I bought some wireless kit from "ASM Technologies" a couple of months back, they had some sweet D-Link outdoor active antennas available when I got mine, I nearly got them too because they were about 1/3 retail price: http://www.asmtech.com/

Worth a call!

I got some Compaq wlan cards, they were about the same price as the cheaper unbranded ones.

As it is, the Compaq cards have about 20% signal strength after travelling through 2 brick walls and ceiing :-(
I plan to make a home-made antenna from a design that uses a lot of cheap plumbing parts.

Gareth