Home made WiFi antennas
June 29th 2007 05:44
“WiFi” love it or hate it so very much part of our life wireless fidelity’ “WiFi” has many advantages. It is efficient you don’t need to lay wires or cables and is very portable.
WiFi is a technology of using wireless signal over local area networks (WLAN). This technology has gained acceptance very quickly. Now that we have a proliferation of wireless routers, laptops with wireless adaptors, Bluetooth.
Sure it has problems, one of which is distance black spots, speed and security.
Wifi Comes in all shapes and sizes there are WiFi café and hot spots where you can for a fee login and surf the Internet.
Having a laptop computer has given me more freedom to move from room to room. With the added bonus of going outdoors sit in the sun and enjoy computing.
Like many homes I have several computers a lap top and a wireless router.
One of the problems of having WiFi setup is that at times there is a lack of good signal coverage and depending where you are there are located you may experience black spots where signal strength is poor.
Would it be nice to have strong signal coverage and not have to pay an arm and leg for it? Well you can either go out and buy a better router, but that cost’s money.
There are other ways to improve existing signal strength and coverage all you need to do is have a better antenna system.
Why not build your own WiFi antenna system! Is not difficult all you need is some cardboard and some alfoil and a bit of glue. ( I have included the template image)
I like to tinker with radios and antennas. I have amateur radio license had it for years why not scale down the formulas. Take the measurements of a large antenna just change the calculations. With a bit of calculating and given the short wavelength of the wireless router, it is the region of 2.4 GHz the antenna would be small and easy to construct.
I set out to make a number of antennas from cardboard. I made a template and printed it out on a piece of lightweight cardboard slapped on a bit of Alfoil and there it was.
Not very pretty but hey it works. I placed the antenna around the antenna of my existing wireless router took my laptop outside.
Antenna Construction
There are several alternatives to making a Wifi antenna. I have the best alternative was to visit a newsagent. I purchased a few sheets of silvered backed A4 sheets which I found was easier than gluing a piece of alfoil.
All that need to be done is to print out the template on a piece of A4 silvered cardboard. There will be 2 pieces one is the reflector and the other piece of cardboard is where the router’s antenna attaches too. Cut out the outline with some sharp scissors assemble the bits and that’s. A fully functioning antenna for less than $1.00 and can be constructed in just 10 minutes.
I found that I could get much more distance with the home made antenna and about 2 extra bars on the meter. Why not give it a try l will appreciate any feedback.
Next time I will talk about encrypting your Wifi internet connections.
WiFi is a technology of using wireless signal over local area networks (WLAN). This technology has gained acceptance very quickly. Now that we have a proliferation of wireless routers, laptops with wireless adaptors, Bluetooth.
Sure it has problems, one of which is distance black spots, speed and security.
Wifi Comes in all shapes and sizes there are WiFi café and hot spots where you can for a fee login and surf the Internet.
Having a laptop computer has given me more freedom to move from room to room. With the added bonus of going outdoors sit in the sun and enjoy computing.
Like many homes I have several computers a lap top and a wireless router.
One of the problems of having WiFi setup is that at times there is a lack of good signal coverage and depending where you are there are located you may experience black spots where signal strength is poor.
Would it be nice to have strong signal coverage and not have to pay an arm and leg for it? Well you can either go out and buy a better router, but that cost’s money.
There are other ways to improve existing signal strength and coverage all you need to do is have a better antenna system.
Why not build your own WiFi antenna system! Is not difficult all you need is some cardboard and some alfoil and a bit of glue. ( I have included the template image)
I set out to make a number of antennas from cardboard. I made a template and printed it out on a piece of lightweight cardboard slapped on a bit of Alfoil and there it was.
Not very pretty but hey it works. I placed the antenna around the antenna of my existing wireless router took my laptop outside.
Typical Wireless Router
Antenna Construction
There are several alternatives to making a Wifi antenna. I have the best alternative was to visit a newsagent. I purchased a few sheets of silvered backed A4 sheets which I found was easier than gluing a piece of alfoil.
All that need to be done is to print out the template on a piece of A4 silvered cardboard. There will be 2 pieces one is the reflector and the other piece of cardboard is where the router’s antenna attaches too. Cut out the outline with some sharp scissors assemble the bits and that’s. A fully functioning antenna for less than $1.00 and can be constructed in just 10 minutes.
I found that I could get much more distance with the home made antenna and about 2 extra bars on the meter. Why not give it a try l will appreciate any feedback.
Next time I will talk about encrypting your Wifi internet connections.
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