WIFI Antenna Hack!

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Turn your standard WIFI antenna into one just like the $30 range extender antennas for about 5 cents! Follow these easy steps, and then check out the video if you need extra clarification. Digg if you like my very first Instructable.

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Step 1: Remove the top of your stock WIFI antenna.

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A small flat jeweler's screwdriver works great!

Suzi17s says: Apr 4, 2013. 10:38 AM

I am a kind of ignorant about this.
Can someone explain me what de 5 db gain means?

jenmar77 says: Jan 26, 2013. 6:08 AM

Wow, love the simplicity, great first :)

bethflorida says: Oct 3, 2012. 10:23 AM

I did this hack, but it did not improve my signal at all. While I believe I applied each step correctly, I will detail the process below in case anyone can spot a problem. My only request is that you not post comments based on empty guesses when you haven't tried this hack yourself. EG "Are you certain you used the correct COLOR screw"? Thanks..

In the spirit of the hack, I used what was around my house. I had a roll of 20 gauge copper wire (bare), so that is what I used. After cutting the proper length, I used a 2 inch coarse thread drywall screw without any problem. I am crappy at soldering, so I used butt connectors designed for 18-22 gauge wire (red). I tested to be certain the antenna-to-wire connection was firm. Slipped on the straw cover and screwed antenna into router. Restarted router and refreshed wireless networks. Nothing, nada, zip. Still the same two bars I had before the hack. Because I had the same signal, I believe there is no break in the hack wiring or problem at the splice, or the signal should be worse.

Did I miss something? Anyone else had this problem and solved it? Has anyone tried adding the extra 14 loops, and did that work? Other helpful suggestions?

Beth

fyrion says: Mar 3, 2012. 2:42 AM

hi all before some time i took PCI WI Fi card with 2 antennas and the antennas are the same like on the video at the beginning so does this modified is going to improve the signal cause there is alot of Wi Fi signals but them are a with a little bit poor signal

brian-kn in reply to tc998hotJan 28, 2012. 5:09 AM

Hi, i thank you for the replys for the 3 links much apreciated, but it is to tecnical for me on those sites, but it still does not give me a simple answer to increse more turns on the copper wire, kind regards Brian

brian-kn says: Jan 17, 2012. 2:45 PM

Hi, i am from the UK, it has been asked before but can you increase the gain of the aerial, from 7 turns around the wood screw, then a small space then 14 turns then 28, Kind regards, from the UK brian-kn

joseandre2108 says: Jan 7, 2012. 9:52 PM

Thanks was looking for something so simple, but clear and effective as you have posted 100%full

ANDY! says: Feb 7, 2010. 2:43 PM

would soldering the antenna to a piece of aluminum (laptop case) work?

zack247 in reply to ANDY!Apr 8, 2010. 12:42 PM

theoretically, yes. but the laptop would have to be metal. i think if you put a wire in the top part of the laptop soldered to the metal shell of the lcd, you will most likely get the best results

Fuogger in reply to zack247Apr 8, 2010. 9:19 PM

Now this makes me want to take the standard antenna, strip it down, and solder it onto the side of the entire desktop computer case. Forget the wimpy laptop case, forget the ethernet cable, welcome to the age of the casetenna!

KC8RJS in reply to FuoggerMay 3, 2010. 9:32 AM

You obviously cannot solder your wireless adapter to a metal case, there is something we like to call resonant frequency and attaching something that will cause a mismatch load to the transmitter (1:1) will more than likely damage it over a short period of time. A quarter wave length dipole for 2.4Ghz is 1.23 inches and a full wave is nearly 4.92 inches.

supermorph in reply to KC8RJSJul 16, 2011. 5:47 AM

i have an apple mac g4 case which i modded to become a pc case, can i use a wifi card cable to use the internal (apple case aerial) attached to that case?

if so that would put my server down to running on just 2-3 wires (trying to have the least ammount of cables so i can do a (set it & forget it) in my back room. :-p

