Techno past times with a purpose.

Have you ever been sitting in your apartment and been completely frustrated because the phone company won't sell you hi-speed Internet, dial-up isn't fast enough to sustain VOIP Internet phone calls, the Internet has stopped working for the last two weeks downstairs where you are bumming half the bandwidth from the local computer store for half the price, and your signal strength just isn't quite good enough to the local open access points? Well I have.

In anticipation of this fateful day I had already seen on YouTube a tutorial for a high gain antenna. Its amazing what you can find in the trash, down at the construction bazaar, and talking to the actually people who repair computers, verses the sales reps who just want to sell you something new.

A little solder and an hour of assembly in between classes and vola. Supposedly a +18dbi antenna. If that doesn't do the trick I don't know what will.



As fate would have it, the Internet started working again from my paid source a few days later. I let the couple from South Africa borrow the whole contraption over Christmas while I was gone so they could call family. We found one open access point from their apartment.

It just so happens that a Netgear WG111T USB wireless-G dongle conveniently has a mini-antenna connector right there for your antenna upgrading needs. The signal was improved but I found it necessary to shade the built-in antenna by placing the whole unit directly behind the reflector. As expected, the antenna was very directional.