OK, I believe my friend has this:
http://www.ampedwireless.com/products/sr10000.html ... I know his works wonderfully, because he boosted the signal so well at a campground that I was able to get the signal in my rig better through his booster, than through the cg signal. I'm in the process of ordering this through Amazon (which is what I should have done instead of the Alfa) as I got off chat with the Amped people and have been told this will work for wifi networks as I travel. If a password is required, yes, it's needed. And I can protect it so that it's a private network for me (or a new password for those I would give it to if necessary). And it will work for phones, Nook, Kindle, etc ... No cd required.
Here's the link on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UB ... PDKIKX0DERCourse, it might be out there for a better price elsewhere ... but I'm done looking for the day!
Oh, and their chat person was super nice - very knowledgeable and told me if I do purchase to feel free to call or come to chat if I need any help getting started with it. Wow, real customer service!