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Wireless Network Antennas
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Can I improve the performance of the antennas that I have without buying new ones?

Yes! You can add parabolic reflectors to most any dipole antenna used on most wireless access points and routers. These are completely passive, don't violate your product's warranty and can add 10 or so dBi of gain.

Michael Erskine's website is a little tricky to navigate, but well worth the exploration. He has a number of designs that you can print out and make from cardboard and tinfoil and slip right over your AP's antenna(s). The EZ-12 is his latest, but check this directory to browse his other creations. He's also posted a FAQ about Parabolic reflectors and a gallery of other projects.

The nice thing about most of these designs is that they work for both 2.4 (802.11b/g) and 5GHz (802.11a) bands. So you can work around the fact that 802.11a and multi-band products don't have upgradable antennas by adding these reflectors.

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