5 links to improving the range of WIFI by building or tuning antennas

1. USB adaptors & DIY antenna = “Poor Man's WiFi” ?: "Make 2.4GHz parabolic mesh dishes from cheap but sturdy Chinese cookware scoops & a USB WiFi adaptor !

The largest (300mm diam)shows 15-18dB gain (enough for a LOS range extension to 3-5km), costs ~US$5 &

comes with a user friendly bamboo handle that suits WLAN fieldwork- if you can handle the curious stares!"

1. Deep Dish Cylindrical Parabolic Template: “power normally transmitted in that direction is ”bounced“ forward. Therefore you have more control of where your signal is going when using this reflector. That feature of this antenna can be used to enhance the privacy of your wireless network and that was my reason for designing it in the first place, the rest is just gravy but it is very real and rather tasty gravy. Please also note that antenna gain is preferable to amplifier gain because it adds to both transmitted and received power.”

2. Easy Homemade 2.4 Ghz Omni Antenna - Gumph: “An easy step-by-step guide go making a homemade wireless antenna, for a fraction of the cost of commercial antenna. Uses readily available parts, and requires no specialist tools or knowledge. Or in geek speak - a diy homebrew omnidirectional colinear dipole design suitable for 802.11 wifi compatible hardware with external antenna connector.”

3. How to build a tin can waveguide antenna: “Got no dough for a commercial WiFi antenna? Looking for an inexpensive way to increase the range of your wireless network? A tin can waveguide antenna, or Cantenna, may be just the ticket. This design can be built for under $5 U.S. and reuses a food, juice, or other tin can.”

4. 2.4Ghz antenna - redux: "The antenna is used for a home-based wireless LAN… there have been a number of on-line articles about such efforts, particularly by folks in Seattle and Linux-based homeboys in Australia. Necessity must be the mother of invention, and their results are encouraging. But there were few, if any, inexpensive 2.4Ghz-based external antenna solutions — until now!
   Note that the antenna I built is not a yagi-type, which is used to focus a tight beam to another point for point-to-point wireless connectivity. I wanted an ‘omni-directional’ type for a bigger radius of coverage. The yagi antennas are easier, cheaper, and faster to build"