Increase range of DLink DI-524

I've got a DLink DI-524 wireless router which works fine except the signal to one of the bedrooms is "very-low", probably because of the thickness of the stone walls. So I'm looking at a bigger antenna. Antenna's appear to be measured in dBI and Dabs sell a cheap-n-cheerful Edimax 5dBI one. How much more "powerful" is this than the existing antenna I've got on the DI-524?

Thanks, Rob.

First move should be some free reflectors. If you have some signal now, these might be all you need.

EZ-12, Windsurfer reflector. printed on photo paper for thick stock, with aluminum foil glued to the sail, provides a substantial boost in signal.

Thanks for the link - worth a try!

This time of year seems to be wireless time as I took another call from a friend today with a similar query. He's got a 3COM OfficeConnect router which hasn't got detachable antenna (low marks for 3COM). This has two antenna. Could you add two of these reflectors, one pointing one way and the other pointing another way?

Cheers, Rob.

I'll give a 5dBi a go. BTW - what's the "i" stand for in dBi?

Thanks, Rob.

There are some units with little "shields" over the antenna connector, so that it looks like they aren't removable, but they are. There are others that are just not removable.

Two reflectors work fine as long as they are covering roughly the same area. Trying to point them a little differently, with overlap, relies on the internal firmware and circuitry for antenna selection.

That could, possibly, work, if you were trying to hit two points that are not visible to the other antenna at all. If there is any cross coverage, or you were trying to cover a broad area for a roving laptop, the results are somewhat unpredictable, and vary from okay to bad between vendors.

Isotropic. It's the reference level for the antenna gain.

dB (decibels) are actually a ratio in the form: dB = 10 log (power1 / power2) When you express gain, it has to be in reference to one factor of that ratio. For isotropic, it's the reference level of a theoretical and non-realizeable antenna, that radiates equally in all directions. All calculations are done in dBi (because it's easier).

There's also dBd, which is the reference level over a dipole, which has a gain of approximately 2.15dBi.

More than you ever wanted to know about decibels:

Wonderful thing the t'internet :-)

Thanks, Rob.

I had a quick look again last night and they don't appear to be easily removable. There's a little plastic collar but that's part of the antenna rotation mechanism. It's possible that they pull out but didn't want to break them. They are certainly not SMA and I don't know what TNC look like.

I've download the template for the reflector and will give it a go in a few days.

Cheers, Rob.

The DI-524 is listed as being compatible with a whole range of addon antennae, so there must be a way to remove them - do they unscrew?

Mark McIntyre

Sorry, I'm confusing matters here :-) I started talking about a friends 3COM OfficeConnect in the same thread. Yes, the DI-524 has a standard RP-SMA antenna.

Cheers, Rob.

Okay - just constructed the reflector - Heath-Robinson-R-US. Will try it out later.

Cheers, Rob.

There's a marked improvement - ~8% but still need a few more to get through the final wall. Works a treat on one side, just a little too low on the other :-) The new antenna should arrive tomorrow so I'm sure a combination of the two will finally get there.

Cheers, Rob.