Directional WiFi

Stumpy · Jul 3, 2014

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

Jim Thompson · Jul 3, 2014

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn>
wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up
my wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the
granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent
signal strength.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142 Skype: skypeanalog | |
| Voice

Stumpy · Jul 3, 2014

On 07/02/2014 12:58 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn
wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up
my wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the
granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent
signal strength.

...Jim Thompson

I can see it on the networks list, but it is too weak to use.
Disconnects frequently. Across the street is ~100 feet so I think I
need a directional antenna.

Jim Thompson · Jul 3, 2014

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 13:53:04 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn>
wrote:

On 07/02/2014 12:58 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:
On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn
wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up
my wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the
granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent
signal strength.

...Jim Thompson

I can see it on the networks list, but it is too weak to use.
Disconnects frequently. Across the street is ~100 feet so I think I
need a directional antenna.

Tim Wescott · Jul 3, 2014

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:58:04 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn
wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up my
wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the
granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent
signal strength.

The wireless connection between my shop and my house needs a directional
antenna to work right.

It has to "see" through a cement wall, which I think is part of the
problem.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Jul 3, 2014

You should name your wifi "FBI Surveilence Van Number Seven".

Michael Black · Jul 3, 2014

On Wed, 2 Jul 2014, Stumpy wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street, would a
stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander which would
be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store in
my neighborhood.

Find a scrap wifi router (I see them quite frequently in the garbage, and
certainly cheap at garage sales), download new firmware (assuming it is a
compliant model), and then use it as a wifi adapter. That way you place
the router in the window, where the signal will be stronger, and run
ethernet cable to your computer.

I'm thinking of doing that, but for other reasons. I don't want to run an
ethernet cable to my blu-ray player, but it seems the player only wants a
specific brand (and expensive) usb wifi adapter, while it would never
notice if I just feed it with ethernet.

Michael

Stumpy · Jul 3, 2014

On 07/02/2014 04:02 PM, Michael Black wrote:

On Wed, 2 Jul 2014, Stumpy wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire
colander which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent
store in my neighborhood.

Find a scrap wifi router (I see them quite frequently in the garbage,
and certainly cheap at garage sales), download new firmware (assuming it
is a compliant model), and then use it as a wifi adapter. That way you
place the router in the window, where the signal will be stronger, and
run ethernet cable to your computer.

I'm thinking of doing that, but for other reasons. I don't want to run
an ethernet cable to my blu-ray player, but it seems the player only
wants a specific brand (and expensive) usb wifi adapter, while it would
never notice if I just feed it with ethernet.

Michael

I was thinking of those Netgear range extenders that you plug into the
wall. If I used an 8" ethernet cord and similar power cord, I could
place it up near the ceiling and would have fewer walls to go through.

The PCI express card installed in the computer on the floor doesn't get it.

Jul 3, 2014

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:58:04 -0700, Jim Thompson
<To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn
wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up
my wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the
granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent
signal strength.

...Jim Thompson

Good idea not to use aluminum, it is a bad conductor. Remember all
those homes that burned up because they had al wiring? An aluminum
antenna could get so hot with the microwave radiation that you could
burn your hand. Better to use silver plated copper. Don't be fooled by
the tin plated copper bowls, use only the silver plated ones. And make
sure the shape of the bowl is correct. It should be a parabowla.
Airik

Jul 3, 2014

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:58:04 -0700, Jim Thompson
<To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn
wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up
my wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the
granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent
signal strength.

...Jim Thompson

I convinced my neighbors to get a new computer instaed of using the 20
year old one running WIN95. So I did some research and got them an
ASUS that folds up. Sorta like a laptop. Anyway, while setting up the
wifi I could see my network. Through the woods. I was impressed with
the antenna in their new machine. To show my friend that the wifi
connection in his house really worked the first search I performed was
"Debby Does Dallas". My friend said "Oh Shit!, can you erase that?".
If his wife ever checks the history my friend is gonna be in trouble.
Eric

Stumpy · Jul 3, 2014

On 07/02/2014 04:49 PM, etpm@whidbey.com wrote:
..
..
..

