omfg wifi rockin your world, kick 4$$ pwnd

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Sat May 13, 2006 3:10 pm

So my budy is letting me connect to his network for free internet. The only catch is that the connection is bad. So i wanted a stronger super mega ultra antena for my pci wifi card.

So i found some sweet stuff but nothing that i can afford on my student salary.

\"if you can't buy it, build it\" -common mantra among software developers. ftponline.com

I've found a few cool pages like, this one that has info on parts i might want, a simple desing i'm going to use, and one that's plain silly.

Right now im in a supid lab because i can't connect to my friends hub, with my weak 'indoor'antenna. But if anyof you have any cool ideas or stories about building this type of thing please tell! It could help me.

[no i don't think airsnort is funny or cool...]

Floyd · Post by **Floyd** » Sat May 13, 2006 4:15 pm

i hear that the one that's \"plain silly\" actually works, even if it doesn't fit your art major taste.

the can on this picture is a little bigger than the one i saw. the gain on the one i saw is nearly 10db.

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Sat May 13, 2006 4:43 pm

Floyd wrote:i hear that the one that's "plain silly" actually works, even if it doesn't fit your art major taste.
the can on this picture is a little bigger than the one i saw. the gain on the one i saw is nearly 10db.

lol it's 'look' isnt the reason why im not going that rout. I just think i could do better.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Sat May 13, 2006 6:07 pm

Why would you title this \"stupid wifi\"?

Wifi isn't stupid, but it does have a tendency to be flakey - even WITH good antennas.

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Sat May 13, 2006 11:09 pm

Mobius wrote:Why would you title this "stupid wifi"?

Wifi isn't stupid, but it does have a tendency to be flakey - even WITH good antennas.

my bad

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Sun May 14, 2006 12:01 am

Build an antenna out of a pringles can. I did this about a year ago for a little fun. It only cost me about $30 (the cable and connector was the most expensive) and allowed me to connect to my neighbor 4 houses down. I don't use it any more but I still have it laying around. I used the Fiery Hot pringles can for coolness. But seriously, this is probably the cheapest way to get better range on your wifi, just build your own yagi antenna. Here is the exact website I used to make mine complete with parts list.

There are also plans on the internet somewhere to make one out of a coffee can but I stuck with Pringles as I don't drink coffee

Here's some pictures of mine:

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sun May 14, 2006 8:21 am

Building yourself an effective wi-fi booster antenna out of a tin can could earn you some extra elite techy points, which depending on your point of view could be a good or a bad thing.

snoopy · Post by **snoopy** » Sun May 14, 2006 8:27 am

People don't understand why I just can't manage to get myself all excited about wi-fi. I mean, it's nice for a laptop, but if you want to connect a desktop, run the wiring.

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Sun May 14, 2006 1:06 pm

snoopy wrote:People don't understand why I just can't manage to get myself all excited about wi-fi. I mean, it's nice for a laptop, but if you want to connect a desktop, run the wiring.

Very true snoopy. Even in the same house the connection can be unreliable. Anything from microwave ovens and cordless phones seem to be able to intrerfere. I know that with a Linksys wrt54g you can flash the rom and allow many new features including increasing the power to the radio.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Sun May 14, 2006 1:46 pm

Xamindar wrote:I know that with a Linksys wrt54g you can flash the rom and allow many new features including increasing the power to the radio.

Prior to V5 you mean. Only on V1 - V4, and the WRT54GL can you do that. V5 uses a proprietary firmware (VXWorks) so if you want to use third-party stuff you're screwed.

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Sun May 14, 2006 3:08 pm

snoopy wrote:People don't understand why I just can't manage to get myself all excited about wi-fi. I mean, it's nice for a laptop, but if you want to connect a desktop, run the wiring.

What if you only want to connect a desktop for a limited amount of time? Or if laying the wiring would involve far too much work for the payback, or going through too many walls? Or if you don't have the manual experience to do it yourself and don't want to pay out the wazoo for someone to come in and do it for you? I'm planning on buying a wireless router when I go home for the summer, so that I can have my desktop set up upstairs; there'd be absolutely no point in laying any sort of permanent wiring for something that'll be there for just three months.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Sun May 14, 2006 4:35 pm

I'm sure snoopy was referring to having a desktop there on a \"permanent\" basis, not for something along the lines of what you're talking about.

