Im building a cantenna
neogeo0823
Deep within the bowels of a sperm whale
I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong forum, and if it is, could a mod please move it? Thanks.
Ok, so just as the title says, im building a cantenna for my wireless network. I wont go into the long story that is why, but the important details are that in my room, I have my laptop and my Nintendo Wii, while across the house, I have my wireless router that connects me to the internet. Due to materials within the house, the crappy devices that I have, or something else, the laptop only barely picks up the signal in my room and my Wii doesnt pick it up at all.
I decided that building a cantenna was the cheapest way to extend my signal, but im left with one last decision to make. I have recently aquired an Orinoco wireless card at a very reasonable price, which would allow me to plug my laptop directly into the cantenna, but that would leave the Wii lacking a signal. I could buy the Wifi USB attachment, costing me about $40, and plug that into my laptop to give the Wii a signal, or I could sell off the Orinoco card in favor of a wireless access point that I could plug directly into the cantenna, thereby giving both the Wii and the laptop a signal, but at a higher(probably) cost.
So, at this point, I really want to research the different types of WAPs that would work for this. Any advice you guys have on good brands and models, or what a decent price is, or anything else that I may need to know would be helpful. Im getting really tired of having to surf the internet from my kitchen, and Id like to be online before Smash Bros. Brawl comes out.
Ok, so just as the title says, im building a cantenna for my wireless network. I wont go into the long story that is why, but the important details are that in my room, I have my laptop and my Nintendo Wii, while across the house, I have my wireless router that connects me to the internet. Due to materials within the house, the crappy devices that I have, or something else, the laptop only barely picks up the signal in my room and my Wii doesnt pick it up at all.
I decided that building a cantenna was the cheapest way to extend my signal, but im left with one last decision to make. I have recently aquired an Orinoco wireless card at a very reasonable price, which would allow me to plug my laptop directly into the cantenna, but that would leave the Wii lacking a signal. I could buy the Wifi USB attachment, costing me about $40, and plug that into my laptop to give the Wii a signal, or I could sell off the Orinoco card in favor of a wireless access point that I could plug directly into the cantenna, thereby giving both the Wii and the laptop a signal, but at a higher(probably) cost.
So, at this point, I really want to research the different types of WAPs that would work for this. Any advice you guys have on good brands and models, or what a decent price is, or anything else that I may need to know would be helpful. Im getting really tired of having to surf the internet from my kitchen, and Id like to be online before Smash Bros. Brawl comes out.
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If I could find a cheap WAP for say, under $50, then that would be best. Its not that I need it to be really fancy or anything, I just need it to have a signal radius of maybe 30 feet or so. The problem is that I just have no idea what brands are good, or what particular things I should look for. I want to go this route because I think that building a cantenna would be a fun little DIY project to take up my spare time on a couple of my days off.
Oh, and while im thinking about it, would a WAP act exactly like my router, or would it have to be configured seperately? I figured that I would just plug it in and viola, exactly the same network, just extended. Would there be any extra setup beyond that, though?
Now just to mention the router again. You realize that you just unscrew the existing antenna and screw on the new one(s) then some require a seperate power source. You don't have to reconfigure anything on the router itself. You don't even have to power cycle the router. They are harmless.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2470125
oh, I know, but my mom doesnt. Ive already tried to talk to her and her technological illiteracy is embarrasing and frustrating. If I had the money to move out and get my own apartment, believe me, I would, and then I would go with that route if I had this problem there, but unfortunately I have to live here and as long as I live in her house, I have to follow her rules and yadda yadda yadda.
The point is that she wont let me near it for fear that I will break it, so unfortunately, that route is closed.
As for me saying a WAP, I have been using that term as a generic blanket term, because I didnt know the proper one. The link that the_technocrat was something along the lines of what I was picturing, but I was probably thinking of the wrong thing anyway. I just want something that can pick up a wireless signal and broadcast it out a bit further.
At this point, it seems that my only choice will be the Orinoco card, plus the Nintendo Wifi USB thingy to get everything rolling, and if thats how I have to go, then thats how I have to go. I was just wondering if it was going to be the best/cheapest/efficient route to go with this.
That's a router, not a WAP, won't work for what he wants.
The link he put up won't work, as I mentioned it doesn't support WDS. Now you can get a 54GL router running alternate firmware like Tomato or DD-WRT that will do WDS. However I only know for sure that it'll work as a WDS base station and not if it'll pick up the signal. I've never even tried using one for that, but then I've always had access to the other toys that are designed for it.
Now a good wireless extender is going to cost around $100. But buying your card, your USB key messing around, well there is at least a $100 value you are putting into it.
