We make a biquad ultra-long-range WiFi antenna for a router with our own hands. Making a spiral antenna for Wi-Fi with your own hands using improvised materials

Instructions for making a “double” Bi-Quad (double eight) W-LAN antenna - 2.4 Ghz antennas for wi-fi.

"Double Eight" is a continuation of Bi-Quad, the gain of which is 2 dB higher, i.e. is approximately 12 dB. During construction, pay attention to the fact that the copper wires do not touch at the intersection points. After construction, it is advisable to varnish the “double eight” to avoid oxidation/corrosion. The two photographs below show how important it is to maintain a distance of 15 mm between the reflector and the copper wire:

In order to avoid questions (there were in the first post), let's consider building an antenna with a circular diagram, in this case something around 270°.

First, from a copper plate (or other sheet metal/material), you need to bend a pipe with a diameter of 70 mm and a height of approx. 100 mm. Then bend a straight 6-element Quad from copper wire and, using, for example, a bottle, give it a corresponding, curved shape. I repeat for those who are not reading very carefully: the distance from the copper wire to the reflector in a circle should be 15 mm! It is important that the crossing wires do not touch each other!

Of course, this is not the only correct option for building such an antenna. The antenna with a pie chart can be made larger,

In this case, signal loss in the antenna cable will be minimized.

Ideally it should look a little different, something like this:

but this is not so important, the main thing is that you can repeat the dimensions by printing. For those bending the “double eight” - the outer squares are not used. Those who do not have a printer can use the following drawing to make a frame: the dimensions are for a wire with a diameter of 2.5 mm

"Triple Eight" is another continuation of the "double eight", the gain coefficient of the "triple eight" can be 14 dB or a little more. This is what a colored “triple eight” looks like, in general, not bad:

For beginners! Please note that the stands supporting the antenna at a distance of 15 mm from the reflector must be made of dielectric material!

The “double eight” and the antenna with a pie diagram discussed above can be mounted together in one housing:

From another.

The antenna is closed. To make the protective housing, a piece of plastic pipe with a diameter of 125 mm, which is used in plumbing, was used; the lid is made of 2-centimeter plastic. The top fastening nut is made of plastic. Can be painted any color.

Often, owners of large apartments and multi-storey private cottages want to freely use the Internet in any corner of their home. But the power of a Wi-Fi router is not always enough. To improve the quality of the network, an antenna for a wi-fi router can be used. It is not difficult to make a structure of any power and direction with your own hands.

By default, the factory-made router is equipped with omnidirectional antennas with a power factor of 2dB. It transmits the Internet in all directions at once. As a result, the signal “stretches” around the entire perimeter and weakens.

If there are one or two walls in the signal path, the pulse may not pass through them and there will be no network in the distant room. The situation will be corrected by a purchased or homemade Wi-Fi antenna for a higher-power router.

An omnidirectional antenna will not change the situation much, since the signal will still go in different directions.

It is better to make an antenna for a directional Wi-Fi router. The device will concentrate the network in a narrower sector and significantly increase the signal strength.

Cottage owners who want to use the Internet not only at home, but also on the site, will need an external antenna for the router. You can buy it, but it’s better to make it yourself. If it is a directional antenna, it will be able to cover a specific area with the network without distributing the Internet to all sides. It's not at all difficult to make.

DIY directional antenna

The most popular and easiest to make is a homemade antenna for a wi-fi router made from metal cans. It's easy to do, but it won't increase the signal too much.

If you need to improve the quality of the network in your home and surrounding area, you will need to make a more powerful device.

Assembly components

Biquad antenna

Do-it-yourself reinforcement with biquadrat

How to make a wi-fi antenna for a router:

take a copper tube 10-11 cm long. Make a 1-2 mm cut from one end, removing part of the wall;
From a piece of wire with a cross-section of 1.2 mm and 30 cm in length, we will make a biquad contour with a working side of 3.5 cm. To do this, measure 15 cm and bend the wire 90 °. Next, we will bring the structure to a square eight and cut off the ends. They should not reach the middle of the wire by 2 mm. Let's clean up;
Let's take a piece of PCB covered with foil and make a hole in the middle. The copper tube should fit into it with difficulty;
solder the tube to the PCB at an angle of 90°;
We will attach a copper structure to the wall of the tube so that its middle does not come into contact with the tube and does not reach the PCB by 1 cm;
Let's drag a piece of RK-50 wire inside the tube. We’ll “plant” a vein in the middle of the figure eight. Solder the connector to the other end of the cable.

