Wi-Fi Booster Antenna?

[vantexan]

Hi, new to the forum and not too tech savvy. I saw the 770 in Popular Science awhile back and figured I could finally ditch the WebTV and land line. I live in a RV park with free wi-fi but it's only around the office. Is there any way I can boost the signal to use the 770 inside my RV? I've found a few things on Google like the Cantenna, but it looks like it plugs into laptops. Does the 770 offer an antenna to boost signals? Thanks!

[buzzlightyear]

Not sure about the antenna but when setting up a wireless connection the advanced settings include a dropdown to select power output 10mw or 100mw - now with some "hack" maybe this could be "overclocked" - just wild speculation is all i'm saying.

I do remember an old wireless access point I had that had a hacked firmware available to boost its output and it really did make a difference.

Buzz

[Weavus]

The 770 has no external antenna port, so unless you are willing to open it up and hack one from the inside then you will be out of luck. Software will be the best way to try and boost the signal.

I was also puzzled by the power output setting buzzlightyear described.

[gareth]

You could set up a Wi-Fi repeater. Look into using a Linksys WRT54G with modified firmware (HyperWRT or Sveasoft). I'm not sure if you need access/permission from the "other end", I don't think so though. I think you should be able to do all the setup on the 770 too. The first thing to try is getting a connection outside, if that works then just put the Linksys in a waterproofed plastic box outside, otherwise try connecting the Linksys to a cantenna, although research this first to make sure you do it correctly, you would probably need to disable one of the external antennas.

Gareth

[Samuel]

Not sure about the antenna but when setting up a wireless connection the advanced settings include a dropdown to select power output 10mw or 100mw - now with some "hack" maybe this could be "overclocked" - just wild speculation is all i'm saying.

That woul need severe hacking, and BTW, it would be illegal (802.11 power output is legally limited).
Also, the further your AP is, the more sensitive your STA must be, and there is no way to hack that.

I would say that the best option would be a 802.11 repeater.

[vantexan]

Thanks guys. I'm moving eventually to a RV park with wi-fi at each space so guess it's a matter of patience.

[msaunby]

I use a variety of wi-fi systems and find the easiest way to extend range is with aluminium foil stuck to a piece of card placed an inch or so behind the antenna.
Honestly, it's as simple as that.

[bhima]

I use a variety of wi-fi systems and find the easiest way to extend range is with aluminium foil stuck to a piece of card placed an inch or so behind the antenna.
Honestly, it's as simple as that.

I'm sure that works sometimes, but that's not the most reliable solution. It also isn't going to extend your range by very much. Also, the 770 would need to be kept in the same position to work.

Wifi repeaters are a reasonable idea. Another thing you could probably do is hack up a USB wifi interface - you'd need a cable, of course, and a powered hub, but it should work.

Software boosting of power is a very bad idea. It is illegal and it might damage your 770.

[Remote User]

A few ideas:
Replace the WiFi access point's antenna with a high-gain antenna.
Add a Wireless Repeater made by the same manufacturer as the existing equipment.
Move the WiFi access point away from anything made of metal.
Sit near the window or on the porch on the side toward the WiFi signal.

[NokNok770]

I think the user here does not have access to the access point. He just wants the range to be extended somehow to reach his 770. I would go with buzzlightyear option...and if that does not work, some kind of repeater is your other option.

[Jerome]

Easy. One AP with an external antenna on the top of your home to connect to their network, one patch cable, a second AP to distribute the signal around your home on a second channel.

[Maemorandum]

What kind of antenna could this be?

Does anyone know if this is a special (ceramic) antenna or just a simple dipole? If this is a dipole, it could be replaced by an adapter (hirose, SMC) soldiered on the contacts for plugging external antennas.

Or is it a combi WLAN/Bluetooth-Antenna?

http://www.uselessinfo.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/images/N770/22-N770.jpg

[Jerome]

It seems to be an inverted-F antenna, combining Wlan and Bluetooth.

[Maemorandum]

I am thinking to dismantle the case of the Nokia 770 like:

http://www.uselessinfo.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/dismantlen770.htm .

