Super Cantenna

By now wireless WiFi networks are widespread across the world, but as any regular user of wireless networking can tell you, the problem isn’t speed but range and reliability – find a quiet space away from the hustle and bustle of the office or coffee shop, and suddenly you find your network link has gone from full strength to totally unusable.

Most wireless access points are supplied with a very basic antenna setup, providing wireless access in a circular area around the access point. This is fine in a small home or office environment, but if you want to use your wireless connection over a longer range, or your office space doesn’t fit into the perfect circle, you suddenly find yourself needing 2 or more access points. The Super Cantenna is one way to extend the range of your wireless network, quickly and easily with very little knowledge of networking required.

The Cantenna replaces the standard antenna on your access point with one designed for long ranges, producing a triangular cone of network access instead of a circle.

By using the Cantenna, you will be able to achieve longer ranges and higher reliability, or at least that’s what the manufacturers claim. We’ve put it to the test to see if it meets their claims.

Setting it up

The Cantenna is probably the simplest piece of networking equipment you’ll ever find, you simply unscrew the old antenna, and screw in the Cantenna, using the supplied converter if you need it.

As you can see below, this isn’t rocket science, then you simply point the Cantenna plastic side facing forwards, and away you go (literally, to see how far it goes).

Results

We tested our Cantenna in the confines of a long thin office, the kind of place you see every day, and which normally would take 3 or 4 access points to cover due to the wasted energy being sent outside the walls of the office. To test the range and reliability of the Cantenna, we placed the Cantenna at one end of the office and started walking, checking as we went how the connection was working.

After exhaustive testing (Doom 3, web browsing, and good old ping), we found that the Cantenna can provide a serious increase in range.

We’ve attached some of the screenshots below for your perusal, but our simple conclusion is, if you’ve got an access point you just can’t reach, point your Cantenna that way!

Long distance connection with a Cantenna:

Long distance without a Cantenna (Can see the AP, but not connect):

Extreme range with Cantenna, 50 metres plus 3 walls:

Medium range without Cantenna, 25 metres plus 1 wall:

Available from ThinkGeek for $49.99.

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