I’m going to show you how to make a really simple and cheap (you’ve probably got everything you need: really just a printer to print the template and some aluminum foil) directional WiFi antenna that will significantly

boost your signal beyond what most of the commercial antennas are capable of doing (sounds crazy, but just watch the video). All you’re doing is taking the radio signal that’s normally broadcast uniformly in every direction and using the aluminum foil as a sort of mirror to reflect and direct it towards

where you want it to go, thereby focusing (it actually works just like a parabolic mirror, if that makes sense) all the energy in one particular direction instead of allowing it to spread out all over the place (if you’ve got multiple computers in different locations and can’t direct the signal but still need to amplify it, see the extra stuff I’ve got after the video). Here we go:

Additional Resources and Further Reading

If you need to boost the signal but you can’t direct it because you’ve got multiple computers in different locations, then what you’re going to have to do is buy a unidirectional antenna that’s got an adapter on it that actually amplifies the signal, I recommend the Alfa 1000mW 802.11b/g USB wireless WiFi network adapter which comes with its own 9dBi antenna and is currently the most powerful on the market and also one of the most popular. If you really want to play with this stuff I definitely recommend you check out Wi-Fi Toys by Mike Outmesguine which has got all sorts of cool projects (one of which shows you how to boost your WiFi signal out to 20 MILES 😯 ).

How to make a WiFi booster antenna out of a soda can is along similar lines and accomplishes the same thing, but I personally don’t think it works as well as the parabolic design, although it seems to be popular so I’d thought I’d throw that in there for you if you’re interested in seeing what that’s about.

These guys are nuts, but damn they are dedicated: Chinese cookware + WiFi = WOKTENNA

SkiFactz.com has got a really good WiFi hacks & mods section with plenty of cool projects.