Homemade wifi router. Experience in creating a home Wi-Fi router

Wi-Fi is a technology capable of normal operation only within the line of sight. Wireless networks are easily lost among the walls, furniture and other obstacles in the apartment. Moving the adapter or router around the house in order to increase the efficiency of the devices is not always possible. A more correct approach is to use an external, more powerful antenna - the active part of the transmitting / receiving device.

Types of Wi-Fi Antennas

In terms of use, all antennas for Wi-Fi are divided into two classes:

• for outdoor use (outdoor),
• for internal use (indoor).

These antennas differ, first of all, in their size and gain. The outdoor class implies large dimensions and the ability to attach to any support (surface). High gain in such antennas is achieved by design features. Such devices are usually used for wireless data transmission between points that are at a considerable distance from each other. It is preferable to install them in the line of sight.

Depending on the type of antenna, Wi-Fi characterizes a greater or lesser gain - one of the most important parameters of any receiving and transmitting equipment

Indoor class antennas are designed for indoor use, they are smaller in size and do not differ in outstanding gain and power. Internal antennas are attached either directly to the transmitting / receiving gadget, to the wall, or placed on the surface. The antenna is connected to the device board either directly or via a cable.

Additional Wi-Fi antenna in an apartment or house

The main reason for needing an extra Wi-Fi antenna is to boost a weak signal. This situation may arise in the following cases:

• the Wi-Fi access point is located at a considerable distance (if the room is large), there are obstacles (walls, ceilings);
• the router is not powerful enough.

Also, an additional Wi-Fi antenna may be needed if you need to organize a network "router - several client points", or if you need to connect several PCs "over the air".

DIY manufacturing

On the network you can find many recommendations for the manufacture of various types of Wi-Fi antennas at home. As a rule, the repetition of most designs does not require deep knowledge in radio electronics, scarce materials and specialized tools. You can make any of the Wi-Fi antennas according to the instructions below in just a couple of hours.

double biquadrate

The "double square" antenna for Wi-Fi and its modifications is the most popular on the network. The classic biquad has a good gain and a wide directivity pattern. The dual biquad antenna, discussed below, has even better performance.

To repeat the design you will need:

• copper monocore (wire) with a cross section of 2 mm;
• a small sheet of aluminum 1–2 mm thick;
• a piece of rubber (vinyl) tube, plastic ties;
• soldering iron, solder, rosin, drill, drills, pliers;
• connection cable.

The manufacture of the antenna is not difficult, the main thing is to accurately maintain the dimensions, since even small deviations threaten to shift the operating parameters:

1. We draw a sketch. The length of one side of each square is 30 mm, the dimensions of the reflector are 220×100 mm, the distance between the active part and the reflector is 15 mm. We mark the holes.

   Double bi-square - an improved version of the classic bi-square antenna

2. We bend the copper core strictly in accordance with the template. We clean (if the wire is varnished) and solder the ends.

   Even a small error in size (just a couple of millimeters) will degrade the quality of the antenna

3. We make a reflector from a sheet of aluminum. We drill holes with a diameter of 3-4 mm.

   The reflector can also be made from a copper plate or (at worst) a steel sheet

4. We fasten the active element of the antenna to the plate with plastic ties through rubber tubes.

   The racks for attaching the antenna to the reflector must be made of a non-conductive material

5. We fix the adapter (or cable, if the device is located remotely) with plastic ties. Solder the removed wires. Distance between contacts - 5 mm.

   The adapter should be fixed as securely as possible, but carefully, so as not to damage the device.

The advantages of this design include:

• easy and fast production
• Significant signal amplification and stable operation.

Perhaps the only drawback of such an antenna is that even small deviations from the required dimensions threaten to reduce its effectiveness.

From an aluminum can

This design, of course, cannot be called a full-fledged antenna (in fact, it is a reflector), but to some extent it is capable of amplifying a weak Wi-Fi signal.

What will be required:

• empty aluminum can,
• knife and scissors,
• piece of plasticine.

