Uni-Directional WIFI Range Extender

Step 5 Update: Tripod Mount

I decided to make the dish tripod mountable as its really hard to try and hold it to lock in a far away signal. The parts needed are pretty straight-forward.

Tripod
Nut for the bolt on the tripod
9/32" Drill Bit (Stepper bit works really nice for enlarging the hole)

Pick a hole near the edge of the dish and use the drill bit to enlarge it. I chose the one where one of the feet had once been secured. Then just put the bolt from the tripod trough the hole and secure with the nut. Works great.

Comments

[kazefal]

does it work???

[mrob]

I just did what you said but used a pringles can an duct tape no drilling. I got internet now. I'm on it now. No signal before.

[jc penny]

what's war drive ?

[SparkyGage]

"driving" or walking around looking for open wifi connections.

[thedorment]

I made one and it works great i used a gps suction mount to put it on my window instead of the roof
just modified the plastic a little and used zip ties

[degrove]

Does anyone know how to make this for an xbox 360 connection and having Comcast as your cable company.. i wouldnt have a good signal just using the ethernet cable and my laptop..Thanks in advance

[mhel_mcs]

hi I'm newbee here, I just want to know if how long is the range that can recieved by this antenna? and can this be used to get the signal coming from my neigbhors house?

[Kryptonite]

There are no specifics for this, depending upon your usb, where you are and alot of other things like that, the range can change by a vast number. Usually you would be able to use your neighbour's signal without this, but it would be better with the antenna.

[MediocreNinja]

 Lol, great idea. Just dont know how practical it is to carry it around, but I guess its good for a docking station at home. And why were you on the roof? Lol, got a whole little set-up there don't you?

[laxman735]

what exactly does the strainer do?

[H3xx]

It communicates with the mother-ship! ;) In all seriousness, though, it acts as a waveguide and reflects all of the adapter's waves in a single direction, therefore increasing its range. The drawback is that you have to "aim" it to get a signal.

[H3xx]

And using a strainer like this makes it a bit more portable as it can collapse on top of itself. The tripod is a nice touch in my opinion.

[Cfreeburn]

Hi, first off thanks for the great idea. I was thinking of a way to improve on this but do not know if it is possible. 1. the advantage of wireless is just that, wireless. one can scamper around their house cordless as can be. Problem: this method establishes the connection however is restricting on the "scamper" factor. Solution: there may possibly be a way to not only pick up a connection, but to direct it to a personal wireless router within the home and therefore enjoy the freedom of wireless roaming. Any thought?

[H3xx]

use a coax wired antenna from your wireless router and point it to the connection you want. as most routers have more than one antenna, you can simply use the remaining ones to broadcast your long connection through out the house. simple as pie.

[chicho187]

nice, easy and creative, good work

[birdofmanycolors]

first let me say i am a dumbass. i got this thing from sprint, plugs into the usb and it has alil flippy cell atn thingy? is that the same thing a what i see in the pics?

[klynt69]

No the thing you got from sprint connects you to a cellular network. the thing in the pics is a general wifi adapter. it connects to networks setup by individuals or businesses that have wifi routers. Like at your neighbors house or at the starbucks across the street. The thing you have gets its signal from the same tower that your cell phone connects to. The antenna should work for you too though. You'd think you wouldn't need an antenna for the sprint net connect but ift is worth the effort to find out.. The antenna is really easy to make. theres no electrical connections/no soldering.

[pazsion]

Regarding weither you should turn off your internal wifi.. no.. you will have more bandwidth and stronger signal with more wifi adapters. Tho your internal one may not have good cooling. And may heatup various components tied into it.. turn it off if things improve keep it off.. if it's 802.11g its going to be 54mbs max tho my linksys, with original drivers, topped out at 115+ mbps.. Turn it on. test your internet bandwidth.. speedtest.net or whatismyip.com are god sites i've used to test my connection changes.. 1 wifi 54mbps plus 2 100mb nic's full-duplex i get consistent d/l 25mb/s and u/l 2,5mbs Of course u are limited by the source speeds set by your provider, And if they allow multiple connections from the same ip ranges.. Another perk with wifi, is you can workaround that limitation with wifi, by connecting to other networks that dont go through your router.. But this is pointless if the signal is not as strong or stronger then yours..

[veryfitartist]

I did build this and unsure if actually working. here's some facts> Del laptop XP already wlan internal wifi. I pick up default only. with this new device external I pick up many routers outside with new 54 mbps. But, curious...do I rid wlan inside laptop? Or just turn that wifi off? I do NOT have internet connection for few weeks. I rely on wifi but the only enabled is default. Yes a 10' wifi USB cable, strainer and wifi adapter connected. The wlan internal wifi reads 54Mbps. the list on the new adapter reads various speeds from 2% to 50% and I read Bell at 60%. How can default be 2% on the new self built while my Wlan is always picking default 54Mbps? Should I invest in a 108Mbps wifi adapter? There are also obstacles front of my balcany like other high rises and trees but I'm also on second floor. Any other ideas appreciated or I need to figure the other system which I admit only half understand. Wireless G X7 (booster mode) 54Mbps with docking cradle. Package also came with cd for downloading this which I did. Richard

[bigren]

you have to have to go to manage network connections and disable the internal adapter the your good

[veryfitartist]

BTW, I forgot to post this is more for test. Please feel free to view my site has absolutely nothing to do with wifi and tinkering yet is ironically part of my interests. U can't email bacause site is off(as previously mentioned) NO internet connection. site is there for now. www3.sympatico.ca/richard.dominick I wiil create one "simple" on google soon I hope. emails don't work. Please email me at > [e-mail] I'm a non profit person as more interested in people knowing what I do and who I am and same goes with me viewing other people's lives is very inspiring. "If I was rich, I'd buy what i want but if I was rich, I probly be the same" Richard

[Lucron]

(removed by author or community request)

[triggernum5]

Why would you do that? There is no reason to use ICS with a router, thats for hubs and xover connections.. You can make a network bridge without a dedicated pc too.. You need a router that supports DD-WRT etc, to act as the client to your target network, and another router to act like any other router to serve the internet to the rest of your house.. If thats what you mean then yea, your method uses the pc to do the same thing I guess..