a better wifi antenna

posted Feb 20th 2005 5:46am by Jason Striegel
filed under: wireless hacks

deep dish antenna

here’s a guide for making an antenna for your access point that beats the pringles can on a number of fronts. it’s easier to assemble, requires no pigtail and no modification to your ap, and it is claimed to have better perfrmance characteristics.

the reflector design was originally intended to increase privacy, but the nice side effect is that it dramatically increases gain in the direction it is facing:

power normally transmitted in that direction is “bounced” forward. Therefore you have more control of where your signal is going when using this reflector. That feature of this antenna can be used to enhance the privacy of your wireless network and that was my reason for designing it in the first place, the rest is just gravy but it is very real and rather tasty gravy. :) Please also note that antenna gain is preferable to amplifier gain because it adds to both transmitted and received power.

the best part is that you can make one basically for free. grab some aluminum foil, cardboard, and a scissors and get to work.

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Comments [24]

Reader Comments

RF is fun to play with.
This is a great example!

I’m gonna make one. Will post results soonest.

Posted at 6:14 pm on Feb 20th, 2005 by strider_mt2k

whats up with all the old hacks being reposted?

Posted at 7:49 pm on Feb 20th, 2005 by Acemilo

Acemilo ! i am sure in the time it took for you to reply like that, you could have sent them a better hack for the day, link why not show us what your into ? or find a link for a day

Posted at 8:53 pm on Feb 20th, 2005 by dan

I want to get started with a hobby in electronics. I have an MS in CS, so I wouldn’t mind learning a little microprocessor programming as well…

Anyway, a few questions.
What sort of tools will I need?
I know I’ll need a soldering iron and multimeter. Suggestions on these that work well at a decent (or cheap) price?
Any good resources (websites or books) for a beginner like me?
Anything else I should know?

Thanks!
Chris

Posted at 11:14 pm on Feb 20th, 2005 by bill

did this to my router, got 10db improvement at 100ft. went from kinda connected to pretty good. i used the cardboard from the box the linksys came in and a couple of soda cans for the reflectors.

Posted at 1:11 am on Feb 21st, 2005 by frazinator

Ideal hack, only takes an evening, doesn’t cost much and is usefull. I don’t think you can ask for more than that!

Posted at 6:20 am on Feb 21st, 2005 by peteredworthy

if i had a flag pole, could i use the pole as an astenna? idk how u would do it but it soulds like ud see so proformance increase

Posted at 2:48 pm on Feb 21st, 2005 by Shinobi

I just did mine, and although I haven’t measured it, I was able to connect from places where it was impossible before!

Posted at 4:01 pm on Feb 21st, 2005 by zedascouves

this is in orielys wireless hacks Not New It works but pringles can the best or make a conection in your heating and cooloing duct with type N-contector use your whole HAV duct system as a huge ant. use the sys concept as pringles can. I use my laptop any where in house and around the yard working on mod for a repeater to make signal go farther.

Posted at 1:15 pm on Feb 22nd, 2005 by TRG

Of course these small reflectors best suit the AP WiFi server! They’d perhaps beter work in conjunction with a client side antenna such as celebrated USB Asian cookware signal boosters that show 12-15dB gain. See => http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz

N.B. Although these indeed work well for most APs, the downside is that the omnidirectional signal usually desired for many WiFi applications (offices, libraries, campuses, wandering PDA etc) will be weakened in some directions. They could be ideal in a home however, since links are then likely just to a few indoor locations - study etc.

Posted at 3:19 pm on Mar 10th, 2005 by manuka

It works like heaven for me. I can find signales from places I never had found before.

COOL STUFF

Posted at 9:50 am on Apr 1st, 2005 by fredrik j ruud

Yeah, I tried this a few weeks ago and adapted it for my dad’s cell phone and it worked really good.

Posted at 2:16 pm on Apr 2nd, 2005 by Ryan

I have a Sony Vaio Laptop with built in wi-fi, no antenna, What can I do to get a better wi-fi signal?

Posted at 5:04 pm on Apr 30th, 2005 by jason

diy wi-fi antenna update,
=> http://www.binarywolf.com/249/

Posted at 2:49 pm on May 4th, 2005 by bw

I tested this with a crapy put together one made of cardboard for the half circles and a sheet of aluminum (from disposable baking sheets) and I tested and noted results. I have the router and reciever about 75 feet apart with walls in between.
1=Without
2=With but I focused it off line
3=With but focused away from spot
(all in percent) Used a wireless g/b netgear router with wireles b adaptor

1 2 3
85 67 27
75 62 32
75 67 50
77 75 45
80 65 47
77 67 50
77 60 47
65 62 50
75 65 47
80 65 47

Posted at 1:04 pm on May 14th, 2005 by Mattjr42

hey dued what did u use for this is it chicken wire? just email me

Posted at 2:22 pm on Jun 5th, 2005 by curtis

what did u use for this?

Posted at 11:57 pm on Jun 5th, 2005 by curtis

i have a notebook w/ 802.11b. usually i go to a coffee shop to have a free access on their wi-fi, considering that the shop is about 100+ meter away from my house, will this project help me to connect on their internet connection without leaving my house? pls enlighten me. thank you

Posted at 4:22 am on Jun 9th, 2005 by thobs

hey ppl i would like install a gain wifi antenna to my inspiron 9300, it come with a intel pro wifi 2200….i dont know how going to work a new antenna external….some one tellme what can i do to increase my radio a lot and keep my mobility…im talking of max. 150 us…sorry my english is bad…thx

Posted at 3:51 pm on Jun 10th, 2005 by dominican

I have a coffe shop about 150 feet away from my house. Is there any way i could use a satelite dish to increase the wifi distance of my psp? Thanks.

Posted at 8:54 pm on Jan 4th, 2006 by Luke

thats what i want to know for my psp. #20

Posted at 8:49 pm on Jan 20th, 2006 by me

At first i thought it wasen’t working and a load of sh(weight can i curse) but i knew it was doing something when my segnal went from 55% to 25% so i kept playing with it and made it quite focased and now my neighbor gets a 75% signal striength. i just had a non workable shape at first and then pointed in the wrong direction.

Posted at 4:09 pm on Feb 1st, 2006 by Justin

I have not seen this one before, but thought up a similar one. My idea was to make one the size of a volleyball net, but with window screen wire. The trouble I had, was trying to figure out how to make it form a parabolic curve.

If you want to see tons of wi-fi antenna examples, try this page..

http://www.HostChoice.net/wifi.php

Posted at 8:21 am on Feb 28th, 2006 by rybanilator

I have an old antenna that was never used again, it was used to get channels on the TV do you think this could be used in this project??

Posted at 5:40 pm on May 2nd, 2006 by Ragnarok

a better wifi antenna

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