In terms of ease of manufacture, an antenna from an aluminum can has no equal:

1. Rinse the jar. Cut off the bottom with a knife.

   Be careful during work, health is more expensive than even the highest quality Wi-Fi antenna

2. Make a cut in the upper part, but not completely - leave an uncut section 1.5-2 cm long.

   You can also break off the bottle opener at this stage.

3. Cut the jar along the back side with scissors.

   An aluminum can is easily cut with any scissors, the main thing is that the latter are sharp enough

4. Bend the metal.

   The opening angle can be selected experimentally after installation, focusing on the level of the Wi-Fi signal

5. Fix the reflector on the device with plasticine, putting it on the standard antenna of the router. Point in the right direction.

   In the absence of plasticine, use chewing gum

Advantages of an aluminum can antenna:

• ease of manufacture
• lack of scarce materials,
• versatility (will work with any router with an external antenna).

Among the minuses, it is worth noting insufficient signal amplification and unstable directionality of reception / transmission.

Powerful sheet metal antenna

The tinplate Wi-Fi antenna, known as the FA-20, is characterized by increased power and can be used to receive a signal from remote (up to several kilometers) access points.

For its manufacture you will need:

• sheet metal;
• powerful soldering iron (100 W), solder, flux (soldering acid);
• dielectric racks, fasteners (screws, nuts);
• drill, drill;
• connection cable;
• metal scissors, wooden hammer, fine sandpaper, pliers.

Repetition of the design requires at least basic plumbing skills.

Instructions for making FA-20:

1. With scissors for metal, we cut out quadrangles and strips, strictly observing the indicated dimensions. The edges should preferably be sanded.
   

   Antenna parts are cut out separately and then soldered

2. We solder the elements of the antenna. We use solder and a special flux for soldering. It is more convenient to do this on a wooden surface.
   

   Soldering tin elements should be carried out in a well-ventilated area.

3. We wash the finished structure under running water from acid. We drill holes with a diameter of 3-5 mm.
   

   If necessary, align the antenna with a wooden hammer (mallet)

4. We make a box. Dimensions - 450 × 180 mm. The height of the sides is 2–3 cm. If you do not have the skills of a tinsmith, in principle, you can do without the sides (losing a little in sensitivity) by simply cutting out a rectangle. We drill holes in it that match the holes of the active elements. We fix the parts on the racks, the distance between the parts is 20 mm.
   

   Support posts must be of insulating material

5. We solder the cable: the red dot is the central core, the blue one is the common (screen).
   

   To connect the antenna to the router, a regular TV cable is suitable

Advantages of a homemade tinplate antenna:

• high power,
• good direction,
• scarce or expensive materials for manufacturing are not required.

A significant disadvantage of the FA-20 is the complexity of its manufacture. In addition, the antenna is quite large and is more likely to be suitable for installation on a roof or balcony.

Do-it-yourself Wi-Fi antenna variations

On the Internet, among the huge variety of homemade Wi-Fi antennas, the so-called “double square” and its variants are most often found. However, you can also see a lot of handicrafts that are different from the classics.

You can choose and try to make any of the antennas, however, be aware that not all of these products are really high performance, as the authors claim.

Photo gallery: other homemade designs

The MIMO antenna has two circuits inside one housing and, accordingly, two connectors for separate reception and transmission. This variation of the biquad antenna amplifies the signal many times over. The reflector of the biquad antenna is often made of foil fiberglass. and on the street An antenna made of cans looks original, but in fact it is not a very effective design Petal steamer in this design can be replaced with a colander or an iron bowl

Connection

The method of connecting a Wi-Fi antenna depends on the type of router, adapter or other device used. In most cases, you will have to open the gadget, find the place where the standard antenna is connected (soldered) and connect (solder) the self-made cable in the same way. It is very convenient when the gadget provides for an independent connection of an external antenna, this can be done in the form:

• connector in the battery compartment, on the back cover of the device, inside the case, etc.;
• the so-called pigtail (usually located directly on the device board).

If the adapter has a removable standard antenna, a home-made design can be connected instead.