KC8RJS in reply to supermorphJul 16, 2011. 6:13 AM

I dont see why you can't your range will be less than optimal being inside the case, so you may want to use NetStumbler and check your readings after the install, at the very least you may need to move the case to get a descent signal to where you're operating.

supermorph in reply to KC8RJSJul 26, 2011. 12:59 PM

cheers for the advice, but as my card has 3 aerials, i would only be using one socket and using the other aerials as normal.

when i get chance, ill try it :-)

chunk_change in reply to supermorphJan 6, 2012. 2:49 AM

I would also like to add that a pc case has the ability to be a case ground, which means if any short were to happen against the metal frame you have a circuit fryer

zack247 in reply to FuoggerApr 8, 2010. 10:38 PM

but wouldnt you need a wireless card for that? but great idea. cases are made of steel, so its conductive, and soldering a wire to the case ould turnit into a giant antenna. i get it, and its ingenious!

ANDY! in reply to zack247Apr 9, 2010. 10:36 PM

I have a wireless thing in the laptop soldered to the steel frame. Dell was smart.

zack247 in reply to ANDY!Apr 10, 2010. 10:34 AM

except when it came to batteries. any of the laptops made before 2004 had battery problems. the battery would short circuit or something and the laptop wouldn't turn on if the battery was attached. you had to keep them plugged in for them to work

ANDY! in reply to zack247Apr 11, 2010. 7:26 PM

that has happened to me.

ANDY! in reply to ANDY!Apr 15, 2010. 10:20 PM

i took the battery apart and the multimeter shows a strong current. the circuit board doesn't work

zack247 in reply to ANDY!Apr 16, 2010. 3:25 PM

ah, the battery overcharge protector board. possibly the most useful and annoying of the boards

Fuogger in reply to ANDY!Apr 11, 2010. 8:30 PM

That's the issue I have now, battery lasts all of one minute if I'm lucky. Second time this has happened to me. Oh well.

zack247 in reply to FuoggerApr 11, 2010. 10:21 PM

i wonder why dell didn't make very good batteries? my friend had a dell, and at a full charge, the latop literally doesnt make it past the loading screen. it lasts about 30 seconds. and im not exagerating. (i think thats how its spelled?)

Electronics Blurred in reply to zack247Sep 9, 2010. 12:13 PM

exaggerating .
And i am actually fighting for my 9 cell to run for more then 5 hours ==
Hopefully HP will stop putting those lousy nvidia chips "heat stoves" into new generation laptops .

craobhruadh says: Dec 30, 2011. 6:49 AM

Anarky to answer your question.....It works very well!. My little girls computers are sharing a wireless internet connection. And their placement is a little lacking IE behind a couch...ever try to argue fashion versus function with a woman?....yah..

.Their wireless card has a similar antenna to the one on my old D-link so dust off yee ole G router and steal it's antenna.

well I didn't have any copper cable around until I remembered I was sitting on tons of coax.

So I stripped it out (use a pair of wire strippers or you will chop it in half) followed his directions to a T, minus i went with a paper-mate pen casing in stead of a straw, it is stronger and similar to the real casing comes in a variety of colors and has a cool pointy tip :).

with the old antenna I was getting a .85 megabit pull on speed test. with two little girls playing online Pokeman games sharing the same wireless it was bad. But add the antenna hack and it went up to 2.87 Megabits. to confirm this I put the old one back on and retested right back down to .85- .89

took me 5 minutes to make this thing (butane soldering iron is the bomb)

I cant thank him enough a nickle worth of old sat cable saved me 30 bucks and the headache from my girls "daddy my internet sucks"

Havent heard from them in days.