I am owning a fantastic 30 cm WLAN-dish, especially for poor wireless signals.

So, i am planning to solder a SMA connector on top of the Internet-tablet so i can screw a pigtail for the antenna.

I haven t opened the Nokia 770 yet, so does anyone know where to solder the signal and ground contacts?.

Thank you.

[Odin]

I am thinking to dismantle the case of the Nokia 770 like:

http://www.uselessinfo.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/dismantlen770.htm .

I am owning a fantastic 30 cm WLAN-dish, especially for poor wireless signals.

So, i am planning to solder a SMA connector on top of the Internet-tablet so i can screw a pigtail for the antenna.

I haven t opened the Nokia 770 yet, so does anyone know where to solder the signal and ground contacts?.

Thank you.

...when you are unfamiliar with the anatomy of the patient.

[Maemorandum]

great help, thank you mum.

[mwiktowy]

I would say that the wifi range extender/repeater is the simplest way to go for the OP.

By far, the best thing you can do is get a good high gain antenna for whatever equipment you decide to use for a repeater. A good antenna will help with both reception and transmission whereas any power hacks will only help transmission and will do nothing for receiver sensitivity ... resulting in no benefit in most situations.

I just stumbled upon this site that had a lot of good info and some good equipment for sale that might be useful for assembling something to do the trick:
http://radiolabs.com/products/wireless/wireless.html

It even has packages of antenna/amp/wrieless cards for use on trailers/RVs/transport trucks that might be useful to you.

The money lost by damaging yout 770 while hardware hacking it could buy a pretty sweet range extender.

[Maemorandum]

First of all, thank you for your answer.

My Basestation is already extended (Two Apple Airport-Stations connected via software and supplying with an additional 24 element Yagi and a Collinear antenna).

I am interested in hardware-hacks, especially antenna solutions. Because of the poor range of the Nokia-770 i decided to add an external antenne on top of it. As a Linux-unit with a 800 pix display, the Nokia-770 seems to be unbeatable :-)

I am not fearfull in breaking the unit, yes - it is my own risk. I have already extended several other units with external antennas, successfully. It was worth the risk. The Reason why I am posting is, that it is helpful to listen to other peoples experience first, before the electronical measuring and studying the board. Can save a lot of time for me. Of course there is no electronic circuit.

My only fear is, that because the case of the Nokia-770 ist very difficult to open (Nokia likes plastic and hates screws) i will break the case with too much squeezing.

There seems to be nobody else who is an electrician like me, and who is interested in antenna-hacks.

Goodbye. Sorry for my english.

[mwiktowy]

First of all, thank you for your answer.

...

There seems to be nobody else who is an electrician like me, and who is interested in antenna-hacks.

Goodbye. Sorry for my english.

Your English is excellent.

Actually, I was responding to the OP (Original Poster). I am quite certain that you could find lots of people interested in hardware hacking the 770 by starting another message thread. Just not by hijacking the message thread of a non-tech saavy person having a specific problem.

[Hedgecore]

I'm very intrested, though more in a solution like a battery powered repeater that's been hacked to extend range.

Thoughtfix, a member of this forum might be able to help; he's done lots of cool stuff.

[Jerome]

I am not really sure of the questions here.

Exchanging the antenna is obviously possible, but difficult. Everyone can see how to disassemble the 770 on
http://www.uselessinfo.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/dismantlen770.htm
On the same site, the antenna pictures make it clear that the antenna is connected by 2 spring contacts, so the connector should come in place of them.
BTW: solder does not conduct very well at 2.4 GHz, so an external connector should be attached without solder.
And: the built-in antenna is also used for bluetooth, so the antenna replacement should also be used for bluetooth.


As to a repeater, building one is trivial. You can simply buy two D-link G730AP (cheap, small, can be run on external batteries available for the Sony PSP portable), use them in access point mode and connect them via an ethernet cable.

[Karel Jansens]

As to a repeater, building one is trivial. You can simply buy two D-link G730AP (cheap, small, can be run on external batteries available for the Sony PSP portable), use them in access point mode and connect them via an ethernet cable.
Serious questions: Why two? Why the ethernet cable? I thought that just dropping wireless access points in range of the previous one was enough.