In any case (excluding the soldering option), you will need the appropriate connector-connector, which can be purchased at the radio store. You are lucky if your router has an output for connecting an external antenna headset You can install a pigtail jack on the gadget body yourself if you are confident in your own abilities A tiny connector on the device board is used to attach a special pigtail extension standard antenna

Setting

Setting up a homemade Wi-Fi antenna comes down, first of all, to installing it in the right direction. In this case, the following conditions must be observed:

• take into account the signal propagation vector of the Wi-Fi signal receiver/transmitter;
• take into account the presence of barriers between transmitting and receiving devices;
• take into account the fact that hard surfaces reflect the signal, and soft surfaces, on the contrary, absorb it;
• if possible, install the antenna within the line of sight relative to the receiver / transmitter.

For best performance, the antenna should point towards the access point.

During the setup phase, the cable length should be reduced as much as possible, so you get rid of unnecessary signal losses and improve its quality.

How to test changes

The simplest and most affordable option for testing a homemade Wi-Fi antenna is to measure changes in the speed of the Internet channel. To do this, a comparative study of the results is carried out alternately with a connected standard antenna and a hand-made one. You can make such measurements, for example, on the Speedtest resource. The system will automatically select the optimal server, check ping, download and upload speed.

Video: do-it-yourself Wi-Fi signal amplification

With the advent of Wi-Fi, many users have the opportunity to quickly and mobile access to the Internet. For a stable wireless connection, it is recommended to use special expensive equipment, but you can get by with a little bloodshed by assembling an external antenna with your own hands.

It all started with the fact that my router burned out. The ASUS router used to stand in the shadow, it worked quite tolerably, the range was enough with the head - catch it anywhere at home and even outside. But here he departed to another world from his old age, plowed after all for about 7 years.
I bought a new router with a built-in DSL modem. A very convenient thing, no problems with connecting to each other, I just used to have a DSL modem connected to a Wi Fi router and setting them up together was very painful for me.

Bought, then such a contraption 2 in 1, rejoiced. But as it turned out in vain - the range is so small that in the next room, in the far half, do not catch at all. I decided to exchange their antennas, the old one has a longer antenna, and it has a turn. Plus, it is removable and any other remote antenna can be connected to the socket.

The antenna of the new router is not removable, but the old one is removable - it was screwed into the socket. I decided to make a nest at the new router, too, by removing the nest from the burned-out router.
I disassembled the router.

Soldered the antenna, now it will serve as a dummy, did not tear it off.

Here is a plug-in socket from an old router.

I drilled a hole with scissors in the opposite side.

Inserted the connector, soldered the wires. Soldering such thin wires is a terrible flour, I didn’t succeed right away. Be sure to call the tester if you decide to repeat this. Collected everything in reverse order.

Now about the results. I won’t say that it’s straight, I began to catch everywhere and everywhere, but the signal became more confident, it catches almost everywhere, there are, of course, “black holes” but much less often. If you want the result in numbers, then the signal is better than the percentage by 15-20%. But now it is possible to connect any other antenna.

It's easy to make and very powerful as a Wi-Fi antenna. With it, you can receive and transmit a Wi-Fi signal not only for hundreds of meters, but for several kilometers!
The cannon antenna resembles the look of a space blaster and, like this fantastic weapon, has a directed and very powerful action.

This is a directional antenna. And it is this property that gives a large receiving distance due to the large concentration of the signal in one direction.

Antenna drawing diagram

The drawing shows the dimensions between the antenna elements. Its resonant frequency is tuned to the middle of the Wi-Fi frequency of 2.4 GHz.

To make an antenna, you will need

• Long stud with nuts.
• Metal sheet, I took copper, as it is very easy to cut. In general, you can take tin from cans.
• . But you can connect to an existing router.

Making a powerful Wi-Fi antenna gun

Before proceeding with the manufacture of the antenna, you need to know that any deviation from the given dimensions will greatly degrade its performance. Therefore, everything must be done as accurately as possible.
We take a sheet of metal and roughly mark the centers of the diameters of the circles. Then we drill the center. For accuracy, a place before drilling is a core or we go through a thin drill, and then a thick one. As a result, the diameter of the hole should be slightly larger than the stud.

