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5 Ways To Boost Your WiFi Signal

gizmodo.com — "here's a roundup of some gear that'll turn your hotspot into a data blast zone"

Bury

digitalgopher 1 year 310 days ago, made popular 1 year 310 days ago

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coolcrowe, on 10/12/2007, -60/+7Oh, you have to buy crap. Bury....
- kypen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24RTFA.
  
  "Especially the pringles can, which is good for 12db, good for 16 times the power, according to OReilly Blogs..."
  If you can't afford pringles, WI-FI should be the last of your concerns.
  How good it is, I'm not sure, but it's there.
- dmorel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16maybe that's what he was talking about and he really hates pringles
- enclaved, on 10/12/2007, -6/+43Ok, Here you go, 5 free ways to boost your wifi signal.
  
  1. Move closer to your wifi source.
  2. Move your wifi source closer to you
  3. Install additional wifi sources closer to you
  4. Connect to your wifi source with a cable
  5. Lower your standards for higher signal
  
  seriously, what did you expect?
- will-rom, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10You can't resist pringles flavor side down.
- chrono13, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6No need to buy crap.
  
  Do you have a vegetable steamer? If not, they are like $10 bucks.
  
  Makes a great parabolic dish:
  http://www.instructables.com/id/EQARE4I72GEPUCHTHU/?ALLSTEPS
  
  1 - Metal Strainer/Steamer
  1 - USB WIFI Adaptor
  1 - USB Extension Cable (I chose a 10ft long)
  ½” Drill Bit (I like to use stepper bits for metal)
  Gorilla Glue (Epoxy works well too)
  2 - Zip Ties
  
  You can get all the materials for under $20, except for the USB WiFi of course.
- Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22"Ok, Here you go, 5 free ways to boost your wifi signal."
  
  I tried asking my neighbor to move his router closer to me but he's just not being reasonable.
- DrDabbles, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6@enclaved
  You forgot these:
  - Knock down one or more walls between you and access point
  - Remove large sections of floor/ceiling between you and access point
  
  @chrono13
  I don't mean to nitpick, but you started by saying "No need to buy crap", but then listed an item (or three) that needed to be purchased. I mean, you really need to proof read what you post. Or better yet, have someone else proof read what you're about to post so they can tell you that you're typing like a fool.
  
  @all
  I've found the best way to increase my WiFi range at home was to add antennas to my WRT54G. By doing that, I ensure any device in range can access it instead of needing to mod everybody's WiFi card.
  Having said that, to increase your range on an AP you don't own (say, a hot spot or your buddy's AP) is to have a high-gain antenna on your device itself. There are many people that will tell you to use amplifiers and antennas, but think of it like this: An amp will make your signal loud and clean all the way to the AP. But, if your antenna is weak you'll still be straining to pick up the AP itself. You want the signal going both ways to be as close to each other as possible. It just makes diagnosing range issues so much easier.
- PowerCow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Kinda lame but for people on the cheap, it does work a little
  http://www.freeantennas.com/
  print them out.. cover in foil, cut them out and assemble..
  I have a couple on my router.. and i will say you can definately tell when they are pointed the wrong way.
  
  mostly free.. you still have to pay for paper, ink, scissors, foil, tape or glue.. and you hve to own an AP but besides for all that it is free.
- FCon4, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2@DrDabbles:
  
  You may want to PROOFREAD, also.
- unitedstatians, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2just print and cut
  
  http://www.freeantennas.com/Templates/windsurfer.jpg
skyshock21, on 10/12/2007, -20/+1Pfft... none of these have anything on the Cisco omni-directional antenna. Marked as lame.
muaddib420, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3i don't need a bigger range, what i really need is FASTER.
- rondeth, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Boosting the signal would have a positive effect on overall throughput, man.
- Rikkochet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6If you're frequently transferring data at 54Mb/sec and require more, you probably need to reevaluate how you have your LAN set up.
Eccles, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4What I want is a better way to receive the signal on my laptop. Very few wifi PC Cards seem to support external antennas though. Any recommendations?
- mikedpirone, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Orinoco Gold
- j3one, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3mmm, pringles to go!
  - http://www.pringles.com/images/meet_pringles/product_pic_grab&go_l.jpg
- ScrappyLaptop, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Solder. No, really. Take off the end of a ( < $20) PCMCIA 802.11g card (the plastic cap) and you will see two antennas etched on the pcb. Disconnect one by breaking the trace and solder the end of some appropriate coax to it before the break. Solder the shield braid to the ground, which most likely covers the entire bottom of the pcb. Attach the other end of the cable to a full-wave (aprox > 4-1/2 inches long, like the ones sold for WAPs) antenna, mount it and presto! For an hour's work you can gain many dbs. Btw, if you get lucky, your card will have test points you can solder to. If you are really lucky your cheapo card will have solder pads for an external antenna socket that are not utilized by that particular manufacturer that is just using the chipset reference design!
- ScrappyLaptop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0And this is what my post was supposed to say before the re-editing time limit ran out. Sorry for the confusion:
  