Now I will see if this ups my wireless bridge as well!!!!!!!! Burhahahahah cough cough

prabath1988914 says: Sep 22, 2011. 3:37 AM

can i use the 2.4GHz wifi antenna for my hspd dongle (for mobile frequency rang)

MaximusPsychosis in reply to prabath1988914Dec 27, 2011. 2:47 AM

no, the HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) uses a different frequency to WiFi
wifi is 2.4-2.5Ghz, mobile network is 850, 900, 1800, 2100Mhz ~12.5CM is the band length of wifi, ~30cm is the wave length of 900Mhz band.. now for helix coil on that you need it to be a total of 1/4th the band with to do the right effect..

read both these if you want to melt your brain ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helical_antenna

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipole_antenna#Frequency_versus_length

ncham says: Nov 17, 2011. 4:11 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNQfBW3_ZMs

SIRJAMES09 says: Nov 1, 2011. 3:26 PM

I have a Q:

I have an old CB antennae that has been sitting around for like forever...would that work?? *evil grin*

I know that I would have to build a base for it & all that, but if it'll work to REALLY pull in the net or whatever, then it will have some purpose.....otherwise its trash

irishjim68 in reply to SIRJAMES09Nov 12, 2011. 4:06 PM

You would have to make sure the length of the antenna is correct for the resonant frequency (or part thereof). Most mobile type CB antennas range from 2-8.5 feet in length, which is the proper length for 1/4 to full wave resonance on the 11 meter 26.000 to 28.000 MHz CB band. As wifi broadcasts on 2.4 GHz the resonant length would be quite a bit shorter.

suayres says: Jun 6, 2011. 2:58 PM

I'm totally ignorant about wifi (my caveat/confession): is the length of the antenna why my wifi connection keeps dropping in and out? I get it thru my cable company and it drives me crazy, especially when it drops out right in the middle of an instructable! It comes in thru our own router, and ever since getting the our own router is when the dropouts started. If amplifying the antenna will do the job, I'm all over it! Thanks for your help.

mman1506 in reply to suayresJun 21, 2011. 5:54 PM

probably not, it's likely your router. Even if you get your wifi router from your company you can still connect a second wifi router and use that. I would recommend a WRT45GL by linksys with the tomato firmware installed. I have one and it works perfectly.

dedric444 in reply to mman1506Oct 30, 2011. 12:57 PM

i place all my time and faith in a belkin wireless router. it is very well worth it. you dont need the all new one because older ones work perfectly. and you also dont need any software to be put on it to make it faster. although you can if you want to.

suayres in reply to mman1506Jun 24, 2011. 8:31 AM

You were right: I called the nice people at Belkin (manufacturers of my router) and they talked me thru a re-conformation/reworking of my router and now, it works great! I don't know if we set it up wrong or what, but it hasn't dropped out even once since doing it. To be perfectly honest, I have NO IDEA what I did, but whatever it was, it fit the bill!

Fixerdad says: Oct 10, 2011. 11:18 AM

What is the length of the antenna segment after the coil? Is the length critical? I'm guesstimating from the pix. Thanks!

charlessenf-gm says: Oct 5, 2011. 2:00 PM

I liked the Drywall Screw as a coil form! Nice trick.
I Think that you could use a length of Heat Shrink Tubing instead of a straw - or perhaps in conjunction with a straw - maybe put an eraser off a pencil into the open end of the straw first - then heat shrink. You can use several pieces of HS Tubing - one over the other - to make a pretty stiff antenna.

jmanc2 says: Apr 17, 2011. 8:34 PM

They make them larger to make you drink your soda faster thus making you think you require a larger soda... Subconscious up sell or shifty eyed marketing genius, you decide...

ac1D in reply to jmanc2Aug 30, 2011. 5:14 AM

Also.. did you notice that when you go to a restaurant that offer free refill, they give you one of these tiny tiny straw so you drink it slower.. and drinking less also make you eat more!
Restaurant are the cause of bad economy and fat American! Kill restaurant!

dwh1 in reply to jmanc2Aug 20, 2011. 9:51 AM

good point LoL, I would say all of thee above.

lokivoid says: Jul 14, 2011. 2:45 PM

Unless you building a dish feeder to use in conjuction with a 1W or higher low noise filter. I would suggest just investing into a good 500mA to 1W USB wifi adapter (a alfa 1w runs about 20USD on ebay) and a 20 to 25dBi yagi antenna (25 dBi 2.4ghz yagi's can be found on ebay for 8 to 11 USD includeing shipping). In most cases cheaper just to buy a cheap chinese directional antenna unless your going to go all out with a dish array.