[htownseanthomas]

I have come across an interest in greatly improving my wifi connection to the local "donators" around my apartment. The office nearby offers free wifi, and it has really good range. I'm just barely out of a good signal's reach. What kind of DIY things can I do to improve my adapters receiving limits? Little home projects, ghetto rigged antennas, or personal wifi dishes. I've looked around the Internet a bit and I haven't come across something simple enough for my needs. I don't have welders, or drills, or any tools at all really. Have you guys needed/built anything?

[AuxiliaryPie]

get your own internet.

[diablodow]

Put ddwrt on a router and set it up as a repeater? Or what aux said lol.

[htownseanthomas]

Originally Posted by AuxiliaryPie

get your own internet.

You're very clever. I didn't see that response coming at all.

Originally Posted by diablodow

Put ddwrt on a router and set it up as a repeater? Or what aux said lol.

Googled it, it's worth a shot.

[Mustang7302]

It may be against the office's free wifi terms of use to use the connection 24/7 for personal use; it is probably intended as a convenience for temporary use while you use the office facilities.

As such it is also illegal to be on someone else's network without express consent. Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T, everyone has some kind of offer for cheap internet for six months to a year; get your own internet!

[htownseanthomas]

That's a reasonable post.

The piece of paper I signed states that I can use the wifi for personal use, at any time, so long as I do not share the password with non-residential users. I've had my own Internet (Cox) for about 9 months. They recently hit me with an extra $50 on three consecutive months for "facility repairs." So, I canceled it and went back to the wifi because I only have two more months on my lease.

This is just a temporary fix to my Internet woes.

[mymutter]

just build yourself a cantenna or buy one on eBay!
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=cantenna+kit

[AuxiliaryPie]

Originally Posted by htownseanthomas

That's a reasonable post.

The piece of paper I signed states that I can use the wifi for personal use, at any time, so long as I do not share the password with non-residential users. I've had my own Internet (Cox) for about 9 months. They recently hit me with an extra $50 on three consecutive months for "facility repairs." So, I canceled it and went back to the wifi because I only have two more months on my lease.

This is just a temporary fix to my Internet woes.

that makes more sense. your OP made it seem like you just wanted to be a bum for the foreseeable future

do you have a smarphone? if so tethering it would be easy..you could even add more data to your plan for just the two months (assuming you dont have unlimited)

[htownseanthomas]

My original idea was exactly like that. Except I have a company iPhone, and they won't allow me to do hotspots. The tethering also seems to work like the DD-WRT idea in the sense of receiving, then bridging a wifi connection.

For the time being I created a series of unfortunate home-made wifi dishes. Two different parabolic satellites ranging from 2 feet, and 5 feet in diameter. They failed me miserably. My fourth/fifth idea was a curved "bouncer" type dish.



Picture quality = garbage.
My table is also filthy.

Items used,
-Cardboard
-Nylon string
-PVC Water pipe
-Aluminum foil.

I work construction, so raw materials are laying on the ground everywhere. I bought a 10' USB A/B cable and laid my adapter across the center of the nylon string. I went from 2/5 bars, up to 4/5 bars instantly.

[Blake360]

You don't need wifi, just buy an ethernet cord long enough to connect your computer to the router. If there's dirt/soil/grass outside you can just hide the cable under that so nobody notices.

[htownseanthomas]

I'm not too sure if you're trolling, or you're serious. The OP states the situation, and the later posts show the details. I have a 25' Ethernet cable I've used in the past to hardware my pc to my modem. I hooked my computer up to my 46" flat screen out in the living room, because that's a huge perk of living solo.

[toolbandfan]

You work construction but have no tools?

That's sort of ironic.

[htownseanthomas]

It really is now that I think about it...

[pball1998]

nice

[PillsburyDoughboy]

you are trying to reflect rf with metal, something that absorbs rf. GLHF with that.

[htownseanthomas]

Noted, I've already trashed that project long ago. It was pretty damn bad unless it was set up perfectly.

[BlitzPA9]

If you know the WEP/WPA key you can use dd-wrt as a repeater bridge as someone already mentioned. I did that in my house because I needed a wired connection far away from the router and it worked marvelously. Pick up a cheapo Linksys/Cisco router that supports dd-wrt and try that.

[Mustang7302]

Originally Posted by BlitzPA9

If you know the WEP/WPA key you can use dd-wrt as a repeater bridge as someone already mentioned. I did that in my house because I needed a wired connection far away from the router and it worked marvelously. Pick up a cheapo Linksys/Cisco router that supports dd-wrt and try that.

I just acquired a WRT54G v8.2 from a co-worker who wasn't using it anymore, installed DD WRT, and have intentions of doing just this. Need to extend my wireless range for low power wifi devices (cell phones and tablets primarily).

[htownseanthomas]

I'm not super technically savvy, but I'm almost positive I can acquire the WEP/WPA codes if I have too. I'll give it a shot bridging the connections because I have a drawer full of routers I could work with. I appreciate the responses.

[*knock-out05*]

If you cant acquire the keys legally, you dont need to be using the wifi.

[htownseanthomas]

It's not going to be illegal.