Then we take a compass and draw circles on the metal.

Cut out the square first.

Then carefully cut out the circle.

We got circles for the antenna.

I took a long hairpin. I cut off the excess along the length of the antenna, taking into account the width of the nut.

Here is the finished assembly kit.

We assemble the antenna. Everything is very simple, like a designer in childhood.

To control the dimensions, I recommend using a metal ruler, as it is more accurate.

In the last two disks, you need to make holes for connecting the cable.

We will make a connector with a cable from an old antenna from a router or adapter.

Remove the top cover.

Cut off the insulation. The antenna unhooked itself, because it was pressed in.

Next, solder the metal cap.

And the connection is ready.

Ludim disks. Copper is great in this regard. Once I made such an antenna from the case of an old computer, so I had to tinker with acid there.

We pass the cable through the hole of the last circle and solder the shielding winding to the disk.

Now we pass the middle core into the hole of the second disk and solder it.

The antenna is almost ready. I'll mount it on a camera mount. There will be such a home option.

We fasten to the output of the connector.

You can attach it with electrical tape or tape to the bracket.

I will put the antenna on the window and direct it to objects where there may be a signal.

Wow, how many networks appeared. Although before I caught the signal only from my router. There are not many access points in our city.

The result is amazing.

The number of networks exceeded all my expectations.

Result

The result was such that the same type of antenna can be connected without any problems at a distance of about 10 kilometers! And this is without any amplifiers and special equipment.
With the help of such a powerful Wi-Fi gun - antenna, you can transmit a signal to the garage, to work, to school, to the country house. All materials are available to absolutely everyone, and everything is done very simply. More detailed assembly instructions can be found by watching the video below. It also shows more extensive testing of this powerful Wi-Fi antenna.

PS: If you are going to make an outdoor version, then for insulation and corrosion protection, it would be nice to paint the entire antenna with ordinary metal paint.

Home routers older than 2 years have ceased to cope with modern tariffs offered by providers. Namely, they cut the speed long before the restrictions on the tariff plan. This article is for those to whom the Internet provider provides traffic comparable to the speed of an Ethernet port, namely 100 Mbps. Moreover, using L2TP and PPTP protocols, which are resource-intensive for home routers.

I conducted all my experiments with the Columbia-Telecom provider providing access to the Internet in Volgograd under the brand name Next-one. But suitable for Beeline. And for all providers that provide access to the Internet via L2TP or PPTP protocols.

Why all this is necessary or 3 options for solving problems

There are three options to get the most out of your ISP:

1. Connect the ethernet cable directly to the computer. Ideal if you have only one desktop computer. If the house has tablets, phones and other mobility, then this option is not for you.
2. Buy a more powerful router. I held in my hands only two models that came close to 100 Mb / s on the L2TP protocol. These are ASUS RT-N56U and UPVEL UR-325BN. At the same time, the first one was not at all cheap for a long time, and the second one does not indulge in quality.
3. Assemble the router yourself from improvised means. In the presence of old trash is absolutely free option.

Homemade home router

I opted for the third option. Since there are a lot of pieces of iron in the house that need the Internet, but I didn’t want to spend money on buying a new router. Moreover, after the revision, the motherboard on the atom and RAM were found in the pantry.

Choosing software for your home router

As it turned out, there is no need to reinvent the wheel, everything you need has already been written long ago. What's more is absolutely free and free for home use. This article will focus on pfSense, a firewall/router distribution based on FreeBSD. Which has a convenient web interface and allows you to make the necessary settings for a regular user.

First launch of PfSense

When you first start it will be necessary to answer a couple of stupid questions. Therefore, at least once you will need a monitor and a keyboard. The essence of the pre-configuration is to specify which network card will look towards the provider, that is, it will be a WAN port, and which one will look into the local network, that is, LAN. You can also select the type of IP addresses on each interface, static or dynamic. And in the case of statics, assign a specific address. Unfortunately PfSense has no default settings. Therefore, in the event of a full reset to the factory settings, you will have to connect a monitor and keyboard. PfSense simply won't continue until you've configured these settings.
In the future, as soon as you have made the basic settings, that is, assigned IP addresses to the interfaces, all settings can be made from the web shell and we will not need a local monitor and keyboard.