  Solder. No, really. Take off the end of a less-than-$20 pcmcia 802.11g card (the plastic cap) and you will see two antennas etched into the pcb. Break the trace to one of them and solder some appropriate coax just before the break. Solder the shield braid to ground, which most likely covers the entire bottom of the pcb. You will need to sand the protective layer off the copper before soldering. Now solder the other end of the cable to a full wave antenna. Hypothetically, you should match the length of the antenna to the channel you will be using, but I've had great luck using the ones that are just short of 6 inches long, like the ones sold for WAPs or for some laptops that have external antennas. Mount the antenna somewhere usefull and presto! For an hour's work you can gain many dbs. Btw, if you get lucky, your card will have test points you can solder to. If you are really lucky your cheapo card will have solder pads for an external antenna socket that are not utilized by that particular manufacturer that is just using the chipset reference design!
sparkysko, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12MOST client cards do not support external antennas. That portion is useless. MANY access points do not support external antennas.

Something that can help you, set your multicast rate to 1mbit in your AP. Many AP's have this set to 2mbit's or higher. This can increase your range on some access points by double, at the sacrifice of slower speed. This is NOT the same as your normal data rate.

First and foremost, get the highest sensitivity AP that you can afford, with external antennas, and that supports antenna DIVERSITY. This will give you 3db gain alone (double power). If you like hanging out in one spot, use a directional antenna, if not, use an omni. Higher gain omnidirectional antennas perform WORSE above and below them then a lower gain omni, so if you have a multi floored home, DON'T BOTHER.

Get a decent client card. If range is your concern, then a decent client card is MUCH more convenient than using an external antenna on your client. There are some cards out there that can easily obtain an 11mbit connection, where a comparable card wouldn't establish a connection, or would obtain a 1mbit connection. They had some decent third party cards available that were based on the Prism 2.5 chipset. Last time I checked, the best performing card performed at least 15db BETTER than the Orinoco card (which is my 'golden' standard on a quality card). This is as good or better than most antenna's you'd use. Higher end cards can easily obtain a 1 mile line of sight link in a flat, open environment without external antennas. Seriously, who wants to lug around an antenna with their laptop?!

Pringles can antennas suck. They really aren't 12db. Also, most client cards ALREADY have 3db inside them. Pringles can antennas do help, but spend the extra few bucks and get something decent. You're already going to have to buy a antenna connector online anyways.

If you really must have wireless everywhere you are, then you are going to have to make multiple cells to cover your area. You can buy devices like this, for not much more than you'd spend for an antenna on your client.

Remember, the important factors here are: POWER output of the radio, SENSITIVITY of the radio, and antenna GAIN. Don't buy crap and you'll get reasonable results. Don't be unreasonable with your expectations or you'll get crappy results.
xile, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Has this guy ever heard of beamwidth? A good parabolic dish only has a beamwidth of about 2 degrees. That's a pretty narrow line of sight to try and sit between with your laptop. Dishes are for links, not APs.
dopesick, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0Sparky your full of crap. POWER has little to do with the whole sceme of things. You "pringles can doesn't" work, then saying they help... Geesus man which is it... besides It's usually not the CANS fault, but the directional aiming or the builders lack of experience. Not to mention you can have all the POWER in the world, but if your Signal to Noise ratio sucks, well the power you use is wasted.

Building a proper GAIN antenna, to effectivly radiate or recieve a signal cleanly is the issue at hand. Try NOT to use insolating items in antenna builds UNLESS you get a noise bound signal. A full letal structure will ALWAYS recieve/radiate better then a hybrid setup, however as I said a sentence up, unless it's noisey. Then you'd use a hybrid rig.
SweetsGreen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Buy a Linksys WRT54G/S and change the firmware to either Alchemy or Talisman/Freeman

Then up the transmit power to 251mW (from 28)

You'll drown out any of your neighbors signals...
although you might grow a nice tumor from all the extra juice being pumped out.
- DrDabbles, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1@skyshock21
  That's a lame, LAME answer and it's wrong. Wroooong. WROOOOONG. Moreover, once you use that defense with the **AA, your ISP is going to turn off your service and sue you for potential damages. That is, unless you're using SpeakEasy. They happen to encourage sharing of your bandwidth.
- DrDabbles, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1WTF happened with my comment? Oh well.
  
  @SweetsGreen
  You need an education. In the worst way possible.
  
  #1 Turning up the broadcast strength on your AP only means devices far away can hear it. Great for those one-way sniffing sessions out on the road. Because you're only broadcasting loud and clear and you've done nothing for the reception side of things, any devices you may be using far away will not be able to talk back to the AP. By the way, nice porn collection you've been downloading.
  
  #2 The radiation given off from your puny little WiFi radio is far, FAR less than that given off by a Microwave Oven. It's less than your cellphone, even. It's probably less than even your cordless phone at home. You should really learn these things before you go spouting them as truth.
  