The resulting antenna to the router is mounted in a vertical position. Your own device is suitable for creating an 802.11 n connection within an apartment, yard or between houses.

Other homemade devices

Any DIY wi-fi antenna for a router is easy to make. Such a device can easily replace the 2-3 dB stock antenna included with the router and more than double the coverage area.

For outdoor use, an 8-10 dB remote antenna for a router made from a satellite dish is suitable. To do this, you should upgrade the purchased dish by placing a homemade antenna in the center and connecting it to the router. The structure is installed at the highest place in the house.

Homemade wi-fi antenna

In addition to a plate, you can use a homemade product made from ordinary foil to make an antenna. But in this case, it will need to be protected from rain and wind by placing it in the attic or other closed place.

To stabilize the signal in a small room, you can make a whip antenna. This is an analogue of the stock antenna that comes with the Wi-Fi router. Such a self-made device is much more powerful and distributes the network better.

To make it, you need a piece of copper wire and a BNC connector. Having soldered the end of the wire to the “mother” of the connector, it is necessary to twist a ring from the wire 61 mm from the base. Then, after 91 mm, wrap another ring and after 83 mm from the last ring, cut the wire. The antenna on the wi-fi router is ready.

There are many other homemade device designs. Which antenna option for a router to choose depends only on the user, his needs and abilities. Any homemade Wi-Fi antenna for a router will help improve the signal quality significantly.

Sometimes it happens that if there is a wireless network in a building of 2-3 floors, the WiFi signal does not reach some rooms, or there is a signal, but the connection speed is weak. One of the reasons why this may happen is an incorrectly selected wifi antenna for the router.

WiFi is a technology that only works well in a “line of sight” environment. Any obstacles in the form of walls, cabinets, mirrors, etc. have a very bad effect on the propagation of the wireless signal. Therefore, comfortable operation on the network will depend on a reasonable choice of antenna for the router.

What types of WiFi antennas are there?

All WiFi antennas can be divided into two types: directional or omnidirectional antennas, which, in turn, are internal and external.

Omnidirectional antennas

The class of these antennas is fundamental for building wireless networks. The majority of “home” routers are equipped with these antennas. They evenly distribute the WiFi signal throughout their entire range. Basically, omnidirectional antennas are a regular rod that distributes a WiFi signal in a plane perpendicular to its own axis.

Internal omnidirectional antenna option

Please note that omnidirectional antennas should only be installed vertically. Then the signal will propagate in the correct way, and the wireless network coverage area will be maximum.

Sometimes it happens that you need to cover a large area with a wireless network, for example, some kind of production facility. Then an external omnidirectional antenna with a gain of 8 dB is installed on the central building. Such an antenna is capable of transmitting a WiFi signal within a radius of 600 meters at a speed of 54 Mbit and to 1800 meters at a speed of 1 Mbit.

Outdoor omnidirectional antenna option

Directional Antennas

This class of antennas is used to organize a point-to-point Wi-Fi network. Those. they work well if you only need to connect to one access point or one computer.

An example of how directional antennas work

Inside a building, a directional antenna can “break through” impenetrable walls for a WiFi signal. A good option would be to use a panel-type directional antenna. This antenna is a flat rectangle capable of emitting radio waves in one direction. In this case, the gain can reach up to 6 dB.

Internal directional antenna option

But if you need to transmit a signal, for example, to a neighboring house, then you can use an external cylindrical antenna. It is installed horizontally and directed towards the place where the receiver is located. With such an antenna you can achieve a gain of up to 18 dB.

Outdoor directional antenna option

If suddenly you are not entirely sure where you need to place your antenna, then you can use the universal directional option. This type of antenna is suitable for both indoor and outdoor installation. The gain is about 8 dB.

Universal directional antenna option

Principles of placing a wifi antenna

The power of a wifi antenna is influenced by many factors.

If the antenna is omnidirectional, then it must be placed in the center of the building.
It is better to install the antenna or the router itself above the furniture level.
Check the router firmware, it should be the latest version.
It would be a good idea if the antenna is located away from windows, mirrors and steel structures.

Connecting the router to an external antenna and setting it up

For example, the MikroTik RВ751U-2НnD router was selected.

Connecting an external antenna

We take the router and look for the MMCX connector on the rear panel.

MMSH connector

To connect an external antenna, you will need a special adapter that will connect your router to the antenna. Typically these adapters are small in size, approximately 20 cm, so you can use two or three of them. You can purchase one adapter, but it is long. Now we make the connection, as shown in the figure below.

