WiFi Antenna?

S

Sm00v3d

n00b
Joined
Sep 12, 2002
Messages
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I have come across a D Link DWL-520+ WiFi card. I have gottan the card installed and working but no one around my apartment has WiFi. What antenna would you suggest to shoot the signal down the street to hit a friend's network?
 
there's an antenna you can build out of a pringles can and some screws... i saw the plans for it on a website, but i dont remember where i came across it. maybe someone here knows more...

**
forgot to add: the guy who built it ran tests on it and said he could pick up a signal like 10 miles away or some junk. ahh well, maybe someone will remember the website
 
Which side does the canned antenna go on the computer or the router?

I have a desktop with a pci wireless card, will these cans work as long as the pigtail matches?
 
Depends on the link. The original poster mentioned "Down the street". If that means a block, then both would need directionals, and this would still have to be line of sight. A typical "down the street" anyway. Could be right next door. Even if it is, still could require line of sight. High gain directed radiation patterns will help in many situations. If your trying to bridge an extended link then line of sight is required. A good yagi is going to do squat for you if you have multiple houses in the path.
 
"down the street" means about 4 houses down and across the street. getting line of sight wil be easy since I'm on the second floor shooting down on him.
 
i'm trying to do from one floor to another and though a staircase. There is no way for me to get a line of sight. What is the best way to get a signal? I have a linksys WRT54G and a linksys WMP54G. Can't get any signal from my room.
 
First i would start by googling "wireless antenna"

there are alot of different designs out there. the pringles can or yagi antenna is only one of them.

There are some you can buy as well as make that are non directional.
those are your best bets. but remember that you'll loose signal strength through concret walls and the metal in them

Aimless_69
 
Are you telling me that with 802.11g I can run a network over a quarter of a mile with no antenna, just so long as there is clear sight? Then why does this guy need a pringles can antenna to go 4 houses down and accross the street?
 
No. If he is trying to say that then he's a tool. Not only do you need antennas but you need directionals for that distance. If you get enterprise gear with 100 mW radios then you MAY get that distance without directionals. With SOHO gear you need an amp, or directed radiation patterns. Yagi's will suffice or parabolics if you really want the juice.
 
Yeah, I was thinking a pretty narrow angle directional antenna would be required, but information on what actually works well is kinda hard to find. Every company that makes wireless gear quotes innaccurate distances and bandwidth.
 
For a quarter of a mile you wouldn't need extremely narrow beamdwidth on the antennas, though I'd probably look at something in the 15 to 30 degree range. a 5 dBi patch on each side with a 15-20 degree beamwidth would be plenty.
 
i've heard them old dish network dishes work great for wifi directional antennas
 
I'm disappointed with that card and I'm only using it one one side of the house to another!
 
Um, yes, and that link is listed in the article. I didn't say the article was the source. However, the author of it and the links he gave are the source for where TTV comes up with ideas and claims credit. That's what gets on my nerves.
 
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