Homemade Parabolic
Wifi Reflector Antenna
Part 3
Now I layed the antenna inside the parabolic reflector so I could see where I would want each of the two pieces of plastic to be
attached, marked the reflector and attached the plastic. To do this I used some Waterweld I had on hand, you might have an alternative but
suitable adhesive. Waterweld is a two part clay like liquid metal, that once it is all mixed up it will begin to harden. I took a small piece,
mixed it, then rolled it between my hands to make a long skinny roll, placed it on my line, then took my piece of plexiglass and pressed it into
the clay. Using a wet finger I smoothed out the clay to make it look nice, and pressed with one hand on the back of the reflector and the other
hand securing the plexiglass. Once I had it where I wanted it, I held it for a couple minutes to insure the plexigalss didn't move, then I let it
set to harden for about a half hour. Then I repeated the process with the other piece of plexiglass. Make sure when you do this, you put the
piece with the small hole where the top of the antenna is going to be and the piece with the large hole at the bottom of the antenna. If you
notice in Image #4, the piece of plexiglass that holds the top of the antenna is further from the edge of the reflector than the one that holds
the bottom of the antenna. As an added security to insure my antenna and adapter doesn't fall out of the reflector, I used a rubber grommet, (an
O-Ring or rubber insulator that fits snuggly to your antenna will do the same), on the antenna above the plastic piece to insure the antenna
cannot fall out and damage either the antenna or the adapter.
Being ready to test this out, I put my antenna into the homemade parabolic wifi reflector, plugged everything in, turned on my
computer and waited for the results. Looking at image #3 below, you will see that my signal has jumped dramatically, with my link quality now
above 90% and my signal strength now at 50%, my internet connection was good to go.
image 3
Since the making of this antenna and recording it's signal boosting capabilities, I have drilled a small hole in the plexiglass
so I can hang the antenna on the wall. I found a position that boosted the signal even more and we are now running a 95% signal quality with a
60% signal strength and our internet is flying. We have also ordered a 10 foot USB cable to give me more freedom and I have set up my computer
with it's 2 wireless connections now, so the rest of the family can use my connection to get online. I'll do another tutorial to show you how to
do this. At the bottom of this article is a picture of the final product.
Even greater boost is possible. In case you didn't notice, the parabolic template is designed for making a reflector 20 cm wide,
and I only used a piece of aluminum 4 inches wide, (or about 10cm wide). I have not done this yet, but I do plan on making another one to full
scale, essentially doubling the signal reflection of what I'm using now. If you already have a wireless antenna, or a laptop that will accept an
external antenna, you can boost your signal perhaps without buying an external adapter. Maybe all you need is an antenna, a piece of antenna
cable and make one of these parabolic reflectors. All in all, my parabolic reflector has improved my signal strength to more than doubled with a
total investment $1.59 + tax. If you wish to buy a high gain antenna you will pay between $50 to $120 for something equivalent, and the reviews
on the manufactured antenna's are not all that great. I figure, it took about an hour to actually make the reflector, so I just earned $50 - $120
for that hours worth of work.
Since the making of the parabolic reflector, I have drilled an additional small hole in the front of the plexiglass through which
we have hung the antenna on a wall facing the access point, so the antenna is out of harm's way. Our link quality runs a consistent 95% and our
signal strength runs a consistent 55 to 60% or three to four bars on the windows wireless network connection.
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