...Jim Thompson
Good idea not to use aluminum, it is a bad conductor. Remember all
those homes that burned up because they had al wiring? An aluminum
antenna could get so hot with the microwave radiation that you could
burn your hand. Better to use silver plated copper. Don't be fooled by
the tin plated copper bowls, use only the silver plated ones. And make
sure the shape of the bowl is correct. It should be a parabowla.
Airik

I've got a wok that looks like a parabola, but won't sacrifice it. The
price is right for one of those aluminum turkey baking pans, I can bend
it any way I want.

default · Jul 3, 2014

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 13:53:04 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn>
wrote:

On 07/02/2014 12:58 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:
On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn
wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up
my wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the
granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent
signal strength.

...Jim Thompson

I can see it on the networks list, but it is too weak to use.
Disconnects frequently. Across the street is ~100 feet so I think I
need a directional antenna.

Directional antennas are going to eliminate the other noise in the
area (that's a good thing)

Hard to tell, but seems to me the pie plate should be treated like a
flat reflector (or maybe more appropriately "mask") and the colander,
salad bowls, like spherical reflectors. Chances are the holes in the
colander are insignificant.

And the distance between the reflector and antenna is critical.

I got one of those 35' active USB extension cables, and stuck a wifi
dongle on the end of it, put it on a pole outside, and I have oodles
of neighbors nearby that I can sponge off of - if I didn't already
have broadband.

Without the extension cable only three signals and they were all
limited to a password - with the extension I found 25+ signals and two
with unsecured "guest" connections.

Jasen Betts · Jul 5, 2014

On 2014-07-02, etpm@whidbey.com <etpm@whidbey.com> wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:58:04 -0700, Jim Thompson
To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn
wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up
my wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the
granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent
signal strength.

...Jim Thompson
Good idea not to use aluminum, it is a bad conductor.

it's a half-way decent conductor, much better than steel.

> Remember all those homes that burned up because they had al wiring?

AAUI that was due to bad connections not the wire itself.

antenna could get so hot with the microwave radiation that you could
burn your hand.

with power levels high enough to do that you'd be dead before you
touced it, IOW: bullshit.

--
umop apisdn

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Michael Black · Jul 5, 2014

On Wed, 2 Jul 2014, etpm@whidbey.com wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:58:04 -0700, Jim Thompson
To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn
wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up
my wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the
granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent
signal strength.

...Jim Thompson
Good idea not to use aluminum, it is a bad conductor. Remember all
those homes that burned up because they had al wiring? An aluminum
antenna could get so hot with the microwave radiation that you could
burn your hand. Better to use silver plated copper. Don't be fooled by
the tin plated copper bowls, use only the silver plated ones. And make
sure the shape of the bowl is correct. It should be a parabowla.
Airik

The problem wsa at the joints. The aluminum wire was fine by itself, but
when joined to something else, there was "corrosion" which meant the
joints acted as a higher resistance area, and that caused the problems.
It's the same issue as for trying to solder aluminum, it can be done, but
you have to clean everything so carefully, and then keep the joint covered
in oil or something so there's no oxydation.

Aluminum is fine as a reflector, and indeed many an antenna has been made
with aluminum.

For antennas, it's easier to work with copper, but then you pay the price
for something solid enough to stand up to outside weather. An aluminum
reflector would be fine.

As someone else said, a reflector doesn't have to be solid material, so
long as the holes are small enough for the frequency. But, if the antenna
is outside, mesh (or a collander) has the advantage of that air and water
can go through it, so it presents less of a barrier to wind and any water
that gets in will leave through the holes.

Just take a bit of metal, stick it a bit away from the wifi antenna, in
the direction away from the other wifi antenna, and see if it helps.

My "desktop" is under the desk, with a small wifi antenna behind it. A few
weeks ago I suddenly had a lousy wifi connection, some metal under the
desk got moved and wsa blocking the signal. Once I moved the metal, the
signal came back.

Michael

Jul 5, 2014

On 4 Jul 2014 21:55:22 GMT, Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> wrote:

On 2014-07-02, etpm@whidbey.com <etpm@whidbey.com> wrote:
On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:58:04 -0700, Jim Thompson
To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn
wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up
my wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the
granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent
signal strength.

