Warchalking

Final Thoughts

Although I initially created the mesh reflector shown in this chapter to work with an access point, it works well for client adapters too, when the client adapter is a moveable device not tucked inside the body of a computer. I tested the reflector with the LinkSys WUSB-11 USB client adapter, and it worked extremely well, and allowed my laptop to connect at full speed from the problematic corner of the living room.

You may find that over a period of weeks, the mesh reflector loses some of its parabolic shape and tries to return to a more circular curve like the one it had while it was part of a roll of hardware cloth sitting on the shelf at Home Depot. Tying it tightly to the curve on the base will help keep it from deforming too much, but you may have to touch up the curve on the top of the reflector every so often. Keep in mind that doing so may throw off your careful alignment of the device and force you to go through adjusting it again.

Some people think that hardware cloth is ugly, and in truth, the mesh reflector doesn't get high points for style. If you rest the whole thing on a shelf of some sort, you can put non-metallic items in front of it to hide it. On a deep enough shelf you could place a row of paperback books in front of it; books are virtually transparent to microwaves as long as there is no metal foil in their covers.

My wife suggested getting a decorative wicker basket at a craft shop and hiding both access point and a small reflector in the basket under or behind some dried or artificial floral arrangement. For best results (and I haven't tried this myself ) make sure the artificial flowers don't contain wire or other metal.

As with any of the gadgets I describe in this book, I always enjoy hearing from people who have built and tried them. Let me know what worked for you and what didn't, and how well. Contact me at:

[e-mail].