[HARDWARE] DIY Increase WiFi Range 08-06-2011, 08:58 AM
#1
You can't do it with your stock hardware. You will need a directional antenna. Most stock wireless devices come with an omnidirectional antenna which you lose majority of your signal strength in directions nowhere near your access point.
I built my directional antenna out of an empty #10 size (commercial restaurant size) can of mixed vegetables and an empty sierra mist can. The basic concept of a normal antenna is a simple wire loop.
I took my larger can and poked a hole in the bottom to feed the wires through. Along the outside of the can I fastened my receive wire. I then made cuts along the side splitting the can to the bottom. I fanned it out and shaped it like a bowl as much as possible. I filled the gaps with tin foil and fastened the outside with duct tape. I put cardboard around the outside and covered that in duct tape to hold the shape together. This will protect your foil from tears. The outside isn't needed because you are creating a directional device and only one side is really necessary. The fanning out of metal gives a parabolic effect to the receiver probe and will allow for a broader surface for catching of wide-spread and bouncing radio waves.
In the center I used the sierra mist can as my transmitter probe. I left this one as is. I attached the transmit wire to the bottom and duct taped it to the center of the large "dish" being careful not to create a short between the two. I then took a few short strands of wire to create a series of bridges around the transmitter to connect to the receiver.
Once it was all completed I was receiving just fine but my packets were not being received by the AP, which was to be expected since they did not have a directional antenna pointing at me... I tapped in to a usb port to steal some voltage for a rudimentary signal booster attached to the transmission line. I was connected now, but not for long. My radio waves were now overshooting the AP.
My plan was to now to some modifications by means of trial and error impedence matching. I picked up a rock and created a coil around it and tried it out. I would wrap twice around the rock after every test and when I got to the point where I was having trouble connecting I unwound three loops to get back to a nice happy medium and I then found myself with internet happily ever after... At least as far as being in the middle of the desert goes...
I built my directional antenna out of an empty #10 size (commercial restaurant size) can of mixed vegetables and an empty sierra mist can. The basic concept of a normal antenna is a simple wire loop.
I took my larger can and poked a hole in the bottom to feed the wires through. Along the outside of the can I fastened my receive wire. I then made cuts along the side splitting the can to the bottom. I fanned it out and shaped it like a bowl as much as possible. I filled the gaps with tin foil and fastened the outside with duct tape. I put cardboard around the outside and covered that in duct tape to hold the shape together. This will protect your foil from tears. The outside isn't needed because you are creating a directional device and only one side is really necessary. The fanning out of metal gives a parabolic effect to the receiver probe and will allow for a broader surface for catching of wide-spread and bouncing radio waves.
In the center I used the sierra mist can as my transmitter probe. I left this one as is. I attached the transmit wire to the bottom and duct taped it to the center of the large "dish" being careful not to create a short between the two. I then took a few short strands of wire to create a series of bridges around the transmitter to connect to the receiver.
Once it was all completed I was receiving just fine but my packets were not being received by the AP, which was to be expected since they did not have a directional antenna pointing at me... I tapped in to a usb port to steal some voltage for a rudimentary signal booster attached to the transmission line. I was connected now, but not for long. My radio waves were now overshooting the AP.
My plan was to now to some modifications by means of trial and error impedence matching. I picked up a rock and created a coil around it and tried it out. I would wrap twice around the rock after every test and when I got to the point where I was having trouble connecting I unwound three loops to get back to a nice happy medium and I then found myself with internet happily ever after... At least as far as being in the middle of the desert goes...
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