EZ-12 parabolic Antennae -- Does this really work!

[kevdog]

Ok -- I admit I did the testing on a windows machine, but the results should be OS independent

Router: Linksys 54WRTGS

Goal to Increase router strength

Antennae EZ12 Made from Aluminum Foil with the "Shiny Side" Pointing toward center of Parabola: http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html

Testing apparatus:
Windows - Network InSSIDER: http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider

Netstumber could be used on linux install

Measuring Signal db: No difference with antennae on or off. I tried pointing the parabolas in different directions. Is it my antennae, my measuring device (inSSIDER), or did I just mess something up?? Should I be measuring signal strength a different way?

Thanks.

[mobilediesel]

Ok -- I admit I did the testing on a windows machine, but the results should be OS independent

Router: Linksys 54WRTGS

Goal to Increase router strength

Antennae EZ12 Made from Aluminum Foil with the "Shiny Side" Pointing toward center of Parabola: http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html

Testing apparatus:
Windows - Network InSSIDER: http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider

Netstumber could be used on linux install

Measuring Signal db: No difference with antennae on or off. I tried pointing the parabolas in different directions. Is it my antennae, my measuring device (inSSIDER), or did I just mess something up?? Should I be measuring signal strength a different way?

Thanks.

I used that at my previous job. They leased another suite in the warehouse building and I was trying to connect it to us wirelessly. The "windsurfer" actually did improve the signal. I still wasn't great but then there were 3 other companies' warehouse spaces and about 800 feet distance between us, including all the metal racks for storage.

The fact that I was able to connect for more than a few minutes at a time was the improvement as before using that parabolic reflector, I could only connect for 20 to 30 seconds at a time. There was just too much distance and interference for it to be reliable.

[kevdog]

What tool should I be using to assess the efficacy of this intervention?

[mobilediesel]

What tool should I be using to assess the efficacy of this intervention?

Yeah I totally missed answering the question!

Network InSSIDER definitely has good ratings on measuring that kind of thing. It is possible that your antenna may be bad or partially damaged if there was no difference.

What's the distance between the router and the computer you're measuring with? As with the place I worked, if the distance is far enough, the antenna wont make much difference.

[kevdog]

The distance itself is very small. Probably 20-30 ft. There however are like 4 walls in the way made of stucco at least on the outside.

The funny part about the experiment was that I saw no difference with the antennae on or off. I turned the antennae around backwards and only saw a -9db difference. When I turned them 90 degrees either way to the intended target I saw no difference to when the parabola was directed towards the target. All of this of course was tested with the walls in the way and not in the line of site, but I thought at least changing the direction of the parabolas would make at least a noticeable difference.

[mobilediesel]

The distance itself is very small. Probably 20-30 ft. There however are like 4 walls in the way made of stucco at least on the outside.

The funny part about the experiment was that I saw no difference with the antennae on or off. I turned the antennae around backwards and only saw a -9db difference. When I turned them 90 degrees either way to the intended target I saw no difference to when the parabola was directed towards the target. All of this of course was tested with the walls in the way and not in the line of site, but I thought at least changing the direction of the parabolas would make at least a noticeable difference.

Ah, there may be a lot of metal in the walls. Stucco can sometimes be put over a metal screen so that would block quite a bit of signal.

[markbuntu]

If you are using it for point to point you could try just putting the antennas in coffee cans aimed at each other. And yes, stucco can be a problem.

[kevdog]

The coffee can thing -- while interesting -- is more than what it seems. The connectors need to be a function of the wavelength, so its definitely more complicated than just slapping a rod on a coffee can.

[markbuntu]

Just drill a hole in the bottom of the coffee can and stick it on the router antenna bottom first. You don't need to put the antenna on a cable or anything, just tilt the router to aim it and point the open end of the can at the other antenna. Wavelength is not very critical and a coaxial antenna like this has a pretty broad bandwidth. You can try different size cans to see what works best.

Anyway, it is cheap good fun and can keep you amused for a few hours.

You could also try making your own fractal antenna. That is pretty easy and those are high gain and wide bandwidth in a tiny space. They use them in all the newer cell phones. Some guy made the first one on a whim, sort of like, what if I made an antenna shaped like these fractal thingys??? So he did, out of a coat hanger, and it worked like crazy.