Hello to all and thanks for reading. I am an absolute novice to the world of Wi-Fi and find the home made "Cantenna" appealing to me but have not found any info on the net as to how well this type of antenna really works.
I have hopes of going point to point 1400' to a friends house and sharing his broadband internet.
Since this will be an experiment I am trying to keep expenses low. Should I get "dismal" results, that will give me the go ahead signal to spend what is necessary to do it right.
How well is measured in decibels of gain. The more gain, the better the antenna works for increasing range. 6dB increase is double your distance. 12dB increase is 4 times the distance.
It takes two to tango. If your friend also has a directional antenna on his wireless router, and you have clear line of sight, then it probably will be quite an easy link. However, if your friends wireless router has the insipid stock antenna, or has located his router where you can't directly see it, you'll have problems. Get line of sight first.
Since you don't want to spend any money, I'll assume that you have more time than money available and are interested in building your own antennas. See:
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a list of antenna construction articles.
Another biquad article that I like:
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Simple reflector, see:
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Get line of sight. It's not going to work if you have trees, building, hills, or junk in the way.
Start with a simple reflector. That will tell you if you have a chance.
I recommend building a biquad instead of a coffee can antenna.
Avoid long coax cable runs especially with very small diameter coax cables. The coax losses are horrible.
Building antennas does require some precision. If you're not familiar with construction techniques, buy a commerical antenna:
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You may need to calculate if the link will work depending upon your selection of equipment and antennas. See the FAQ at:
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Next time you ask a question, please include what equipment you have to work with. At both ends of the link. Maker and model.
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