had to either sit on her front porch, sit on my back steps or else come into the house to access the network.  Outside worked on nice days but it's getting cold.  Did I mention we had snow flurries the other day?  We had checked with the Computer Guru, better known as Zeta's son, Steve.  He said get something called a Range Extender.  Well, first he said to get to get an N Router,  which  we did.  The signal was better but still not strong enough to reach from inside one house to inside the other.  So we looked into the extender thingy.

I asked at Wally World one day and received a quizzical look from the clerk.  She gestured with a hand and told me to look at the end of the aisle.  Okay, admittedly, she was with another customer who was asking multiple questions and he didn't seem to be getting any further than I did when she turned and smiled at me.

I took her raised eyebrows to mean, "What do you need, Hon?"  So I ventured to inquire about their Range Extenders.  I strolled in the direction of the aisle she indicated and found nothing that even vaguely looked like something that could extend the range of our N Router.  I left the Electronics section without attracting the attention of any other sales clerks and slunk away to pay for my groceries. 

Not to be defeated, I called around a couple of stores and was told they didn't carry Range Extenders.  Elder  Daughter began to speak about (shudder!) Dial-Up.  We were in the area of a store called Onyx and we stopped in to see if the owner could help us.  I've used the store several times in the past for my computer needs and always been pleased with their knowledge and service.  The owner didn't carry anything for networking but suggested we try New Egg or Amazon or Walmart.  Ah-hah.  Well, we knew Walmart wouldn't work but Amazon... there's a name to conjure with! 

Christmas Eve I did a search for the words NetGear and Range Extender.  Up popped a suggestion and a price.  Reasonable.  Delivery sometime in January.  I clicked to order and we sat back to wait.  Today, UPS delivered a box.  I opened it when I got home from work.  It was the Range Extender by NetGear.  Earlier than promised.  I love when a merchant comes through.  It's now New Year's Eve - Eve and Elder Daughter is cozily inside her home, connected to my NetGear Router signal which delivers Internet to her netbook - and if you take a  look at the photograph - all lights are green and the curtain is drawn across the window.  This Extender really does do the job. 

Thanks Onyx and John Gunther.  Thanks J & R (JR.Com) and Thanks Steve for your help.

Take that, Dial-Up!