extending wireless coverage

Hi everyone,

I need some advice about the best means of extending wireless access across 
the playground of the elementary school where I am part-time tech support. 
This has to be a very cheap temporary solution because we will be back in 
the main building in January. At the moment all classrooms, administrative 
and support staff are in portables arranged in a U-shape around the 
playground. There are 6 portables along each arm of the U, and 3 across the 
bottom. There is an Internet connection only in the administrative portable 
at the top of one side of the U. (The district somehow "forgot" that the 
classrooms would also need to be networked. Let's not go there!) I have set 
up a linksys 4-port wireless-G router in the admin portable. The signal 
reaches the next 2 portables, and I have used a netgear wireless ethernet 
bridge to network the LAN in each.

I want to know the optimal device to extend the signal to the bottom of the 
U. There are too many choices! I am considering an omni-directional 
antenna, such as the Hawking HA16SIP (6dbi), selling on eBay for about $15. 
But there are also 9 and 15dbi models - how do I know how much I need? 
Alternatively, a "repeater" or "extender" (terms that do not seem to have 
exact definitions) such as the D-Link DWL-800AP, also on eBay for under 
$20, might work as well.

I would much appreciate the wisdom of this group!

thanks
Hilary
p.s. I haven't measured, but I estimate the length of the U is 250' and 
width 80'

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