  You see, it's dolts like you that make it hard to roll out reliable WiFi access on a large scale. You think volume will fix every problem. Huh? Neighbor has an AP and a Wireless phone? F that! I'll jack my signal strength to the max that the radio can handle. If you solved your problems with a little intelligence instead of brute force, you could put one directional antenna at one end of your house / apartment and have great signal strength all over your place.
xile, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Another note... Pringles can antennas ARE crap. The ones I have made, after proper tuning, still are not matched properly to 50 Ohm. To make them efficient, I had to connect each of them to a network analyzer and start dielectrically loading the can (stuffing it w/ poly-polyurethane putty) until the match came up to 50 Ohm AND it was tuned properly. If you don't have access to a network analyzer, one will add about $50,000 to your antenna project.

If you want to build an antenna, try something a little easier to get right. Bi-quads are a good choice. There are a lot of precise measurements needed to build a bi-quad, but that's what makes them turn out so consistently efficient.
http://martybugs.net/wireless/biquad/
- robustyoungsoul, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3"Another note... Pringles can antennas ARE crap. The ones I have made, after proper tuning, still are not matched properly to 50 Ohm."
  
  Comments like this are why I love digg. Seriously, where else would you find someone admitting to the world at large that they have made pringle can antennas (plural), and then complain that they are "crap"?
- xile, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'll admit, I love experimenting. I've tried a number of antenna designs, more than one of which included a Pringles can as one of the materials required.
- ScrappyLaptop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A question for the EE's and/or @xile: Is it possible to etch a bi-quad on pcb like the pcmcia card manufacturers do? If the fiberglass substrate isn't too attenuating at 2.4ghz, anyone could download a pdf of a perfectly drawn bi-quad, print it out and use the laser-printer + hot iron transfer method to create a nice antenna pattern on the Cu and etch it; all that would be left would be to mount the pcb the proper distance from a second un-etched sheet of copper clad as the reflector. Solder your coax and you are good to go. If it is built into a sealed box by adding four sides it should be pretty durable, unlike the copper wire bi-quads. Better yet, a double bi-quad would be no more tedious nor mistake prone to make.
blackmath, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1If you have a wrt54g you can use 3rd party firmware to boost the transmit strength of the router. Of course if you turn it up too high itll burn it out.
dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Easiest way, and cheapest, is just to place the access point in the right place.. A lot of the time the access point is the biggest problem, either move it around in the room it's in, or if possible move the access point closer to the computers, move it next to one and use an ethernet cable (most consumer routers have ethernet ports at the back).
Also, instead of buying 3 $300 atennas, you'd be cheaper buying a better router, with a single big atenna, or wire up the place, or wire up the most heavily used bits, and use the wireless for lesser used machines
- Ben
proxybot767, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0get a MIMO router and a MIMO card. I use this to stream videos to my HTPC it holds between 98 MB/s to 108 MBs its almost as good as CAT5.
liquidedge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12 Things to keep in mind:
On channels: The only channels that don't overlap are 1, 6, and 11. Don't think you can be on channel 2 and see your neighbor on channel 1 and be okay.
On amplifying: If you buy an amplifier, remember that they amplify *everything,* including interference. It may not help at all.
mmyoungmm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Are Quickertek transceivers, for a G5 iMac anyway, worth the install effort. In the opinion of anyone with experience of them.
forever200, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1a great way to have a strong connection is use a access point as a bridge and just connect you pc up to it... very reliable and takes a bad signal and turns it good
- forget2remember, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Use a AP/router as a bridge? does that mean you can use your router like a wifi card and find other APs and connect to them? If so, how do you do it?
fluhlej, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have to agree with many of the comments here. In the end it is just easier to buy a better router, buy a better antenna, or build a better antenna. Of course if you plan to build a better one you will need access to a network analyzer or the like which will run at least 50G's so maybe unless you are already a EE or have access to EE equip then you would be better off buying a high gain antenna. Also unless you know what you are doing (maybe an EE) then amplifiers will probably amplify your problems not solve them. You have to remember there is a lot more to WiFi than your computer and the router. Also you might want to consider shielding your microwave as it could be causing interference.

Again I say that in the end unless you ARE and EE or know an EE that will do custom mods - just go spend a few hundred and buy a better router, get a higher gain antenna(s) for the router and your computer if you can, and maybe go for a range extender.

I will be honest I have built my own custom WiFi antenna for my desktop but in the end it was only 2 dB better than the 40 dollar one I bought in the store, which building my own on a time=money basis cost me more than buying one and I am a EE with experience in UWB antennas.
picklecrash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have the standard wireless G and I can get the full signal with a PCI adapter by wrapping a piece of alluminum foil into a stick and sticking it on the stub of the PCI adapter. the signal is boosted considerably especially if you make a couple arc shaped sheets of alluminum and aim them at the "antenna"
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5 Ways To Boost Your WiFi Signal

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