Weak Wifi Solutions

[SternWake]

Wondering what some have done to maximise wifi reception.

On my old laptop I got an Alfa awuso36h, and had an external antenna with magnetic base mounted on my fiberglass roof.

I cut up a Lid from an Altoids box and glued it to my roof for the Magnet to adhere to. It worked well, very well.

When I got a newer Laptop with 802.11N I noticed the the laptop's internal wireless card was able to receive my router without an external adapter or antenna. But It dropped out regularly and has to be turned off and reconnected.

Also on Start up, sometimes it would take 10 minutes before it would be able to connect to the router. It nearly won some sledgehammer love numerous times due to this annoying occurrence.

I have My own protected router which is broadcasting across 150 feet of Empty lot, but being Southern California, there is now a Mcmansion there. Due to privacy I began parking facing north instead of south but for some reason the Wifi signal did not like to go through the other side of my Van, and careful laptop positioning and reflective surfaces were needed to minimise the inevitable curse fest when it would out.

During construction of the effing Mcmansion I started parking further away where I could not receive my router and the others I could access were weaker too.

So I Bought another, newer Alfa, as my other model was not windows 7 friendly.

Alfa awus036nhr for about 25 dollars.

Right off the bat I had a good signal and it connected within seconds of typing in the Laptop password. This was with the unit and small provided antenna inside my Van.

My Antenna for my old laptop is still stuck to my roof, and I connected that antenna to my new unit, but the signal strength was no better.

Since that old antenna is all rusted and weather worn, I bought a new antenna with a Magnetic base.

http://www.amazon.com/Alfa-OMNI-Directional-High-Gain-Screw-On-magnetic/dp/B0039ORBLK

They don't list how long the cable is. Mine was about 4 feet. Too short. Also this antenna is too big and bulky for my intended location on my roof. No way could it stay in place at 70MPH.

But I unscrewed the New large 9dbi antenna from the magnetic base and put it directly on the Alfa unit itself which is still inside the Van

Serious improvement in signal strength over the small provided antenna.

I had bought a 10 foot SMA extension cord to put this antenna on the roof, and yesterday when through the effort of routing it and installing the plug up there. When I threaded the big antenna on this extension cable and fired up the laptop, I saw dozens of Networks in the area I had never seen before, but the two signals I was hoping to see, were less strong than with just the unit and antenna inside the Van. It still connected to my personal router easily, at half strength, but would not connect to the internet.

Grrrrrr.

So I was very Disappointed. Apparently there is a lot signal loss through the extension cable. While I realized this with my old Alfa I thought this one, being twice as powerful, would not be as affected. Wrong.

It was not easy routing this extension cord. I have to pull down portions of my ceiling, which means moving lots of things.

So when the results of the wifi effort were dismal. I got all pissed off.
I was also hoping to run a TV coax cable at the same time, but was foiled by lack of forethought and not being able to find my extra cord grips. Now the Alfa unit with big antenna is just inside my van, near a window.

I guess if I really needed the best possible signal, putting the Alfa unit itself with large antenna attached to it, on my roof, using a USb extension cord would be the way to go but the extension cable for the Antenna is too lossy, and or perhaps makes it too vulnerable to electrical noise. The cable parallels my Solar wires and solar controllers are electrically noisy.

Anyway, I doubt Ill ever really use the new antenna location I went through so much effort to install as there is little benefit. It might see protected signals from many blocks away, but that does me no good. The Routers I care to see are no better, or worse with the antenna up there, 10 feet away from the adapter itself.

Wondering what you all have done, if anything, to get more/ stronger Wifi, stealthily, or not.

 

[PastTense]

I think you have probably done more than almost everyone else here has done.

So what you need to do is go to more specialized forums; in particular people interested in hacking are strongly interested in this topic. See:
www.hackforums.net/

Here is the sub-forum devoted to WiFi hacking:
http://www.hackforums.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=104

Here is the Google search for articles in that forum about antennas:
https://www.google.com/search?q=site:hackforums.net+antenna

Tell us if you find anything interesting.

 

[SoulRaven]

Trying to scarf free internet is a waste of time unless you are within 50 feet of the actual router.

This was my solution and I am at month 10 of a 12 month contract.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/...ack-hotspot-mifi-5510e?selectedContractTerm=2

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

I ended up using the usb extension method..i actually bought a 12 foot extension and it didn't impact performance of the alfa on that end. I use the alfa on the van before..taped a magnet to it and stuck it. Not meant for poor weather tho :/

 

[Lucky mike]

Trying to scarf free internet is a waste of time unless you are within 50 feet of the actual router.

This was my solution and I am at month 10 of a 12 month contract.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/...ack-hotspot-mifi-5510e?selectedContractTerm=2

thats Funny........I built an antenna that scarfs WiFi up to a mile away or better for under 60 bucks! and have been using it for 2 yrs no problems

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Mike...I'd like to have the instructions for building one of those.

 

[SoulRaven]

thats Funny........I built an antenna that scarfs WiFi up to a mile away or better for under 60 bucks! and have been using it for 2 yrs no problems

Wi-fi signals can go far in a flat tree less areas.

But where I live you can’t get a signal with a big gain antenna past 300 feet when it has to travel thru a thick hemlock, beach, and mountain laurel forest in the process.

 

[Lucky mike]

If you say so....Im in the White mountains of NH.....a simple yagi directional antenna on a painters pole will solve your problem

 

[SoulRaven]

No need for all that hardware when you can get unlimited phone and data on the sprint network for $20 per month.

www.freedompop.com/‎

 

[Lucky mike]

I take it you have not used freedom pop yet.......not worth the add content and throttling they use..........

 

[highdesertranger]

I would like to mention out west sprint is basically a big city network. not very good in the boonies. highdesertranger

 

[Lucky mike]

thats where a good WiFi Antenna comes in......thats what I thought this thread was about

for a good broadband with 20 gigs I used Milinicom and skype for phone, it worked well until the price went up to 90.....still a good deal and its on verizon..it made a great hotspot but its just not in the budget for me anymore

 

[WheelEstate USA]

We got lousy service in the western states with Sprint. It was too costly to keep for no more use than we got out of it.

 

[SoulRaven]

I am just trying to provide information about low cost options w/o turning your vehicle into a circus wagon.

My Virgin Mobile (sprint) $35/month unlimited data works great and will full coverage in my local areas.

My VM phone is old school 3G and I can stream music 24/7 with no interruptions.

So when they cut me back to 3G after 2.5 gigs of usage it’s not an issue.

 

[blars]

Your WiFi antenna is likely to be designed for a ground plane, the altoids tin is not big enough to provide one. You need at least a square foot of conductive surface under it.

 

[Zil]

Lucky Mike. Please share how you made your antenna.

 

[SternWake]

Your WiFi antenna is likely to be designed for a ground plane, the altoids tin is not big enough to provide one. You need at least a square foot of conductive surface under it.

True. The Antenna on the altoids tin is no longer used though. Well it is for my old XP Laptop which I rarely use. I could just move any new antenna to the old Alfa unit, but the magnetic antenna on the altoids tin will be removed this week.

The Wifi Antenna I recently mounted to my solar panel frame just threads onto the SMA connector.

Not sure if this should be electrically isolated from the Panel's frame though. I know on my Coaxial connections, the outer part can be grounded to the metal l body without issue, but perhaps a Wifi antenna needs to be isolated electrically from what it is mounted into. I guess i could isolate it to experiment, I have enough threads available to do so.

I'm not really into using my Data plan. I get 100 MB for 3$ and 500Mb for 12$. This month I deliberately used as much data as I wanted and am only at 374MB with 6 days left on my cycle.