Did anyone mention Netstumbler (I just caught this thread) to see what
else is about?

FWIW I have a 1897 solid brick / lath and plaster house and with a
variety of WiFi PCMCIA cards and USB devices get a reasonable signal
around all of the house with the 3 WiFi devices (1 Netgear AP (b) and
Q-Tec (g) and Belkin (g) WiFi routers) I have used so far.

I've even taken the laptop over the road and used it an my friends
kitchen, 50m plus two windows?

All the best ..

T i m