Wireless Reflector for 802.11b?

Throgmorton's Nosehair asks: "My access-point and clients don't like talking to each other through multiple walls, even inside our single floor apartment. I already have a couple of the diddy 'range extender' antennas plugged into the client PCMCIA cards, but this is messy for laptops which are moved from place to place. The access-point has an omni-directional antenna. Is there any cheap-and-cheerful way to build a simple *reflector* (I'm already aware of the do-it-yourself directional antenna pages out there) to restrict the output to, say a 120-degree arc? I'm thinking along the lines of a sheet of cardboard covered with aluminum foil here (something that Blue Peter viewers could make with a cornflake packet, some sticky tape and a pair of scissors)." What are other ways that one can cheaply improve 802.11 performance in the home or home-office? Also, be aware that if you are improving the the reception on your signal that others may be listening in as well, so please take whatever steps you deem appropriate in securing your wireless LAN.

Multipath

[kevin42]

One of the challenges with a microwave signal in a office environment is to avoid the problems caused by reflections. The DSS system used by 802.11 is good at dealing with multipath, but I think even if you managed to get a stronger signal off a reflector like that, you the radios on the other side wouldn't be able to get a lock on the signal due to the huge multipath problem you introduced.

You are probably a lot better off using a very high gain antenna on the AP. The nice thing about high gain antennas is that it works both ways (tx and rx). You can pick up a +8db Omnidirectional antenna for a reasonable price and that will probably help you get through the walls a little better.

Re:Multipath

[PuceBaboon]

Great input. Thanks, Kevin42 (would you believe that up until today I
thought that multipath was a psychopath with a twin brother?!?).

Seriously though, apart from being a cheapskate, one of the things
which has kept me from buying (or building) a "real" antenna is the
problem of interfacing it to the wireless card. Does anyone know where
to pick up reasonably priced pigtails (on the web) for Buffalo, Corega
or GeoWave cards? They don't seem to be very easy to come by here in
Japan and the ones I've found on the web so far were twice the price of
a 7dbi antenna from someone like SuperPass [superpass.com].

Patch antennas

[Adam J. Richter]

You can buy "sectorized" or "patch" antennas for under US$100 that have specific coverage arcs, like 90 degrees or 120 degrees.