The Effect of Varying Parabolic Reflectors on the Amplification of the Signal to Noise Ratio of 802.11g Devices

Overview

Objectives/Goals To determine the effect if any, varying the width of Linear Locus Parabolic Reflectors have on the amplification of the signal to noise ratio of an 802.11 wireless signal. Methods/Materials Materials: Aluminum Sheet Metal, Ruler, Styrofoam, Electrical Tape, Scissors Razorblade, Knife, Wireless Router, Wireless Laptop, Netstumbler Wireless Fidelity Tester, Stopwatch, Parabolic Template Methods: 1.) Using the parabolic template make 3 sizes of reflectors 2.) Using the template cut styrofoam support braces according to template dimensions 3.) Tape the aluminum metal onto sytrofoam support 4.) Attach finished reflectors to a wirelss router 5.) Use netstumbler in order to test signal to noise ratio Results Avgs. Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Trial 1 -45.86 -29.71 -29.86 -29.86 Trial 2 -51.71 -30.29 -31.14 -28.43 Trial 3 -50.57 -25.43 -31.43 -35.14 (Units for numbers is db) Conclusions/Discussion Upon the completion of this experiment the hypothesis was proven correct. It could be seen that an 802.11g antenna used in conjunction with a 16.5 cm parabolic reflector would boost the signal to noise ratio of a wireless signal the most. Without the use of the parabolic reflectors the signal to noise ratio of the control group averaged about -49.38 dB. The 12.5 cm parabolic reflector group boosted the signal the least with an average SNR reading of -31.14 dB, in comparison the signal to noise ratio of the 14.5 cm parabolic reflectors had an average signal to noise ratio of about -30.81dB. Group 2 which was the 16.5 cm parabolic reflector group boosted the signal to noise ratio by close to 21 dB and had an average signal to noise ratio of -28.48 dB. So the experiment supports the idea that the greater surface area a parabolic reflector has the better it will perform. Group 2 had the largest surface area and performed the best and the

Competition history

• CSEF 2005 Electricity & Electronics · Entry S0708

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