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Cardboard WiFi Antenna Upgrade

Posted by michael on from the don't-get-it-wet dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A British company called Tritium is marketing a piece of cardboard with metal foil on one side. You order it for under US$25, shipping included, and you get a flat envelope with the cardboard. Cut it out, shape it into a parabola and snap it into the little stand. Then slip it over your current antenna. It is advertised to extend the range of your current antenna by 2 to 3 times. See their website for more information on the cleverly named Tritium Flatenna."

4 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Make your own by webscathe · · Score: 5, Informative

    Or you could just go here and make your own with stuff in your house for under $1.

  2. /.ed to oblivion by nekdut · · Score: 4, Informative

    That was fast. Less than 5 posts and the machine is melted.

    Well here's a press release on the product. I like the part about it "vaguely resembling a Klingon space ship".

    Check it here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/6/prwebxml13509 7.php

    Oh and of course the Google cache of the melted tritium.co.uk box: http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:TSbW7tvLA14J:ww w.tritium.co.uk/

  3. Not an upgrade... by xchino · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is NOT an upgrade for your antenna. This doesn't increase gain, it just takes it from the back and adds to the front. The good thing about this method is it doesn't require you to modify your original antenna, so you don't have to worry about breaking FCC regulations on all equipment being certified. Apart from that, they are selling for $25 something which I created for free out of household items. Check here for more info on how to do it yourself (took me all of 30 minutes the first time).

    But again, I want to state this isn't an upgrade, your antenna isn't any more powerful, you're just taking power from the back and shooting it forward, so if you need omnidirectional signal this isn't for you. It can however, increase a dirctional link, but so can a pringles yagi directional, and that's still cheaper than this. Forget about this company and just make your own, it's simple, fun, and cheap, and gives you more of a choice in what material you want to use.

    --
    Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.
    1. Re:Not an upgrade... by Rorschach1 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I believe the FCC limits are on EIRP - effective isotropic radiated power. An isotropic radiator is a theoretical antenna that radiates equally in all directions. EIRP measures the equivalent amount of power an isotropic radiator would need to put out to equal the effective power of your non-isotropic antenna.

      Say we take that energy from 180 degrees of the antenna's pattern and reflect it back along with the other 180 degrees. Now we've got twice the (effective) power, with half the coverage. This is EXACTLY what the EIRP rules are talking about.

      Sorry, there's no getting around the rules just because you don't physically touch the radiating element...