...Jim Thompson
Good idea not to use aluminum, it is a bad conductor.

it's a half-way decent conductor, much better than steel.

Remember all those homes that burned up because they had al wiring?

AAUI that was due to bad connections not the wire itself.

antenna could get so hot with the microwave radiation that you could
burn your hand.

with power levels high enough to do that you'd be dead before you
touced it, IOW: bullshit.

Greetings Jasen,
I'm sorry that you couldn't see my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.
My post was aimed at stumpy. I have corresponded with him in the past
and he is an ass. I didn't think anyone would take it seriously.
Eric

default · Jul 10, 2014

On Mon, 07 Jul 2014 19:48:28 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn>
wrote:

I can see it on the networks list, but it is too weak to use.
Disconnects frequently. Across the street is ~100 feet so I think I
need a directional antenna.

Directional antennas are going to eliminate the other noise in the
area (that's a good thing)

Hard to tell, but seems to me the pie plate should be treated like a
flat reflector (or maybe more appropriately "mask") and the colander,
salad bowls, like spherical reflectors. Chances are the holes in the
colander are insignificant.

And the distance between the reflector and antenna is critical.

I have found the focus on all antennas I have tried so far with
sunlight. The flat bottom bowl's focus was conveniently right on the
bottom. Could start a fire with it.

Probably good enough - and a good idea.

Sunlight and radio waves are the same thing, although the focal point
would shift a little... Does with visible and IR. But then the
antenna is somewhat broader than the pin prick one uses to light
things up.

I got one of those 35' active USB extension cables, and stuck a wifi
dongle on the end of it, put it on a pole outside, and I have oodles
of neighbors nearby that I can sponge off of - if I didn't already
have broadband.

Without the extension cable only three signals and they were all
limited to a password - with the extension I found 25+ signals and two
with unsecured "guest" connections.

amdx · Jul 10, 2014

On 7/2/2014 2:47 PM, Stumpy wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bounce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

Here's a flat panel 14dbi antenna that is $19, It will be better than
a pie tin antenna.

http://www.flyteccomputers.com/details.cfm?wid=4043&wb=PAT24014&wre=1&gclid=CO3j66nvuL8CFXMR7AodQxsArg

Mikek

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

Roger Dewhurst · Jul 14, 2014

On Thursday, 3 July 2014 11:49:52 UTC+12, et...@whidbey.com wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:58:04 -0700, Jim Thompson

To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:47:22 -0700, Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn

wrote:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,

would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander

which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store

in my neighborhood.

If it's "across the street" why do you need anything? I just set up

my wireless network for the upcoming annual visit of one of the

granddaughters. I'm seeing networks nearly a mile away with decent

signal strength.

...Jim Thompson

Good idea not to use aluminum, it is a bad conductor. Remember all

those homes that burned up because they had al wiring? An aluminum

antenna could get so hot with the microwave radiation that you could

burn your hand. Better to use silver plated copper. Don't be fooled by

the tin plated copper bowls, use only the silver plated ones. And make

sure the shape of the bowl is correct. It should be a parabowla.

Airik

In that case get an old metal headlight reflector.

petrus bitbyter · Jul 15, 2014

Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.corn> wrote in
news:d5mdnfYwYPRW_CnOnZ2dnUVZ_oOdnZ2d@earthlink.com:

If I was going to borrow a public connection from across the street,
would a stainless steel salad bowl be better than a steel wire colander
which would be better than an aluminum foil pie plate?

I don't see how aluminum can bouce WiFi and they closed the 99cent store
in my neighborhood.

Google for "Biquad". It uses a flat reflector. Almost every conductor will
do for the reflector. Wonder if you 'd perceive any difference but by
expensive instruments. (Difference between Ag and Al I mean.) Simple copper
clad PCB-material is used most often.

That elcheapo USB sticks often perform well but if not, they become the
source of nightmares. (No need to say I don't like them.) Nevertheless I
was succesfull last week by using a USB extension cable and finding a good
place to hang the dongle.

petrus bitbyter

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