Antenna connection option

After making a physical connection between the router and the antenna, it needs to be configured so that it “sees” it.

Configuring the router to work with an external antenna

To configure the router, use the WinBox utility. We launch it on a computer connected to the router and in the Connect To field, select your router.

Choosing a router

To enable the use of an external antenna, perform the following steps:

Open the Wireless menu.
In the menu – Interface, go to the NT tab.
From the Antenna Mode list, select the operating option – antenna b.
Click – Ok.

Setting up the router

After making the settings, the external antenna should work in parallel with the internal ones. If you suddenly want one external antenna to work, then uncheck the box – chain0, and leave chain1. Don't forget to click Apply to save the settings.

Example of setting up an external antenna

Setting the transmitter power

This router has the ability to programmatically adjust the power level of the Wi-Fi transmitter. This feature can be useful if you need to transmit a signal from an external antenna over a long distance.

To set the power, perform the following steps:

Open the Wireless menu.
B Wireless Tables we specify the Wi-Fi interface wlan1.
In the Interface menu, click the button – Advanced Mode.
Select the tab..., and there is the item Tx Power.

Setting the transmitter power

In the window that appears, you can adjust the transmitter power. In Tx Power Mode you can select the power setting mode, and in Tx Power you can specify the power itself.

Selecting power setting modes

Types of installation modes:

Default – in this mode, the power is selected from a table located in the router’s memory.
card rates – power selection mode using a special algorithm using the power value specified by the user.
Manual – here you can set your own power for each speed.
all rates fixed – the power is the same at all speeds, it is specified by the user.

Boosting your WiFi signal is simple and easy

Wireless communications based on WiFi technology are everywhere today. This is a radio communication standard that provides data transmission at a frequency of 2.4 GHz. It is mainly used to organize an Internet connection between an access point and a subscriber device, but it can also have other applications in industry.

It is most widely used to connect to a wired access point, the so-called. a router with the ability to move within the range of a WiFi signal. The quality of the latter’s propagation directly depends on the antenna, built-in or external.

The principle of operation of a WiFi antenna

This device works in the same way as the antennas in conventional radios. The only difference is that in the router the antenna simultaneously transmits and receives signals. High frequency currents are induced in it; the quality of this process is influenced by the design of the device and the material from which it is made.

Size is of secondary importance, so current antennas for Wi-Fi communications are quite ergonomic and also have an aesthetic design

There are two types of antennas:

Internal – installed for optimal distribution of Wi-Fi signal inside the building.
External – used outside buildings to increase coverage area in open areas.

All antenna devices are also divided depending on the direction of the signal into unidirectional and unidirectional. The first ones send pulses only in one direction in the form of a beam and are equipped with a reflector. This design significantly increases the signal power in a given direction while it is absent in the rest, which reduces the risk of unauthorized connection to the network.

Equidirectional antennas are the most common design in consumer electronics. All routers are equipped with them; the signal propagates with equal power in all directions.

Convenient for use in the home or office, but due to the unidirectional action, the coverage area is less than that of unidirectional designs.

When passing through physical obstacles, the signal loses some of its power, so reception may have different quality at different points in the coverage area. For optimal signal distribution through an unidirectional antenna, the access point should be installed in the center of the room.

Advantages and disadvantages

Modern antennas, including those for the Wi-Fi standard, do not have any disadvantages, which was largely made possible thanks to the use of modern electronic components.

The move away from pin-type telescopic models made of metal, still used today in analog radio reception, has made it possible to significantly reduce dimensions, cost and weight. The main components from which antennas are made are plastic, its derivatives, and polymer materials.

Modern design and miniature size allow you to place it in any setting or even decorate it with interior items. A special connection interface makes the antenna as efficient as possible and minimizes signal loss at the connecting contacts. A large selection of models makes it possible to select a product that best meets the technical parameters of a specific coverage area.

Varieties

The main difference, in addition to the installation location and direction of action, is the dimensions, which determine the range and signal amplification factor.

Pin- can be up to half a meter in height. They create omnidirectional signal propagation and are used to enhance the reception area from an access point located in a building.
Flat– They are usually a square-shaped plate with a thickness of at least 10 mm and sides of about 300 mm. Designed to transmit a signal to another access point and can cover a distance of several kilometers. Mounted externally on a pole or wall.
Panel internal– are a desktop device with a directional spectrum of action. A special difference is the flat panel with adjustable angle of inclination relative to the base, which allows you to most accurately direct the beam. They are small in size and also provide the possibility of wall mounting due to the length of the wire.