Setting PFSENSE

We type in the browser the address of the LAN port of the computer, and now the pfsense router. And enter the authorization parameters. Default values admin#pfsense

And you should see something like this:

pfsense WAN port configuration

The WAN port settings are configured according to the requirements of your provider. In my case, the provider distributes gray addresses via DHCP from the network 10.0.0.0/8
Therefore, we will make the appropriate settings


Pay particular attention to the two checkboxes at the very bottom. The first blocks all traffic from gray networks, that is, given to local networks. The second blocks all traffic from unknown networks, that is, from networks that have not yet been distributed.


For starters, I recommend unchecking both boxes. And then when everything is set up and everything is working, you can experiment.
Connect the provider's network cable to the WAN port. Go to menu Status—>Interfaces and make sure everything works:

PfSense LAN port setup

We will configure the LAN port at our discretion. I prefer to use a static address (not to be confused with a DHCP server for LAN clients).


Most likely, everything will already be configured in the LAN interface, as it should be from the moment pfSense was installed, when we entered the parameters into the console. So just check the values.

Configuring L2TP Pfsense to Connect to the Internet

Here we come to the most important thing. Namely, to setting up an L2TP tunnel to connect to the Internet.
However, at the very beginning, we should register a static route to the provider's L2TP server, which in my case has a white address and is naturally inaccessible from the gray network System—>Routing tab routers:


After that, we will configure another connection over the WAN port. We go to the menu Interfaces—>assign, select the tab PPPS and click the plus sign and configure the connection in accordance with the requirements of the provider:


Go to the first tab (Interface assignments) and by clicking on the "+" add a new interface from the L2TP connection we created. Now it is called OPT1.


Go to the Interfaces->OPT1 menu, enable it (Enable interface).


Authorization fields will be automatically populated from the connection you created.


After that, we should change the default gateway. In order for all requests to go to the Internet, it is necessary to make the OPT1 interface the default gateway. To do this, go to its settings System—>Routing
Select edit WAN (default) and remove "Default gateway"
Select edit OPT1 (default) and set "Default gateway"


That's all, we already have a router in the minimum configuration. It remains only to reboot it and make sure it works.

Testing the performance of a pfsense-based router

A self-made router showed speeds on the L2TP protocol close to the speed of the Ethernet port.
It was (for a tariff of 100 Mbps) on the DIR-620 router:

It became (for a tariff of 100 Mbps) on a homemade PfSense router:

It's no secret that budget, home routers may not be able to cope with the high speeds provided by providers. They can cut your speed even if your data plan is much higher.

This problem is faced by many who have incoming traffic equal to the speed of the Ethernet network - 100 Mb / s and use the resource-intensive L2TP and PPTP protocols. Has it ever occurred to anyone to make a router with their own hands that will cope with high speeds?

Three options for solving the problem

1. Connecting an ethernet cable directly to a computer. This is the easiest option, but it is only suitable for those who have only one computer at home. And if you plan to connect other devices, then this option will not suit you.
2. Buying a more powerful router. There are models that can handle 100Mb/s on L2TP protocol perfectly, but they are overpriced and not always of high quality.
3. Homemade router from improvised means. If you have old hardware lying around at home, then this is practically a free option. And it will also be interesting for those people who like to design something and collect computer homemade products.

Homemade home router

Let's take a look at the third option. After all, usually everyone in the house has a lot of different “gadgets” that need to be connected to the Internet, and no one wants to spend money on a new router. Probably, many have an old motherboard and a couple of slats of RAM lying around.

Choice of used equipment

Any motherboard with at least 100 MHz CPU and at least 128 MB RAM will do. Any storage device with at least 1 GB of memory. You will need a CD-ROM or USB flash drive to install the software. You will also need two network cards. The first for "communication" with the provider, the second for the home network.

