# Lifestyles & Discussion > Freedom Living >  Build a Directional Wi-Fi Antenna from Kitchen Gear and a Baby Bottle

## Suzanimal

Some serious MacGyver $#@! here.






> Living with weak Wi-Fi is no way to live, and if you're not in a place where you can just add a bridge or repeater, a quick trip to the kitchen may be in order. You'll need a baby bottle, a mesh strainer, and a USB Wi-Fi dongle. Here's how the whole thing works. 
> 
> Stathack explains the whole project over at his blog (linked below), but essentially he managed to turn the mesh strainer and the baby bottle into a directional parabolic antenna so he could mooch Wi-Fi from the coffee shop down the street. Of course, if you're planning to do the same thing, you may want to consider mooching off of your router that your computer is too weak to connect to, or another network you're actually authorized to use (just for safety's sake). 
> 
> In addition to the kitchen gear, he also picked up a USB Wi-FI dongle, a USB cable, glue, electrical tape, and wire cutters. He explained that all the parts set him back about $50, and that was because he didn't own any of them in advance. Building the whole thing was easy enough too—he attached the baby bottle to the strainer (after doing a little math to find out the best position), attached the USB cable to the dongle and mounted it in the baby bottle, taped the whole thing to a mop and put it on his porch, and then plugged the USB cable into his computer. Sure enough, he was able to pick up Wi-Fi signals up to a kilometer (over a half-mile) away. 
> 
> For more detail on the project and how the whole thing was made, hit the link below. 
> 
> DIY Directional Wi-Fi Antenna Booster | Stathack via Hackaday
> ...

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## ClydeCoulter

Cool, I might try this....to get between the shop and the house, about 100 yards apart.

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## RonPaulIsGreat

I have 2 public wifi spots within 2 blocks. I can connect to the libraries if I want but the McDonalds is to far, maybe, could reach with this device, but It'd probably draw attention mounted on my old antenna pole I'm sure. But then I could have a back back up.

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## mrsat_98

It cheaper and far more directional to use a satellite dish and there are plenty of abandoned ones available.

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## KCIndy

For those who aren't "Do-It-Yourself" types, (I'm all thumbs, so if I want something done right, I *don't* do it myself!) I've used this antenna from C. Crane with impressive results:

http://www.ccrane.com/WiFi-Antennas-...G-N-Wireless-1

I keep this with me when I travel.  If I have a good, clear line of sight to the source, I can pick up a usable wifi signal from well over half a mile away.

Not that I'm recommending it, since it would be unethical and perhaps illegal, but anyone living close to a wifi source like a library, fast food joint, etc could use this to "borrow" a lot of signal.  There's an even more powerful/sensitive version for about twenty bucks more, designed to be mountable on an outside pole, but I haven't had the fun of trying it yet.

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## puppetmaster

> It cheaper and far more directional to use a satellite dish and there are plenty of abandoned ones available.


 ah yes

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## Suzanimal

How To Build A Tin Can Waveguide WiFi Antenna




> Got no dough for a commercial WiFi antenna? Looking for an inexpensive way to increase the range of your wireless network? A tin can waveguide antenna, or Cantenna, may be just the ticket. This design can be built for under $5 U.S. and reuses a food, juice, or other tin can.
> I am not an electrical engineer, nor do I have access to any fancy test equipment. I've built some antennas that worked for me and thought I would share what I learned. I have no idea if this is safe for your radio or wireless network equipment. The risk to you and your equipment is yours.
> 
> Building your *Cantenna* is easy, just follow these steps.
> 
> Collect the parts
> Drill or punch holes in your can to mount the probe
> Assemble the probe and mount in can
> Collect the parts:
> ...


http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

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## fisharmor

I'd bet the baby bottle is unnecessary if you're under cover - it's probably just weatherproofing.




> It cheaper and far more directional to use a satellite dish and there are plenty of abandoned ones available.


Yep... particularly since 
a) It's already got the focus point figured out,
b) It's already designed to pick up signals from space (read: able to pick up much weaker signals)
c) It's much less likely to be spotted as a potential leech, since they're _supposed_ to be there....

Problem is, WiFi uses the S band, and S band dishes are the huge old school ones.  I can find links to homemade tiny S band dishes but I doubt you'd see a whole ton of them floating around.  DirectTV and Dish Network apparently use frequencies up around 18-20gHz, 10 times what you'd need to leech WiFi.

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## fisharmor

Also, I would never do this, and I would also not figure out how to reconnect periodically and make sure I get a different IP every hour or so.

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## mrsat_98

> I'd bet the baby bottle is unnecessary if you're under cover - it's probably just weatherproofing.
> 
> 
> 
> Yep... particularly since 
> a) It's already got the focus point figured out,
> b) It's already designed to pick up signals from space (read: able to pick up much weaker signals)
> c) It's much less likely to be spotted as a potential leech, since they're _supposed_ to be there....
> 
> Problem is, WiFi uses the S band, and S band dishes are the huge old school ones.  I can find links to homemade tiny S band dishes but I doubt you'd see a whole ton of them floating around.  DirectTV and Dish Network apparently use frequencies up around 18-20gHz, 10 times what you'd need to leech WiFi.


After 31 years in the satellite industry and about twenty times of making wifi antenna from satellite dishes my personal experience is there is no better reflector. the world record for distance using legal wifi is 58 miles mountain top to mountain top last time i checked with ten foot cband reflectors. Currently using hughesnet dishes frequently because I throw them away all the time.

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## tasteless

Personally I'd just build a Yagi-Uda type antenna and call it a day

http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy...-Yagi-Antenna/

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## mrsat_98

> Personally I'd just build a Yagi-Uda type antenna and call it a day
> 
> http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy...-Yagi-Antenna/


Well you are tasteless,,,  er claim to be .

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