Which antenna to choose

All antennas for indoor installation, as a rule, have the same signal gain and differ in design. Therefore, when choosing, the direction of the coverage area, and accordingly its area, is of fundamental importance.

In large rooms (offices), located separately - omnidirectional models are used if the coverage radius is sufficient for stable communication throughout the entire room.
In rooms with a large number of partitions and an entry point, located in the outer room, it is advisable to use unidirectional Wi-Fi transmitters.
In buildings with a large number of Internet clients If necessary, to secure the network from hacking, unidirectional models are used.
At home, an omnidirectional antenna is usually used, however, the location of the insertion point and the thickness of the baffles should be considered. In older buildings with thick brickwork, there may be significant signal attenuation through just one partition. In such cases, it is better to localize the beam using a unidirectional antenna.

What to look for when choosing

The main attention is paid to the signal amplification factor and, of course, the manufacturer's brand. It is the coefficient that determines the area in which it will be possible to access the network in good quality. The accompanying documents for the device indicate this parameter and the corresponding coverage area.

The length of the connecting cord also matters, especially if the antenna will be located above the router, which is usually done.

It is advisable that the connecting plug matches the input hole on the router. It should be borne in mind that when using an adapter, some of the signal power will be lost.

Review of the best models

– device for internal use. It is characterized by one-sided action and can be installed on horizontal and vertical surfaces, including being attached to the wall of the system unit using built-in magnets.

The connecting cable is 1 m long, has a resistance of 50 Ohms and is equipped with an SMA connector. The gain is 6 dBi. The radiating element is a metal rectangular plate with sides 28x52mm enclosed inside the emitter housing. The price of the device starts from 1200 rubles.

– antenna for indoor installation with horizontal or vertical mounting. The gain reaches 9 dBi. Connecting cable resistance 50 Ohm, length 1 m. Equipped with an RCA connector. The emitter has a square shape and is located inside a plastic case. The cost of the product is 1600 rubles.

– omnidirectional whip antenna for indoor use. It is characterized by a high gain - up to 7 dBi, which is significantly higher than that of the standard antennas that come with the router. Attaches to a horizontal surface, wall or PC system unit with magnets.

When installed on a wall, it is possible to change the angle of inclination. Equipped with a cable with a resistance of 50 Ohms, 1.5 m long with an SMA connector. Provides direct connection to an access point without cable. The cost of the device will be about 1600 rubles.

– panel antenna for outdoor installation. Provides signal transmission between two access points located at a considerable distance from each other. Capable of providing communication over a distance of up to 8 km at speeds of up to 1 Mb/s. With speeds up to 11 Mb/s at a distance of up to 3 km.

The housing has a protective sealant coating. The gain reaches 18 dBi. The cable is connected via an N type connector; the cable length is selected independently based on the distance to the access point. The cost of the antenna is about 10,500 rubles.

How to make it yourself

You can make such a device yourself; within an apartment it will help strengthen the signal if it is weakened by a large number of partitions. The aluminum beer can design is most popular due to its efficiency and simplicity. You will need:

Tremple for clothes.
Two liter aluminum cans.
Soldering iron, solder.
Wire 50 Ohm.
Connection connector.

Instead of a trempel, you can take a metal-plastic flexible pipe. It is used for both external and internal installation, since it has an aesthetic appearance and is not susceptible to exposure to natural factors.

Step by step instructions

Holes are cut in the bottom of the cans after which they must be placed on the lower part of the trempel, having previously cut it, or a pipe must be passed through them.
The holes in the cans are made of such a size that they fit tightly and did not shift when changing position in space. The pipe must be looped and a hook must be provided for fixing it to the base.
For cans located on a trempel– it is necessary to remove paint from the cable soldering areas. Then strip the cable, separating the braid and feeder, tin them and solder each to one of the cans. To the other end of the cable, solder a connector corresponding to the one located on the access point.
For cans on metal-plastic pipes– in this case, both banks are soldered to the feeder wire. You can make a bridge between them from a wire of the same cross-section by soldering the feeder to one of the cans. The antenna screen will be a layer of metal foil laid under the outer coating of the MP pipe. It is necessary to carefully make a cut, remove the protective film and solder the braid to the foil. This place must be insulated and secured with adhesive tape to prevent breakage.

Connection and setup

Before connection, the standard antenna is removed. You should check the settings of the access point to ensure that the maximum signal reception level is set; if this is not the case, then apply individual parameters.

Good afternoon, dear readers of the blog site. Quite recently, I talked about the possibility of increasing the coverage area by installing . However, not everyone likes this situation, and many simply do not want to give extra money. That is why I decided to describe what an amplified wifi antenna for a router is with my own hands.