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Sun May 14, 2006 5:50 pm

Starting monday i'm going to start building this thing. It should be cool.

Krom wrote:Building yourself an effective wi-fi booster antenna out of a tin can could earn you some extra elite techy points, which depending on your point of view could be a good or a bad thing.

It would be really cool if i could amp the signal with out breaking any thing.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:15 pm

Isaac wrote:Starting monday i'm going to start building this thing. It should be cool.

Krom wrote:Building yourself an effective wi-fi booster antenna out of a tin can could earn you some extra elite techy points, which depending on your point of view could be a good or a bad thing.
It would be really cool if i could amp the signal with out breaking any thing.

Just don't do it too much, or you'll have the FCC on your six.

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Mon May 15, 2006 9:11 pm

MD-2389 wrote:
Just don't do it too much, or you'll have the FCC on your six.

Hold everything.. Wtf? Could i be breaking a law with this? Or are you kidding around?

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Mon May 15, 2006 9:22 pm

You will be breaking the law. It will amplify your signal well beyond the permitted range.

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Mon May 15, 2006 11:35 pm

DCrazy wrote:You will be breaking the law. It will amplify your signal well beyond the permitted range.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought a yagi antenna just *focused* the signal, not amplified it. So how would he be breaking the law? I mean they even sell larger antennas at computer stores for some wifi devices.

SuperSheep · Post by **SuperSheep** » Tue May 16, 2006 8:23 am

May not be entirely illegal but you gotta read the fine print...

http://wifinetnews.com/archives/004024.html

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Tue May 16, 2006 3:18 pm

Xamindar wrote:Build an antenna out of a pringles can. I did this about a year ago for a little fun. It only cost me about $30 (the cable and connector was the most expensive) and allowed me to connect to my neighbor 4 houses down. I don't use it any more but I still have it laying around. I used the Fiery Hot pringles can for coolness. But seriously, this is probably the cheapest way to get better range on your wifi, just build your own yagi antenna. Here is the exact website I used to make mine complete with parts list.

There are also plans on the internet somewhere to make one out of a coffee can but I stuck with Pringles as I don't drink coffee

Here's some pictures of mine:

I'm having troble finding a conector for my antena. I've only checked at target,walmart, best buy, and HEB. Do you think radio shack might have them or homedepot? Thows stores would be hard for me to get to.

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Fri May 19, 2006 3:58 am

UPDATE!

I found out that if i just turn my computer 45deg i can pick up twice as many connections... wierd.. anyway. IM BACK ONLINE!

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Fri May 19, 2006 4:35 am

Isaac wrote: I'm having troble finding a conector for my antena. I've only checked at target,walmart, best buy, and HEB. Do you think radio shack might have them or homedepot? Thows stores would be hard for me to get to.

There are MANY places online that will provide them. I found a place that provided a pre-built 3' cable package just for making your own antenna. First you need to find out what connector your wireless card uses. Mine is a d-link and it uses type "RP SMA". Look at this site for a good look at the connector types. The other end of my antenna cable (the one connected to the can) is type "RP TNC" also listed on that site. I doesn't really matter what type of connector that end uses but TNC and BNC are good choices.

http://www.verilan.com/wirelessnetworki ... _101.shtml find out your connector type.

http://www.cantenna.com/pigtailfinder.html They have cables, not sure if you get the full connector (male and female) for the can end though.
http://www.etherdesigns.com/pages/3/index.htm another site for cables.
http://www.fab-corp.com/product.php?pro ... 264&page=1 this is probably the site I got my cable from, or at least it was something similar. I gives you the cable AND the connector that you put on your custom antenna.

They are pretty easy to find. Just search for "pigtail" and the connector type, in my case "RP SMA" because I use a d-link card.

Looks like you solved your antenna problems without building one. If you still decide to then good luck! It's a lot of fun.

omfg wifi rockin your world, kick 4$$ pwnd

omfg wifi rockin your world, kick 4$$ pwnd

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