External laptop wifi antennae

Hi,

I only get variable or poor wifi signal to my laptop to my room in the house where I live.

The router is in the next room along, on the floor below, about 20 feet away horizontally and about 15 feet away vertically, and I have no access to it.

I wondered if external laptop antennae would help, but the signal strength and quality was actually lower

Picture of set-up:
https://imgur.com/a/VCvUZe3

Standard internal antennae:

Quote:

user@user-pc:~$ iwlist wlan0 scan Cell 01 - Address: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11) Quality=50/70 Signal level=-60 dBm Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s ............. Cell 02 - Address: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX Frequency:5.22 GHz (Channel 44) Quality=46/70 Signal level=-64 dBm Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s

External wifi antennae:

Quote:

user@user-pc:~$ iwlist wlan0 scan Cell 01 - Address: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11) Quality=43/70 Signal level=-67 dBm Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s .......... Cell 02 - Address: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX Channel:44 Frequency:5.22 GHz (Channel 44) Quality=38/70 Signal level=-72 dBm Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s

I understand the question above displays a lack of any real knowledge about radio electronics.

I have read though that increased antennae gain is used on routers to broadcast on a flatter plane to increase horizontal range. I don't know how antennae on the receiving end would help or affect signal reception.

Could anyone help explain a little?

What else would you suggest to try - changing the wifi card?

The wireless card is an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 (rev 24). I am using Ubuntu 20.04 on a Toshiba Portege R930.

Thank you