The need to increase the coverage area or achieve a more stable signal comes precisely at the moment when the user simply cannot connect to a remote part of his apartment or via a wireless network several times. The most affordable way to solve this problem is to move the wireless router closer to the receiver, but we are not looking for easy ways and will make an amplified wifi antenna for the router with our own hands.

Unfortunately, this method is only suitable for models with external antennas.

In my arsenal there are several ways to make an improved antenna for a wifi router, but since my article is aimed at inexperienced users, I will try to talk in detail about three options for homemade wifi amplifiers.

Amplified wifi antenna from a CD box

No matter how ridiculous it may sound, this option of making an antenna for a router with your own hands really gives a pretty good result. For production we will need:

Box for discs for 25 pieces
Unnecessary CD
Copper wire, 30 centimeters, cross-section 2 sq/mm (more is possible, but do not overdo it with thickness)
Coaxial cable for connection
Tools (soldering iron, pliers, glue and file)
Additional SMA connector

Open the box and cut off the guide at a distance of about 20 mm

Then, using a file, we make indentations in the form of a cross, for the subsequent installation of a diamond.

Using pliers, we create a double diamond shape from copper wire prepared in advance. The length of each side of a separate rhombus should not exceed three centimeters. The resulting product can be seen in the figure below.

The ends of the wire should meet in the middle.

At the junction of the ends, we solder the wires and the ends themselves, respectively.

The next step is to insert the coaxial cable through the hole in the guide in the box and use the adhesive to fix the resulting diamond in the grooves of the guide.

For better fixation, I advise you to fix all freely movable parts with glue.

We close the resulting structure of the amplified antenna of the wireless router with a lid and use the SMA connector to connect it to the router itself.

This completes our wifi antenna for the router. When I personally decided to test the result, I was very pleasantly surprised by the signal strength in remote rooms.

The disc box can always be replaced with sheet metal, and instead of a plastic guide, a soldered metal tube can be used. There are a lot of opportunities for improvement.

DIY amplified antenna for a router from a tin can

From the name you can already understand that this method is primitive to the point of disgrace and there is no need to spend money on purchasing additional materials.

In the store, you just need to buy a can of soda (or beer) and after it is empty, you can start making a homemade wifi amplifier for your router.

First, you should rinse and dry it to get rid of any remaining contents. Then, using scissors, we pierce the jar at the bottom, next to the bend that turns into the bottom, and cut it off. Then we make a cut along the entire length until the bend passes into the upper part. Then we cut off the cover along the circumference on both sides of the longitudinal cut almost to the very end, but at the same time leaving a small area for the stability of our screen. It will be clearer if you look at the figure below.

To make our design more rigid, we can not cut off the bottom of the jar, but do the same as we did with the lid, which will not allow the screen to bend arbitrarily.

The next step is to mount the antenna. We place our structure on the antenna, and for better fixation we take plasticine, which will not allow all this stuff to move in space.

If your router has not one, but two transmitters, then such an amplifier needs to be made for each, which will allow you to send a more powerful signal in several directions at the same time.

At first glance, such a device looks very elementary and unreliable, but the amplification effect makes it clear that even a simple design can produce excellent results.

Unfortunately, the two methods given above are intended for directional signal improvements. This scheme is suitable for those users who have installed a wireless router in the corner of the room and there is no need to “distribute wifi” to neighbors.

Homemade reinforcing attachment for the router

Another fairly simple way to strengthen the Wi-Fi signal with your own hands is to use the so-called attachment. The manufacturing principle is incredibly simple. You should have on hand a wire with a cross-section of 1.5 - 2.5 mm, a piece of cardboard, pliers and scissors.

First of all, we cut several pieces of wire of different lengths (starting with the shorter one and gradually increasing by 4 mm). The number of such pieces will depend on what kind of wifi antenna you want to get.

We cut a piece of cardboard of such length and width that it will not bend under the weight of the wire. Next, we attach the wire to the cardboard by piercing it in equal sections.

Using scissors, cut a hole for mounting. The appearance of the resulting structure is very similar to .

Naturally, if your router has several transmitters, then we make such an attachment for each of them.

This design will really help increase the coverage area and enhance signal transmission.

All the described methods for making an antenna for a router with your own hands are quite simple and do not require additional skills. However, if during the work any questions arise or there is a proposal to supplement this article, then do not hesitate to leave them in the comments.

To better consolidate the material you have read, I suggest watching the corresponding video.