[Jerome]

Yes and no. Two and a cable works with any base access point and does not limit throughput. One AP only needs the base access point to support a special "repeater" mode where the extender uses the same channel to receive and retransmit. While this mode is somewhat described in the wifi specs, in practice it only works with two devices of the same manufacturer, and not all of them on top of that. And it cuts your throughput by two, because the same channel is used by the two APs.


Besides, with two you can use a directional antenna on the receive side to pick up distant signals and an omni to retransmit locally, which is what was originally needed.

[fpp]

Do you have a link to a site or page that describes such a setup in more detail (AP setup & such) ? TIA...

[Jerome]

Do you have a link to a site or page that describes such a setup in more detail (AP setup & such) ? TIA...

That describes which setup?

[fpp]

Well, the details of how your pair of APs is configured to act as a repeater for an existing WLAN : SSID, addresses, keys, type of cable (crossover ?) etc.
It would surprise me if you could just take them out of the box, plug them in and have it just work :-)

[Jerome]

I see.

SSID and channels need to be different.

Put the receiving G730 in "client" mode. Configure its SSID and keys according to the network you want to extend (you'll need a computer with an ethernet plug for that).

Connect a cross-over cable (maybe a standard cable would work, I don't know).

Configure the second G730 in "access point" mode to your liking.

That's all.

[sevo]

I see.

SSID and channels need to be different.


not even that - a different channel will usually improve bandwidth, as you won't jam yourself, and a separate SSID helps in troubleshooting, but OTOH sharing both is possible (and a standard procedure on campus networks) , and will permit the client to roam between APs without user intervention.

Sevo

[fpp]

Thanks to both for the tips. I happen to know someone who is considering buying one of those expensive repeaters, this could come in handy...

[Maemorandum]

Now, it is done. Dismantled, and soldered:

The Nokia 770 with a brandnew external Antenna with replaced F-I-Antenna by a SMA-Connector and a 14 dBi Dish.

Using Kismet to sniff the air. Better signals than ever. It was worth the risc :-))

________________________________
Nicht quatschen, sondern machen!

[Texrat]

BTW: solder does not conduct very well at 2.4 GHz, so an external connector should be attached without solder.

Does that include silver solder? I would think that compound would work ok.

[zenwalker]

Yes and no. Two and a cable works with any base access point and does not limit throughput. One AP only needs the base access point to support a special "repeater" mode where the extender uses the same channel to receive and retransmit. While this mode is somewhat described in the wifi specs, in practice it only works with two devices of the same manufacturer, and not all of them on top of that. And it cuts your throughput by two, because the same channel is used by the two APs.


Besides, with two you can use a directional antenna on the receive side to pick up distant signals and an omni to retransmit locally, which is what was originally needed.

Would you know where to solder the antennas to on the circuit board of the DWL-G730AP as there isn't any external antenna connector?

[zenwalker]

I see.

SSID and channels need to be different.

Put the receiving G730 in "client" mode. Configure its SSID and keys according to the network you want to extend (you'll need a computer with an ethernet plug for that).

Connect a cross-over cable (maybe a standard cable would work, I don't know).

Configure the second G730 in "access point" mode to your liking.

That's all.

The DWL-G730AP also has a router mode.
What's the difference between the access point and router modes and which is better in this application?

[igor6524]

Hi there,

I’m impressed with your job and thinking about doing the same modification.
I have a couple of questions please, if you don’t mind…
1. I’m going to use a relatively small antenna (+4dB or so) or/and a signal booster. Will it work? What do you think?
2. I disassembled my nokia 770 once but couldn’t figure out where I should solder an external connector. Hah?

Any help will be very appreciated.

Regards,

Igor.

[Scarflash]

ok best option is to go to meraki.com and buy a $50 repeater. It's cheap and it extends your wi-fi network by 500ft!!.If you want to place it outdoor you pay $100 for a waterproofed meraki wi-fi repeater. They're also coming out with a solar kit so that would be pretty cool.