Make 2.4GHz parabolic mesh dishes from cheap but sturdy Chinese cookware scoops & a USB WiFi adaptor! The largest so called “WIFRY”,”WOKFI” or “WOKTENNA” (12″= 300mm diam) shows 12-15dB gain (enough for a LOS range extension to 3-5km),costs ~US$5 & comes with a user friendly bamboo handle that suits WLAN fieldwork- if you can handle the curious stares! Neater boutique versions may better appeal indoors. NB-unless you use more powerful USB adapters (such as ALFA & Senao offerings mentioned below),weak USB adapter output power may mean you now hear more stronger APs than you can link back to …
Tag Archives: wifi
MiFi
MiFi is a line of compact wireless routers produced by Novatel Wireless that act as mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. MiFi stands for ‘My Wi-Fi’. The MiFi can be connected to a mobile phone (cellular) carrier and provide internet access for up to 5 devices. The MiFi works at a distance up to 10 m (30 ft) and will provide internet or network access to any WiFi enabled peripheral device.
Bold plan: opening 1,000 MHz of federal spectrum to WiFi-style sharing
An advisory council to President Obama today said the US should identify 1,000 MHz of government-controlled spectrum and share it with private industry to meet the country’s growing need for wireless broadband.
via Bold plan: opening 1,000 MHz of federal spectrum to WiFi-style sharing | Ars Technica.
There’s a tag on this blog called monopolistic practices. This article describes something exactly opposite of that.
Stealth wallpaper keeps company secrets safe
A type of wallpaper that prevents Wi-Fi signals escaping from a building without blocking mobile phone signals has been developed by a British defence contractor. The technology is designed to stop outsiders gaining access to a secure network by using Wi-Fi networks casually set up by workers at the office.
via Stealth wallpaper keeps company secrets safe – 08 August 2004 – New Scientist.
Copper coated
Solid metal antennas normally give a very strong reflection to enemy radar scanners. To hide them, FSS sheeting can be electrically set to allow through only the precise frequency the antenna wants to transmit and receive, while absorbing all other frequencies including those of the incoming radar.
BAE’s anti-Wi-Fi wallpaper is made from a 0.1-millimetre-thick sheet of kapton, the same plastic used to make flexible printed circuit boards in lightweight portable gadgets like camcorders. The kapton is coated on each side with a thin film of copper.
GoGo to buy Airfone to boost in-flight Wi-Fi
Airfone has been around for decades as an in-flight telephone service provider and has passed through a long string of corporate ownership, including GTE Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. In 2008, Verizon sold Airfone to LiveTV. Now Gogo will acquire Airfone’s network infrastructure, as well as a 1 MHz spectrum license currently held by LiveTV. Gogo already has a 3 MHz license. The company’s network is air-to-ground, meaning it has cellular towers that beam signals to aircraft. The network covers the contiguous U.S. and portions of Alaska.
via GoGo to buy Airfone to boost in-flight Wi-Fi – chicagotribune.com.
IETF attendees reengineer their hotel’s Wi-Fi network
What happens when a bunch of IETF super nerds show up in Paris for a major conference and discover their hotel’s Wi-Fi network has imploded?
They give it an Extreme Wi-Fi Makeover.
ZoneFlex Outdoor | Ruckus Wireless
ZoneFlex outdoor access points uniquely combine dynamic beamforming and adaptive meshing to enable a new level of outdoor performance at the lowest cost. Built to withstand the harshest of outdoor conditions, they’re designed with the flexibility to function as standalone APs or as managed devices, using the same wireless controller as their indoor Smart Wi-Fi products. If no Ethernet cabling is available, the outdoor AP meshes seamlessly with the indoor access points.
San Jose tries again with free downtown Wi-Fi
The IEEE 802.11n network from Ruckus Wireless is designed for outdoor public use, with multiple antennas and beam-forming mechanisms to get around obstacles. It will be implemented by system integrator SmartWave Technologies.
via San Jose tries again with free downtown Wi-Fi.
San Jose’s new system will replace a series of public hotspots that the city set up with partner MetroFi in 2004. Those networks were supported by advertising, but the arrangement fell apart when MetroFi went out of business in 2008. The annual $22,000 operational cost for the single new network will be about equal that of the old hotspots, Sammeta said.
Afghanistan’s Amazing DIY Internet
Afghanistan’s Amazing DIY Internet | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation.
The Afghan city of Jalalabad has a high-speed Internet network whose main components are built out of trash found locally. Aid workers, mostly from the United States, are using the provincial city in Afghanistan’s far east as a pilot site for a project called FabFi.
Why the House spectrum bill should be ditched
I’ve also read that the House bill bars the FCC from paying for spectrum and then opening it up for unlicensed use. Can you comment on that?
I was the guy who created the idea of unlicensed spectrum. Several technologists and economists came to me and said that we need spectrum for short hops between computers and cable connections. That technology became known as Wi-Fi and it completely transformed the Internet experience, as everybody who has a computer knows.
via Why the House spectrum bill should be ditched: Q&A with Reed Hundt.