|
02-03-2004
|
#1 (permalink) |
|
Registered Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2
|
cantenna inquiry
I live across the street from my university library and can receive their wireless signal but it's very weak and drops in and out frequently. I'm wondering what I can do to get a better signal. Will a cantenna help me at all? The attached picture shows where I live in relation to the library. I'm on the top floor of the apartment building. If a cantenna won't help me at all, is there anything I do cheaply to get a better signal? Thanks for any help you can provide.
|
|
|
|
02-03-2004
|
#2 (permalink) | ||
|
Bad as Can
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,141
|
Re: cantenna inquiry
Quote:
 Quote:
Also, one thing that is missing from your diagram is scale. I would assume that across the street like that is a short distance (espeicially since you are getting some signal without an external) but how far is it actually?
__________________
perl -e 'print pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)' |
||
|
|
|
|
02-03-2004
|
#3 (permalink) |
|
Registered Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2
|
I would guess it's maybe 400 feet from my window to the library, probably closer to 300 though. I'm using a pci card in my desktop that has an external antenna that unscrews from the card.
I'm a student at the university so I have permission to use the network. I just need a better signal so I can logon to the portal and use the network. |
|
|
|
|
02-03-2004
|
#4 (permalink) | |
|
Bad as Can
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,141
|
Quote:
1) That you can connect an external to the card as you say (I don't doubt you, I have just never tried) 2) You have line of sight (which from your diagram it appears you do) A directional antenna pointed from your window to the library should help improve your reception of the signal.
__________________
perl -e 'print pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)' |
|
|
|
|
|
02-03-2004
|
#6 (permalink) |
|
Registered Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 28
|
Many (most?) of the PCI WiFi cards do have detachable antennas and the ability to attach an external to it, since they are in such a bad location for picking up signals in the first place.
If you can get a weak signal using the antenna on the PCI card, I'll wager you can get a pretty good one using a directional antenna of some type pointed out a window (without screen) at your source. A cantenna is one of the cheapest ways to do it and not a bad choice at all. |
|
|
|
|
02-05-2004
|
#7 (permalink) | |
|
...killed Darth Plaigus
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Tallahassee, FL = Lower Georgia
Posts: 261
|
This gentleman's website has been likned here before...but it was so long ago the possibility exists that you never find it.
Early on when the homebrew antenna craze started a lot of people started building the pringles cantenna, thinking that the 'metal' foil inside the can acted as a waveguide antenna. While the guts of this antenna were reasonable for directional stuff, the can was just an easier way of holding everything together. The link shows how to build one with the right materials and dimensions, similar to our 'pirocantenna' that I built a while back with a pirouline can. For more information, another good thread is this one.
__________________
...from slashdot: Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
02-07-2004
|
#8 (permalink) | |
|
Pr0nStumbler Expert Level
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,536
|
Quote:
here is a picture of the cantenna I use in raw unpainted form. my results are showing I am getting about 1 mile of detection with this unit on an Orinoco gold card so figure about 1/4 - 1/2 that for use (1320 - 2640 fee use LOS) http://spirit.freeshell.org/canntenna.jpg also.. if your diagram is accurate as to position of your window.. scavenge up a small satalite dish and mount the can aiming into like a normal feedhorn then aim the dish at the library. This way the DISH is mounted outside the window, will look like a normal fixture and no-one will wonder. All you need to do is paint the cantenna feed horn the same color as the dish and it blends in..
__________________
Against the run of the mill, static as it seems We break the surface tension with our wild kinetic dreams Curves and lines -- of grand designs... Tonight's movie "Soylent Green" has been brought to you by our sponsor - Waste Management My mind is like a Steel trap - Rusty and Illegal in most states |
|
|
|
|
|
02-07-2004
|
#9 (permalink) | |
|
...killed Darth Plaigus
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Tallahassee, FL = Lower Georgia
Posts: 261
|
Like this one.
__________________
...from slashdot: Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
Linear Mode
