There are countless ways to play with your new antenna. Once it's connected to your card you can log into your base station from a considerable distance. Like from your neighbor's house.

I can't pick up my house network from the beach, but that may be due to the 40-foot sand dune between the beach and my home. That's the trick. These antennas are directional. If you can't see the target antenna from where you're standing, you're probably not going to be able to pick it up. Case in point: I can pick up my home network from the top of a hill at the end of my street.

You could use a pair of cantennas and share broadband access between your house and your garage, or between your house and a neighbors'. Or just go for a personal distance record! Anybody for a two mile network?

If you use MacStumbler or NetStumbler, you'll find it considerably easier to survey base stations from a distance.

Have fun!