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Nick is right. At the 2.4Ghz frequency that Wifi works even the finest 1/4" coax (LMR-200) will lose almost 40% of the power in 15 feet. Cheaper Radio Shack RG-58 will loose more than 60%. 3' of LMR-200 will only loose about 9%. The pigtail that comes on the antenna is usually LMR-200 or an equivelent.
There is the quandry of portable gear. Altitude is your friend. The higher you can get the antenna the better the signal but you only have 20' from the center of the antenna to your laptop. It takes some thought to place the antenna in the best spot with the least hassles to set up. You can get USB extenders but that just adds more money and crap to deal with. Every boat is different. I found my spot on most boats was the lazy jacks. I used white duct tape to add a loop to the top of my antenna and tied on a length of cord with a fishing weight on the other end. Toss the weight over the lower joint of the lazy jacks and hoist away.
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