[PCXL-Fan]

heh somehow i had a 85% feeling a thread just like this was going to be created before i got around to creating the thread D.D. asked me to 9 hrs ago

oh well....

how can I increase the signal strength of my wifi router?

focus your signal in one direction using a makeshift 'wifi dish' made out of think paper or cardboard and aluminum rap, effectively increasing your signal strength.

Sounds unbelievable i know,

Practically Free DIY WiFi Antennas — Systm — Revision3

Cut and past your way to better WiFi reception? It costs pennies and takes the fabrication skills of a kindergartner... then bend a 6dBi Omni and a 10dBi directional out of copper wire!
Click Here

David's got a bit of trouble getting his WiFi Router signal to reach every corner of his house... one of the easiest fixes ever isn't a trip to the local computer store, but a trip to the kitchen for aluminum foil, then to the home office for a manilla folder and a glue stick.

It's the infamous Ez-12 Parabolic Reflector, hosted at FreeAntennas.com.

Here's the EZ-12 template link.

Omnidirectional Antennas = radiate signal 360 degrees...

A panel mount or surface mount female N connector and 300mm of solid core copper is the heart of the Home-brew Compact 6dBi Collinear Antenna a slick e found on MartyBugs.net.

Directional Antennas = generally concentrates your WiFi in a single direction.

We went to the Seattle Wireless most excellent collection Antenna HowTo for the SardineCanAntenna a biquad you can build with or without an N-connector, at least at the antenna end! (just search WiFi Biquad to find a host of construction ideas!) You don't have to use a sardine can, just about anything will work as a reflector, even a pressed CD... it just needs to be metallic and around 150mm in diameter.

There are quite a few more WiFi antenna designs out there... these are just some of our faves!

parabola template
http://www.freeantennas.com/Templates/windsurfer.jpg

I actually made my own... several months ago, seemed to increase the strength a bit, but not as much as many other purported. I think it might be something peculiar with my house, and the fact i was going from one floor to another, and just maybe all the gold hidden between the floor boards....

 

[PCXL-Fan]

Here is mine,

Have you tried aiming the parabolic reflector up/down toward your computer? (necessary since this little mod effectively makes an omnidirectional antenna unidirectional)

oh yup certainly, that was the very first thing i did the instant i finished making it. That's fairly obvious i would assume

Its possible the lack of smoothness in the aluminum foil in my parabola is reflecting some of the signal in undesired directions, ill have to re-apply the aluminum and see if that solves some of the problem.

 

[PCXL-Fan]

I completely wrinkled mine up via production... More than likely I'm going to end up just making the antenna longer(it would keep me busy for more than 30 minutes so I'm game).

1. Cut out the the cardboard/thick paper first
2. Cut the 6 slits
3. Test to make sure all the center piece's nibs can fit in their corresponding slots easily (this is the mistake i made by not checking to make sure the nibs slid and locked in placed rather easily), then remove center piece

4. THEN finally apply the aluminum, and afterwards attach center piece

By not doing step 3 initially, i was really struggling to force the center piece in and in doing so crinkled the aluminum, and I actually had to go and re-cut a number of the holes bigger inorder to fit the center piece nibs in. Chalk it up to me using 1.5milimeter think cardboard though :dead:



This method is certainly more universal then creating a longer antenna, since not everyone is willing to try to use a soldering gun to apply a longer copper wire with 5-6 coils in it, or willling to risk fudding up their router in the instance they aren't successful and not every single router has a detachable antenna (like mine doesn't detach)

 

[PCXL-Fan]

The problem I seem to have is keeping the nibs in... The back paper and foil isn't going to naturally stay curved and keeps breaking apart. Sometimes I wonder how I passed 1st grade with these craft skills.

Just recut the center piece but make the nibs long enough that you can fold them behind the slots, then tape them to the back.

 

[PCXL-Fan]

Is it supposed to be that tiny. I was thinking that it would be bigger.

what they recommend you do is expand the size of the image using paint or photoshop, i think to 150% or 200% of the normal size, a bit bigger does yield a bit better performance.