
Turbo-boost your WiFi signal - in 15 minutes - luxative
http://blog.eyesandfeet.com/2010/04/turbo-boost-your-wifi-signal-in-15.html
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furyg3
If you want to spend a little bit more time for a better result (while
learning a bit) you can homebrew a more solid solution.

Directionals are pretty easy and fun to make out of everyday items, which do
the trick quite well. Here's some examples
(<http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/has.html>) and here's one you can do in
maybe 30 minutes (<http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html>)

Those antennas are good for long-haul point-to-point links, but can also do a
pretty good job in point-to-multi, if it's close by. I gave a neighbor
internet access for a few months with one of these pointed at his house,
without any special gear on his end.

Omni-directionals are a bit more advanced, but there are some good designs out
there. I built one similar to this once
(<http://wireless.gumph.org/articles/homemadeomni.html>). Because these are a
lot more sensitive to flaws than directionals, it's important to test.

Sector antennas are a good compromise between omni and directional, as it
gives you a nice wide area of coverage ([http://www.grynx.com/projects/wide-
angle-sector-antenna-14-d...](http://www.grynx.com/projects/wide-angle-sector-
antenna-14-dbi/))

Keep in mind that just installing DDWRT and cranking up the juice doesn't
always result in a better wifi experience (though sometimes it can give access
to that one dark spot), and is probably screwing up everyone else's
experience. Hooking an ipod up to a bullhorn gives you nice range, but there's
a lot less fidelity.

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dpcan
I spent an entire afternoon trying to do this about 2 years ago from some
stupid paper cut-out design and tin foil. I never felt so punk'd in my entire
life.

~~~
todd3834
I had the same experience, didn't help much at all

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luxative
I can imagine - must be disappointing when you take the effort and nothing
happens. Personally, I had a fantastic improvement in signal strength. In
fact, strangely enough, the signal also improved in the room right below the
one where the directional+wifi was.

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rubyrescue
In Buenos Aires, old apartments are made of thick, stone walls that really
hinder signals. In a long apartment you have to repeat.

I bought 3 WRT-54GS refurbs from newegg for $29 each, installed DD-WRT, set 2
of the three as Bridged Repeaters, put them all on the same SSID (protip: put
the word Mega in front of the old SSID), spread them across my friend's house,
and he now has great signal everywhere.

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mahmud
Why the word 'Mega'.

~~~
rubyrescue
shameless self promotion. so that every time my buddy has great signal he
remembers it's because of his tech-friend's dd-wrt hacking prowess.

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Jun8
Or, buy a Linksys WRT54 router, load Tomato
(<http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato>) and jack up the signal level. Be careful
not to exceed the legal limit (or not).

~~~
Groxx
DD-WRT lets you do the same. The power on my Netgear defaults to 71 out of 251
(mW) :)

I'm seriously loving DD-WRT, far far far more capable. And IPtables!

~~~
rubyrescue
does it really help to boost the signal? i tried before and didn't seem to get
much of a difference.

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Groxx
Haven't been able to test it, just looked for a comparable setting. I'd bet it
depends on the router, but I should be able to actually test tomorrow. Want me
to?

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rubyrescue
sure - i think one of the above answered it for me that there is no equivalent
boost on the client end which i think is why it hasn't helped me much.

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josefresco
What would I do for a Cisco WRT54G2 V1 with internal antennae? The thing is
flat, should I sit the entire unit in a 'bowl' and direct it at my office?

~~~
azim
An alternate method I've used is building an antenna on the computer side if
you can't build it on the router side. You can get wireless adapters which are
in the from of a usb thumb stick. Coupled with an extension cord to connect to
a PC, you can put the entire adapter at the focal point of a large dish.

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gojomo
Reflected waves can help or hurt (if echoes interfere with themselves). So
even without a intentional reflector like this, be aware that in challenging
environments, repositioning your antennas just a little (new angles, a few
feet further or closer to a signal-reflective surface) can make a big
difference.

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moconnor
I just made a poor quality one of these with plain old paper and aluminium
foil. My iwlist scan results:

Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)

Before: Quality=40/70 Signal level=-70 dBm

After: Quality=47/70 Signal level=-63 dBm

Not very exciting, but not bad. Lots of access points in my block make
connectivity a real problem, so I'll take whatever I can get.

My roughly-cut parabolic reflector isn't super-parabolic, make of that what
you will: maybe a better shape would be markedly better, maybe it means yours
doesn't have to be perfect either _shrug_

My tips if you want to try yourself: tape the tabs in place but try not to put
creases into the foil when you do. If it's not already clear, only put foil on
the back reflector (not the curved support)

~~~
slug
If your dBm readings are correct, your signal strength increased by
10^((-63-(-70))/10) = 5 , which is not so bad.

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cgs1019
I have to wonder if the parabolic shape really matters, or if a large
conducting panel of any shape would suffice. I have no idea, really, but would
love to hear from anyone who has.

~~~
Groxx
Any reflecting surface will improve it in the reflected direction, the
parabolic shape is just to improve the distance further and give better aim.

Just about anything reflecting works, my personal favorite directional
antennas use Pringles / coffee cans or a metal colander.

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jolan
I prefer the salad bowl method:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY8Wi7XRXCA>

~~~
prone
exactly what i was thinking, classic

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koevet
On the same page of the cutout design
(<http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html>) there is what
the author of the post call a "scary graph". Looks like a cool Windows based
signal monitor thing. Does anyone know it?

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stretchwithme
It gives you more bars but does it give you more speed?

And if this actually works, why don't commercial products build this right in?
Couldn't you reflect more signal with a much smaller reflector if you're up
close to the transmitter?

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hedgehog
I made a reflector from the same template a few years back, worked great. The
reason it works is it improves both transmit and receive. The reason why a
regular consumer AP doesn't come with that sort of antenna is it's
directional, basically you trade wide coverage for better coverage over a
narrower angle and most people have a hard enough time just standing their
omnis straight up.

For more commercial work there are plenty of options:
<http://www.l-com.com/category.aspx?id=2073>

~~~
electromagnetic
However if you place it in one corner of your house and install a reflector
with a 90-degree coverage angle you should be able to increase your signal
strength up to ~4-fold with a perfect reflector as you're 1/4 your coverage
area. Realistically getting a 50% increase in strength is great.

Using materials like aluminium or copper would greatly increase the
performance of your reflector. If you by chance had a copper mesh, it would
kick the tin foil a mile. I personally have access to sheet aluminium so if I
were ever to build one of these I'd definitely be making it from that and not
foil. (IIRC reflectivity in metals is improved with thickness, with these tin
foil reflectors you're probably still getting a strong enough signal at close
range from the side of the reflector you don't want signal.

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zitterbewegung
Well this would only work if your wifi router was on the far side of the house
and you want to direct the signal to the rest of the house. If it was in the
middle of the house it wouldn't work as well.

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w1ntermute
If it were in the middle of the house, this issue wouldn't arise in the first
place.

~~~
dotBen
Unless you had a REALLY big house :P

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merraksh
You can do it with soda cans too:

[http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-increase-wireless-
signal-s...](http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-increase-wireless-signal-
strength-soda-can-162004/)

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WalterBright
I don't see a turbine anywhere. There's not even any amplification (boost).
It's just a directional antenna.

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whereareyou
Thanks dude

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stuaxo
Good way to cook the children.

Lots of routers make annoying high pitched noises, even without that the
flashing lights are a distraction - I wouldn't put one in anybodies bedroom
(unless I could turn the lights off and be sure it's silent).

