[Reactionary]

I think I like it...

[AnAmericanMother]

The "Beer Can Vertical" has been a mainstay of amateur radio homebrews for years.

The fun part is, you get to drink the beer. Hopefully, at some time OTHER than while assembling the antenna.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

My network IT manger lives around the corner from me. I caught him using one of the Pringle's devices last halloween. He was giving out candy and checking the neighborhood for unsecure computers.

He also uses it at work to see if any of computer savy bluecollar types have set up a wireless network.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

http://www.arrl.org/

The best in antenna design with all formulas.

[InterceptPoint]

I built probe fed coffee can antennas 30 years ago to pick up the MDS band at (as I recall) about 2.1 GHz. This is pretty close to the 2.4 GHz 802.11 band. You can up the gain of this antenna to about 20 dB by adding a yagi type director that is about 2 feet long and consists of a series of washers about 1.25 inches in diameter and spaced about an inch and half apart or so. The exact dimensions can be had from antenna design handbooks. Rock solid design assuming that you are after antenna gain and not omni coverage.

[steplock]

This looks like FUN~!

Maybe I can get my D-Link 614+ to transmit UP one floor!

[TopQuark]

And the import and relevance of this article is... what?

[quietolong]

bump

[Clinging Bitterly]

Can't buy broadband at my house, but they can a quarter mile away.

But I think you'll find the FCC type acceptance of these devices places limits on the physical characteristics of any antennas, so there are two issues at play here. Stealing internet service, and violating FCC rules.

I don't personally know anyone who would do either of those things, nope.

But seriously, one should be careful about doing anything like this. The FCC rule thing isn't a big deal, technically a "violation" level federal offense, with a threat of big fine (and in reality, almost never enforced). But in regards to the stealing of internet service, and particularly if the provider is a telco or electric utility, I'd advise one to not just go out and do it without permission from the owner of the LAN to which you are connecting, you could get in some serious trouble. This hasn't become such a problem that the providers are out driving around sniffing for people who are hijacking access, but it will, and they can find you as easily as you can find them.

[Cacique]

bttfl

[Elsie]

The PICTURES did not show up! Go here!

http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/has.html

[Rodney King]

OK, I need help here:

I have a Dell wireless setup, and I think that right now it is not encrypted. How do I turn encryption on? Can I just turn it on in windows, or wouldn't I somehow have ot turn it on in the dell setup?

Thanks.

[RadioAstronomer]

We used one pound coffee cans, broom handles, and aluminium snow sleds to build makshift S-band microwave dish antennas. They worked quite well. :-)

[tubebender]

Why couldn't you just daisy chain coat hangers from the ceiling...

[boris]

I guess I am a dinosaur, but I simply don't see the utility in "wireless" stuff.

I use computers that sit on a desk and connect with old-fashioned "wires".

All my phones--save one--has a wire.

My portable phone is almost never used. I got it when my local service went out once too often (rain in the switchbox) so I could order-in pizza.

No, I don't want my phone to take (low quality) pictures, nor do I want to send them to anybody.

I'm too disorganized to use a PDA (if I ever got organized, I'd conquer the world, so it is a good thing that I am disorganized).

In any event, I don't want to play games on my phone, or PDA. I don't want to try to access Excel or Word on my phone or PDA. And I certainly don't want to browse the internet on a 2.5-square-inch screen.

So I "don't get it" and probably never will.

--Boris