Homemade Wi-Fi Antenna: How to Make a Wi-Fi Antenna

There are alternate ways to make a Wi-Fi antenna at home that will not only increase the range of your network, but also, be very inexpensive. A homemade Wi-Fi antenna can be built for under $5, for example, with a tin can. Yes, it's absolutely a possibility, and in addition, you don't have to be an electrical engineer to make it. Antenna made from a tin can is often referred to as a 'cantenna'. Here are the required steps and things that you will need to make a one.

How to Make a Wi-Fi Antenna

Collect the Parts

• A N-Female Chassis Connector: It's required to connect one side to the cable from your wireless equipment and other for soldering on the wire. These can be easily found in any of the electronic stores.
• Four Nuts and Bolts: They should be long enough to go through the connector and the can.
• Wire: A 1.25" of 12 gauge copper wire that will be needed to stick into the brass stub in the N-connector.
• A Can: The can you use must be between 3" and 3 2/3" in diameter. The size doesn't necessarily have to be exact - it can vary.

Drill Holes in the Can

Holes are needed for mounting the probe (N-connector assembly). Placing holes at the right places is very important. The location is usually determined by the formulas using the frequency on which the antenna will operate. For a can of 3.25", the dimensions will be as follows:

Cutoff Frequency for TE11 mode	2128.39 MHz
Cutoff Frequency for TM01	2779.95 MHz
Guide Wavelength	9.94 inches
¼ Guide Wavelength	2.49 inches
¾ guide Wavelength	7.46 inches

Ideally, 802.11b and 802.11g wireless networking equipment operate between a frequency range of 2.412 GHz to 2.462 GHz. Mark the location of the holes where you want to place the connector. The ¼ Guide Wavelength tells what height from the bottom surface should the center hole lie. Drill holes where the points have been marked.

Assembling the Probe

Get the copper gauge wire and a soldering iron. Cut the wire so that, when stuck in the connector, the total brass tube length and wire sticking out the connector length should be close to 1.21". When you have positioned the wire at the right place, solder it into the connector and keep it as straight as possible. After the soldering cools down, put the heads of the bolts inside the can, and the nuts outside. The cantenna is ready.

Connect Homemade Wi-Fi Antenna to Access Point

You need a special cable known as 'pig tail' to connect your antenna. At one end of the cable, you have a 'N' male connector, while the other end has a connector for an access point. Also, a wireless NIC card is necessary for an external antenna connector, or else to hook up the cable, you'll need to hack into the cable which isn't advisable. When you have hooked it up, point it at a friend's antenna and see how it catches the network.

This homemade Wi-Fi antenna has a linear polarization, which means that its rotation affects the signal strength. For best results, keep experimenting by rotating the antenna, while checking the signal strength on your computer. This really works, and with this homemade antenna, you ought to save a lot of money.