Choosing software for a homemade router. In our case, all the necessary software has long been created and freely distributed for home use. This is pfSense, a FreeBSD-based program that can be used to create a firewall/router. The distribution kit has a user-friendly interface and has the ability to make the necessary settings even for an unprepared user.

It's important to know that pfSense is completely free and you don't have to worry about using pirated software.

Choice Pfsense

The pfsense.org website has several versions of the program for different processor architectures and the size of your hard drive. You can choose the value i386, because commands are supported by the main processors. And one more parameter - the type of console used: VGA or serial port. It is better to choose the more used VGA.

To run the program for the first time, you will need a monitor and a keyboard. The preliminary setting consists in specifying which of the network cards will work with the provider, it is also a WAN port, and which with a home network is a LAN port. You should also select the type of IP addresses you need - static or dynamic. If you chose static, then you need to assign a specific address. After that, the monitor and keyboard are not needed, all settings can be performed using the web shell on the computer to which you connect your router.

Installing and configuring pfSense

We unpack the program archive you downloaded and perform the process of burning the iso image to a CD or USB flash drive. We load it all on your router and see this interface:

pfSense interface

After waiting a bit, the next menu will open, where for further installation, press the “I” key. Select the "Accept these settings" tab. In the next menu, click "Quicky / Easy Install", click "OK" and watch the installation of the program. Upon completion of the installation, select the "Symmetric multiprocessing kernel" item and click the "Reboot" item - a reboot occurs, during which do not forget to remove your CD or USB flash drive.

After rebooting, you will be taken to the following menu:

pfSense program menu

The pfSense program allows you to automatically configure your network cards, and set which one will work with the provider, and which one with the home network. Therefore, press the "n" key, then "Enter".

Then we perform the following steps:

1. See that all network cables are disconnected from the custom router, if not, then disconnect.
2. Press the "a" key.
3. Press "Enter" and connect the cable from the home network side.
4. Press the "Enter" key three times.

With all the correct actions, a menu should appear with your ip-address to enter the web interface for setting up the router.

Menu with the ip-address of the web interface.

Setting PFSENSE

We write the address of the LAN port of your router in the address bar of the browser and enter the values ​​\u200b\u200bfor authorization - initially admin#pfsense.

Web interface login menu

We see this picture:

Router settings menu

WAN port setting

Enter the parameters of your WAN port that your provider gave you.

You should pay attention to two points at the very bottom of the program. The first is to block all traffic from gray networks, the second blocks traffic from unknown networks. At first, both items are recommended to be disabled. And in the future, when everything works, it will be possible to experiment.

Menu for entering WAN port parameters

Connect the provider's network cable to the WAN port. Then enter the Status–>Interfaces menu and check the network is working.

Network health check menu

LAN port setting

The LAN port can be configured at your own discretion. It would be preferable to use a static address.

LAN port setting menu

In the LAN interface of the port, all settings will be entered because we did this procedure at the very beginning of working with the router. So we just check the values.

LAN port setting menu

Setting L2TP

This item is the most important, because. provides internet connection. We register a static route to the L2TP server of the provider, for this we select System–> Routing, the Routers tab:

Connection setup menu over WAN port

We go to the tab (Interface assignments), click "+" and add an interface from the created L2TP connection with the name OPT1.

Menu for adding interfaces

Select Interfaces->OPT1 and enable it.

All fields from the connection you created earlier will be automatically filled in.

Created L2TP connection menu

Next, you need to change the default gateway. We select the OPT1 interface as the gateway and then all your requests will go to the Internet. We go into the settings of this interface System–> Routing , select the edit WAN (default) item and disable “Default gateway”. Then edit OPT1 (default) and select “Default gateway”.

Default gateway selection menu

That's all - your router is already ready. You just need to reboot and check if it works.

Performance test of the created router

The tested router on the L2TP protocol gave speeds close to the speed of your Ethernet port.

Indicators on the old router (tariff 100 Mb / s):

Old router test

Indicators on the tested router:

Homemade router test

How to make wifi without a router