You need something like this Dlink Repeater which should do exactly what you need. You plug it in between your router and your room and it'll pick up the wireless signal and repeat it.
Hmm, ah well. I suppose that this will be the cheapest, easiest solution. At least it will make a decent DIY project.
Thanks for the advice, though.
Actually, it will. The WRT54G has a "WAP Only" mode that allows it to function purely as a wireless repeater/extender.
In fact, it's possible to find some cheaper brands that are very cheap after rebate that do the same.
Are you 100% certain about that? Because there is a big difference between a WAP and a Repeater. A WAP requires a lan line to get it's information it then just broadcasts it outwork through the wireless. Alternatively some WAP's intercept the Wireless signal and then allow you to plug a wired device into them. Very few do both. That's why you need one that can act as a Repeater.
I finally got everything together today and finished all the work. The can for the cantenna sits on top of my iguana's cage, above and away from all the various things I have that could possibly cause interferance by blocking the signal. The total cost of the cantenna itself was about... $13. And that was because I broke down and bought a kit(connector and cord) from a site mentioned on the DIY site I posted before. The can was a 26.5oz Hunt's Tomatoe Sauce can, and except for an inital smell of spaghetti, its worked beautifully. The trickiest part was drilling the holes for the antenna, because I was afraid of messing up the positioning due to the wavy edges and misaligning the whole thing.
The Orinoco card was bought on Ebay at a total cost of about $18 including shipping and handling. I had read that there was some scary procedure you had to do when installing these cards involving drivers, but it seems to work fine as a Plug-n-Play thing. My biggest problem with it is that the antenna cord comes out of the connector a bit easily, so I have to be careful not to move the laptop around too much when using it.
The part that took me the longest, as well as being the most expensive was the Nintendo Wifi chip thingy. The local Gamestop had been sold out of them all holiday season long, and they finally got some in today. It cost about $43 with tax, but the ease of setup offset that, I guess.
So now everything is complete. I tested the connections and it runs smooth and strong. If I want to be on the internet, I can lay down on my bed and surf, and if I want to play Wifi games, I can plug the Wifi chip in, set the laptop on my iguana cage where its out of the way, and connect easily to any other player in the world!
Total cost of the project: ~$76.00
Total hours put in, not including research/shopping: 1hr, 20min
Being able to surf the web and play games from the comfort of my room: Priceless.
*Quote*They aren't stupid. They are retired professionals - just some kind of computer phobia
I have a friend whose parents are both retired University professors; but when it comes to computer interaction they almost behave as if they have entered the TwilightZone! It became so bad with Windows that they bought a new Imac (and fortunately/unfortunately{-extra$forme} I am not very familiar with Mac OS past 8.5.....so they can't drill me for info or repairs.
Ha! Awesome!
Would you guys like some pictures of my work as well? I can take some quick pics to show how my setup, which I have dubbed "The Beacon" works.
Anywho, These photos looked alot better on my digi cam, but once I got them onto the internet, apparently the sharpness went out the window. Photobucket also has a tendancy to make uploaded pictures look bad, so excuse the blurry and grainy filters it was so "gracious" to add to some of them.
I spent some time with a calculator and a pen figuring out that that can is currently pointing directly at my wireless router, give or take maybe a half a degree. Of course, the can has a window of about 30 degrees, but hey, go big or go home, right?
...It's like the can in staring into my very soul!
Apparently the length of that little bit of wire is very important. I had to re-solder that thing 4 times because I either pushed it in or pulled it out too far.
Not my smoothest work, but it does the trick. Getting those bolts in there without bending the wire was a tough one to pull off, thats for sure.
The actual Orinoco card I used. Most online stores seem to sell them for about $45, but I got mine for $18. Steal!
This is the only part that worries and annoys me. That's a very small plug you have there, Mr. Cord.
From hardwood chair to cushy bed. Ah, paradise.
And finally, the whole setup, ready for online Wii enjoyment. I like having it like this more than a repeater because it has nifty little monitors that I can keep on the desktop to see how strong and fast the signal is.
Speaking of singal strength, currently, this is mine:
Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. It would seem that the 11Mbps is the cap for the Orinoco card, but that works great for the internet, and it seems to work fine for the Wii. I guess we shall see next month, when Brawl comes out, though.
Oh, and for anyone whos wondering, this is my background, linked because it is big. Again, Photobucket has a tendancy to mess up sizing and such, but it looks much better as my background. Still though, I like that background. It reminds me of my last girlfriend, who was also a redhead. I mean, seriously, why would I like a crazy woman like that anyway?
... How much? I have the day off tomorrow, so I could probably whip something up. Would it be better to discuss this in email? If so, and I havent included that in my profile(have to go check that now)
here's the info.