Is there anyway to magnify the connection quality of the wireless internet?

Question

I'm a student at a University. I live off campus, but barely, and they offer a free wireless connection to the students with the wireless capabilities. The problem is, from where I am and where the wireless signal is based my connection is very low so i'm very limited as far as online connection. Is there anything i can buy that would more or less magnify the signal so i'm not holding on to the internet by a single thread? The wireless card that i got with this brand new computer is as upgraded as they offer, so I can't upgrade that anymore. Is there anything else i can do? I don't think a router would help because that would have to plug in to the wireless source, which i don't have access to since it's a school signal.

Answer 1

You need a highly directional antenna, to increase signal strength. There are several design on the internet. Some are simple, some are not.

A common design is based on a used Pringles can.