Yea I know, you don't believe me. 1/4 mile? Shenanigans.
Still reading? Great.
The whole thing started when I dropped my friend off for Horse lessons and didn't want to drive all the way home only to drive back to pick her up in an hour and a half. So what did I do? Drove to the closest neighborhood and got on an open WIFI network.
[NOTE: Connecting to someone’s WIFI without their permission is illegal in some areas!!!]
The network I connected to was a local realtor’s OPEN HOUSE FREE PUBLIC WIFI network…so I didn’t break any laws.
The problem was, the signal was very weak and I had to hold the computer at odd angles just to do a simple google search.
THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!
So after about twenty minutes of searching and finding things like “wokfi” and “parabolic asian cookware” I had the basic idea of what I needed to do; Concentrate the signal onto the antenna using a parabola. After a bit more searching I found out how to build a parabola out of a cd and a glass pot top, but I figured that it would be too weak for the distances that I am looking for [I would like to be able to connect right from the parking lot at the stables] Then there was the world record holder who had built a reflector out of a 10 foot diameter dish but that was WAY too big. So I compromised and picked up a rooftop satellite dish from a guy on Craigslist.org.
Long story short I built the thing and drove out to the stables, turned the rig on, started netstumbler, and started looking it took a little bit but I got the right angle to lock onto a signal and SHAZAM! I was connected!
So I knew that I had working signal, not just a fizzled connection from the router. The noise was at -100 and the signal was hovering around -75 or so. Not the fastest connection but based on the fact that I was ¼ of a mile away from the router I would say I was doing pretty darn good!
Ok enough with the stories, how do you build the darn thing!
You need:
A satellite dish [and the four screws holding it to the roof [YMMV]
A pair of scrap 2x4’s
A tin can [green bean sized]
A usb extention cord
A usb wireless adapter [in this build I am using the cheapest adapter I could find [$30 at target]
Two wood screws long enough to screw your two 2x4’s together
Some hot glue
An unwanted cd [I picked up a free netzero disk at Wally’s]
A glass pot lid shaped like a parabola
Some spray paint to make it look pretty
And some carpet of you are going to be mounting it to the roof of your car so It won’t scratch it.
The total cost for the build was only the $30 for the usb adapter, I had everything else on hand.
If you bought everything new it would cost around $60 [Not counting the dish]
Still reading? Great.
The whole thing started when I dropped my friend off for Horse lessons and didn't want to drive all the way home only to drive back to pick her up in an hour and a half. So what did I do? Drove to the closest neighborhood and got on an open WIFI network.
[NOTE: Connecting to someone’s WIFI without their permission is illegal in some areas!!!]
The network I connected to was a local realtor’s OPEN HOUSE FREE PUBLIC WIFI network…so I didn’t break any laws.
The problem was, the signal was very weak and I had to hold the computer at odd angles just to do a simple google search.
THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!
So after about twenty minutes of searching and finding things like “wokfi” and “parabolic asian cookware” I had the basic idea of what I needed to do; Concentrate the signal onto the antenna using a parabola. After a bit more searching I found out how to build a parabola out of a cd and a glass pot top, but I figured that it would be too weak for the distances that I am looking for [I would like to be able to connect right from the parking lot at the stables] Then there was the world record holder who had built a reflector out of a 10 foot diameter dish but that was WAY too big. So I compromised and picked up a rooftop satellite dish from a guy on Craigslist.org.
Long story short I built the thing and drove out to the stables, turned the rig on, started netstumbler, and started looking it took a little bit but I got the right angle to lock onto a signal and SHAZAM! I was connected!
So I knew that I had working signal, not just a fizzled connection from the router. The noise was at -100 and the signal was hovering around -75 or so. Not the fastest connection but based on the fact that I was ¼ of a mile away from the router I would say I was doing pretty darn good!
Ok enough with the stories, how do you build the darn thing!
You need:
A satellite dish [and the four screws holding it to the roof [YMMV]
A pair of scrap 2x4’s
A tin can [green bean sized]
A usb extention cord
A usb wireless adapter [in this build I am using the cheapest adapter I could find [$30 at target]
Two wood screws long enough to screw your two 2x4’s together
Some hot glue
An unwanted cd [I picked up a free netzero disk at Wally’s]
A glass pot lid shaped like a parabola
Some spray paint to make it look pretty
And some carpet of you are going to be mounting it to the roof of your car so It won’t scratch it.
The total cost for the build was only the $30 for the usb adapter, I had everything else on hand.
If you bought everything new it would cost around $60 [Not counting the dish]
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Signing UpStep 1: Form The Rear Reflector
Step 1:
Take your parabolic lid, remove the handle, it should just be a screw.
Take your CD, place it mirror side up in the glass lid.
Place the CD in the oven THEN set the oven to 300 degrees [faren if anybody is wondering]
[WARNING: If you put the cd in a preheated oven the cd will crack and the foil will wrinkle! This is bad for signal reflection! Start with a cold oven.]
Leave the CD in there for about an hour to an hour and a half [I just put it in there while I was building the rest of the rig]
After it is done forming take it out of the oven and IMMEDIATELY depress the center of the disk with something heat resistant like a spoon to form the CD to the parabola.
Let cool.
Take your parabolic lid, remove the handle, it should just be a screw.
Take your CD, place it mirror side up in the glass lid.
Place the CD in the oven THEN set the oven to 300 degrees [faren if anybody is wondering]
[WARNING: If you put the cd in a preheated oven the cd will crack and the foil will wrinkle! This is bad for signal reflection! Start with a cold oven.]
Leave the CD in there for about an hour to an hour and a half [I just put it in there while I was building the rest of the rig]
After it is done forming take it out of the oven and IMMEDIATELY depress the center of the disk with something heat resistant like a spoon to form the CD to the parabola.
Let cool.
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However, a satellite dish like this is a offset antenna. If the dish would be mounted at 90 degree (vertical) ....straight up and down, then it would receive a signal from about 26 degrees up the skies. To receive a signal from a horizontal source then the dish has to point about 26 degrees toward ground.
Did you ever try to use a cd reflector shaped like a cone ?
It may trap more signals inside the cone and unto the wifi.
Where did you find the program ssid and how much money was it.
In the near future I like to build something like you did.
When I started I had ZERO bars.. nothing.. after I build this rig.. I got FOUR BARS.. plugged it into my Cradlepoint mobile broadband router and now I have internet in my whole house. Once I get a broadband connection I will use this as a backup but you guys are lifesavers.. brilliant use of physics to solve problems.
Do you think you could connect the end of the antenna to a wireless bridge instead of a USB port? I think it would work, but I would like to know what you think.
I am not clear about the angles of the CD. Where is the focal point of the CD supposed to be? On the USB stick or on the satellite dish?
Would this work without the CD? What is the reason for two dishes?
How do I know if a pot lid is a parabola?
Thanks
The focal point of the satellite dish is supposed to be on the CD, it will usually be several inches across. The focal point of the CD is where you want your antenna.
This way you get two passes to catch the packets. The second parabola concentrates the signal to the size of a dime as opposed to a CD sized signal pattern.
You can find the focal point of your cd by aiming it at the light and moving your hand away from it until the light is as small as it can get [every parabola will be different]