Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

4km WiFi Range w/ $5 DIY Antenna

Posted by timothy on from the try-uwajimaya dept.

Mignon writes "This industrious fellow in New Zealand made his own WiFi antenna using a USB WiFi adapter and a Chinese 'spider skimmer mesh scoop.' He got about 17 dB signal improvement for about US $5 in materials." Update: 05/25 23:09 GMT by T : Reader John Stockdale offers a U.S. hosted mirror of the site. Update: 05/26 13:58 GMT by T : Reader Jared Mauch contributes another mirror.

3 of 254 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why haven't AP manufacturers tried this? by Carnildo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I wonder if there are hidden shortcomings to this technique. If it only costs $5, I would think that manufacturers of wireless access points would have implemented this a long time ago (or at least made it available as a $40 add on).

    The most likely shortcoming is that it probably violates the FCC rules about how much power an unlicensed transmitter can put out.

    --
    "They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
  2. Too bad it's directional by pedantic+bore · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The antenna is directional so this kind of range isn't that helpful unless the two end points are stationary. Which is exactly the kind of thing I don't use wireless for...



    I guess it's a neat hack if that's the only way to communicate with your friend 4Km away, and you only have one friend (or your one friend has a nice network connection to the rest of the world and is willing to share).

    --
    Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
  3. Nice work by Beuno · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good to know some people are still trying to improve technology remembering that not everybody has 1 trilion dollars a month to spend on over-priced gadgets.

    Good work!