extend wifi range with quad antenna and some router settings

    this is my quad modified antenna with 2 front elements (reflectors). front elements are the same as antenna itself and are connected using copper wire - 3.1cm length.
    antenna-router connection is using 50ohm rg174 coaxial cable - no more than 36cm length of cable (use 36cm or 24 cm).
    antenna reflector is formed from 2-3 aluminium dishes - at least 20cm diameter.
    the spacing between the antenna and reflector is about 1.6cm.

   router settings (i use a tp-link 740n):
                            - wireless mode: "only n" or "only g";
                            - RTS threshold: 750;
                            - Fragmentation threshold:375;
                            - channel: 1;
                            - region: singapore.

    for those of you with wrt54 g series: install dd-wrt and double the tx power. watch carefully for router overheating. if you are afraid of overheat, reduce tx power a little bit until you are satisfied.

    using this antenna and these settings i am able to transmit outdoor wifi signal over aprox. 200m distance at a speed rate of 7-8 Mbps (aprox. 1 MB/s, or download a mp3 song in 4 seconds).

    i believe that using 2 routers and two of this antenna with the same polarization and these settings,  one can establish a reliable wifi link with at least 8Mbps over 1km distance.

    of course, this antenna is very directional. the beam width is about 50-60 degrees.

    i use this antenna in horizontal polarization (this is working best). for horizontal polarization place antenna vertically!

   

simple method to increase router coverage

   aside from simple trick with canned antenna (wich is very effective), you have one other very simple way for increasing your router signal quality and coverage 2 times at least.
   enter your router configuration page, go to wireless settings and set "N only" for "mode" or "g only". today, almost every mobile device is capable of working in newer "N" mode and every wireless device is able to run in G mode! working a router in b/g/n mixed mode is worthless and is causing a signal degradation.
  also, in wireless "advanced settings" set RTS threshold to 750 and (if router firmware is able to do that) set fragmentation threshold to 375.
  for me, this method lead to a 8 dB wifi signal boost through a wall.

cum mărești raza de acțiune a unui router

   În afară de trucul  cu cutiile de aluminiu puse pe antenă (un truc foarte eficient si ieftin de făcut) sau alte antene mai performante, mai există o cale prin care se poate mări raza de acțiune și calitatea unui semnal wireless al unui router chiar de 2 ori: intră pe adresa de configurare a routerului și la rubrica wireless setezi să emită numai pe standardul n ("only n") sau numai "g" (only g). Mai există, în general, opțiunile b/g sau b/g/n dar, nu le folosim, deoarece aproape toate dispozitivele mobile suportă standardul de transmisie "n" care este mai performant și toate dispozitivele mobile sunt capabile de comunicare în standardul "g".
    La rubrica setari wireless avansate folosim rubrica RTS threshold și schimbăm valoarea la 1500 și, daca routerul permite, rubrica Fragmentation threshold la care schimbăm valoarea la 375. (aceste setări sunt folosite pentru comunicații wireless la mare distanță).
  Simplu, nu? Încearcă și vei vedea cât de mult va crește semnalul util al routerului! Mie mi-a adus o creștere de 9 dB printr-un perete, iar banda de trafic s-a mărit considerabil: de la 1-2 MBs(8Mbs) la 5-6 MBs(40Mbs).