instructables.com — Easily receive WIFI signals from far away using a standard USB WIFI adaptor and a bit of ingenuity. This Simple idea requires no modifications to a USB WIFI adaptor or your computer. A simple way to increase the signal strength and range of your WIFI. Plus it works with all USB WIFI adaptors
Jul 22, 2006 View in Crawl 4
sfly510Jul 23, 2006
I was gonna post the same site. It's got a lot more designs. Basically anything parabolic can be used; just put the adapter at the focal point. There was also some way to get a free satellite dish from freecyle to get very high gains. I haven't tried it but people say good things. Also check out cantennas if you're interested in extending your range for cheap.
egrumlingJul 23, 2006
Not bad, but I doubt it would be very useful for pulling signals out that aren't there already. Should improve a marginal signal a bit, though.<a class="user" href="http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/15/how-to-build-a-wifi-biquad-dish-antenna/">http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/15/how-to-build-a-wifi-biquad-dish-antenna/</a> has directions for building a really high gain antenna. Not exactly easy to fit in the LT bag, though. One of these days I'm going to build one for the campsite.
spectre_25gtJul 23, 2006
LOL is deprecated in Web 2.0. Please be advised
Closed AccountJul 23, 2006
The parabolic dish is used as a REFLECTOR, not a RESONATOR. That being the case, the focal point of the dish with respect to the actual antenna's position (inside the USB device) is the important factor. The quarter wavelength comes into play in the reactive elements of the actual antenna. Fortunately that math has been taken care of by the manufacture of the USB device.
joel2600Jul 23, 2006
department of redundancy departmenti think you could have left out the "Plus it works with USB WIFI adapters" at the end ... actually you could have shortened your whole abstract to about one sentence to keep everyone here from becoming stupider.
doctechnicalJul 23, 2006
Re-read the article headline: "Unidirectional". That means "one direction", so it helps pick up signals that the antenna is pointed at, not those beside or behind it.BAD for wardriving. You're looking for "omnidirectional", meaning "all directions".HTH. HAND.
thenewmadmaxJul 23, 2006
n00b