Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

On Thu, 21 Dec 2006, James Miller wrote:

> On Thu, Dec 21, 2006 at 04:50:11PM +0000, sindi keesan wrote:
> > We have a pringles can.  What size dish?  Why mesh? I have several
> > stainless steel strainers of various mesh sizes.  Do you use these to
> > reflect a signal like you can do with low-quality radio signals?
> > Sometimes I pick up a station better by standing on the opposite side of
> > the radio from the source.

> Look up "cantenna" using scr/google. There are all kinds of plans out 
> there for making directional antennas for wifi from scrap. I also saw a 
> very simple one someone made from hardware cloth attached to a couple of 
> plywood semi-circle cut-outs that turned an

I found one involving a Chinese strainer with bamboo handle, and some 
suggested sizes for a reflector (1" from the antenna).

I do not want to take the working pcmcia cards apart to attach antennas, 
when the county free wireless signal should be strong enough to work 
without an added antenna.

> omnidirectional antenna into a directional one. But all this presupposes 
> an external antenna, which your PCMCIA cards are unlikely to have. I did 
> once borrow an old wavelan card that had a little plastic plug in the 
> end that, if removed, exposed a fitting to which an external antenna

I found instructions for the airo card, to remove the cap first and then 
attach an antenna somehow.  A reflector sounds easier and safer.

> could be attached. There you start to run into expenses though: the 
> fittings, of which there is a bewlidering array (usually referred to 
> under various acronyms) and which defy traditional notions of gender 
> (they all look hermaphroditish to me), and the cable, which is some kind 
> of mini-coax that looks like it requires specialized tools to operate

Someone had a method with USB wireless adaptor.  We have one of those to 
try next, lucent orinoco.

> on. I did manage to find some external omnidirectional antennas for 
> cheap (ca. $7) on newegg though--complete with 4' of cable (you need to 
> check if the fitting is right for your card, though). I think I once ran 
> across a site that showed a dissection of a PCMCIA wifi card, and how 
> someone had attached antenna leads directly to the card, since it didn't 
> have a fitting for an external antenna. There's a large wifi antenna 
> hobbyist network out there with lots of information.

I found mention of this.
> > All these signals are 2.4GHz, same as newer (newest?) cordless phones.
> > iwlist with the airo card (orinoco card does not support it) shows the 8
> > strongest signals.  First has address FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF - maybe this is a
> > cordless phone?  Next is the one I briefly picked up in the kitchen,
> > followed by two lines of 00:00:etc. which sometimes change so that one or
> > both match the second line, and four more lines.  I have picked up the
> > existence of SSID "" "Netgear" "Apple" "Linksys" and "2Wire".

> The "" likely means that someone has told their router not to broadcast 
> the E/SSID--which makes it a bit harder to tap into their network. Any
It also does not broadcast the router address (FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:).

> that have a router manufacturer's name for the E/SSID may have been left 
> with their default settings (as they came from the factory), which means 
> WEP/WPA encryption may be disabled. You might also be able to log into 
> the router administration web page and check how they have their network 
> set up since they may not have changed the default admin username and 
> password. All this is ethically and legally questionable, as you will 
> doubtless understand. Of course if you can find out who owns the router, 
> you might just ask to share their connection for a nominal monthly fee.

I can wait two months and get a free signal.  I am now prepared.  I will 
play with iwconfig and iwlist (which requires compiling mwavelan_cs.o so 
it will work with the orinoco cards).  So if my neighbor does set up 
wireless I can choose his signal (udhcpc -r ?) instead of the county one.

Airo cards can get 2-3km of reception line of sight (LOS).  I don't have 
much line of sight.  They suggested a rooftop antenna on a broom handle. 
I live on the first floor.

> James