What is a grid parabolic antenna?

It is based on the principle of a satellite dish but it does not have a solid backing. Instead grid parabolic antennas for Wifi have, as the name suggests as grid which forms a semi-dish.

Similar dishes are used on spacecraft such as Voyager, to transmit a weak signal millions of miles back to earth. Using the same principle, that of a highly focused radio beam, grid parablolic antennas can achieve very long distance WiFi transmissions.

The semi dish saves space and it can pick up signals that are vertically or horizontally polarized.

How can this help you get a free Wifi signal?

Grid parabolic antennas can pick up distant wireless Internet signals up to ten miles away. If there are no objects blocking the signal, even greater ranges can be achieved. Recently a group of amateur radio hobbyists used two grid parabolic antennas to establish a wireless Internet connection of 112 statue miles across the Great Salt Lake Desert.

You can find grid parabolic antennas for sale on E-Bay and Amazon.com. These antennas retail for around $100 and they offer gains up to 24 decibels which is truly amazing. You will need a wireless adapter or wifi card that has an external antenna jack. Usually these are RP-SMA and your antenna may have an N type plug. You'll need to get a cable from a site like radiolabs.com but you can save on the antenna itself from the sites below.

These grid parabolic antennas are useful for sprawling job sites, RV'ers trying to pick up the park Wifi signal and for experimenters who just want to see how far they can pick up a wireless connection. WiFi DX, or trying to see how far wireless internet signals can travel, is a growing hobby among electronic experimenters.

Keeping Legal

Most wireless adapters are rated for a certain type of antenna. You may want to contact the manufacturer to make sure that using a super high gain WiFi antenna will still comply with FCC rules. If you are outside the US, these rules are enforced much less. In many parts of the third world, such as India, grid parabolic antennas are used to send wireless 802.11 G internet signals over long distances between towns and for public access. Several, either grid parabolic WiFi antennas, or Panel type WiFi antennas are often placed in a single location and aimed at different sections of town.